My blog already had a couple of widgets (or gadgets as blogspot calls them). Earlier this spring I added the visit counter and when I started the blog I immediately added a Picasso of the Day and a blog roll. I don't like to clutter my blog up with too many bells and whistles. I don't want to distract from the writing.
The second I saw the list of possible widgets, I knew exactly which one I would add - the Clustrmap. I just love knowing who is reading my blog, even if people are not leaving comments. I gives me a sense of a real audience.
I do believe that real relationships can be formed on-line. On Facebook, I have a "friend" from Australia, whom I met through someone I met once at a concert in Cleveland. All three of us love the same band. All three of us are English majors. I have met up with the person in Cleveland and will continue to do so. The woman in Australia? I don't know that I'll ever meet her face to face, but we interact and enjoy each others on-line personalities, which in my case is very much like my real life personality.
Why do students like sites like Facebook? It feeds their social animal on many different levels. First of all, everyone gets to see how popular you is with how many friends you have. Secondly, you might have a random thought that you post as your status. Someone else might do something as simple as "like" it and you get a little gratification that someone out there is paying attention. Even I get that feeling of I'm not alone and someone is "listening."
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