The rise of eMail as a primary communication tool for teachers and their students has always raised the specter of unseemly eMail messages making their way to campus administrators, but the advent of social networking on sites like Twitter and Facebook means students can share private messages with thousands of friends and followers, who then can share the message with thousands more—creating an internet sensation.
The speed of electronic communication was demonstrated in March when a Georgetown University law professor told students that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts would announce his resignation by the end of the day, according to the legal blog, Above the Law.
The law students texted and eMailed friends and family, and within minutes, gossip site RadarOnline.com trumpeted a headline about Roberts leaving the land’s highest court.
Popular sites like Drudge Report and Huffington Post followed suit, and Supreme Court spokespeople had to deny the rumor that started in a lecture hall.
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