facebook subscribe
 

Recently Facebook launched the ability to allow people to subscribe to your Facebook Profile if you so choose to turn on the functionality. As an educator I don’t think it is a good idea and I’m fearful of what this means if educators don’t understand what the Subscribe function will do.Basically Subscribe will allow any Facebook User to follow you without you knowing it or your approval making it very easy for students to subscribe to their teacher’s updates. Much like following someone on Twitter. 

Facebook also allows you to control who sees your updates…the problem is one small click and that update meant for family and friends becomes viewable to subscribers.

Also….it doesn’t control all aspects of your profile. For example, if you change your profile picture everyone, friends, family, and subscribers see it. There is no way to have one profile picture for family and friend and another for those who subscribe to your updates. So that picture of you and the family on vacation, or you and your new born, or you at that party with Mr. Jones everyone now sees. 

Facebook Pages are still the way to go for educators. They are a completely separate site…..there is no cross over from a Facebook Page to a Facebook Profile allowing educators the ability to have their friends in one spot and their students in another keeping a safe separation between the two.

Just wanted to throw it out there and think before you turn on the subscribe option in Facebook.