Students, please note that I will not be listing you as "friends" on social networking web sites or applications (e.g., Facebook, MySpace). I fear this may come across as rude due to the impersonal nature of internet communication so I would like to explain this a bit.

I had been tracking Facebook for some time, but had not signed up as I didn’t see much reason for doing so. However, after reading the following articles I decided I needed to check it out.

http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=35593
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i20/20a03801.htm
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i21/21c00101.htm

The first one was especially interesting as it described how employers were using Facebook to find out more about job applicants.

The clear message from these articles is that people need to be careful regarding their "web presence". In considering my web presence, I do not believe it is wise for me to list students as friends on social networking sites. The relationship between you and I is student-teacher. I cannot give even the slightest appearance that I favor some students over others.  Thus, I do not believe it is appropriate to describe our relationship as "friends" even in the Facebook context.  

If you have graduated, then the nature of our professional relationship has changed. Thus, I will add you as a “friend” if you have graduated.