Follow me on Fakebook

This week I tried Fakebook, a website created by ClassTools, which allows users to create fake social media profiles, usually of historical figures or celebrities for learning purposes. To be honest with you, I am a huge fan of fake social media profiles of historical figures. While these tend to be mostly comedic in nature, I could definitely see this being a fun alternative to the traditional "book report" style I used to inform my class about the coolest historical figures growing up. I love the immersive aspect of this tool,which requires you to take "walking in their shoes (er, em, tweeting in their shoes?) to a whole new level!

Here we have Lincoln checking in and adding life events. His friends Harriet Tubman, Robert E. Lee and Horace Greeley are very active on social media too.

This week I attempted to create a profile for Florida Native Julian Edwin Adderley, more widely known by his nickname "Cannonball" Adderley. It was fun. I found live footage of him, interviews, information on his childhood, his family members, all in an effort to make him seem like a well-rounded individual with a complete and complex profile. I added statuses inviting friends to "check out our latest performance in Switzerland, and linked to old concerts and TV shows. It was a lot of fun. However, I ran into some trouble. Fakebook would not let me sae my profile. I watched a few tutorials, and downloaded the instructions on how to save, and still had no luck. I tried a while later, and had the same problem. The site seems fairly intuitive, and adding information was a breeze, so I'm not sure what went wrong. Perhaps Adderley already has a Fakebook page, and I was unable to save because It would have been a duplicate? 

Here is a screenshot from my sad incomplete page. The site urges that you keep making posts and will be able to save after a few, so I posted and posted, but the site seemed to freeze up when I actually wanted to save the profile and fill it out completely. I'm sorry that this is all I have to show for this site, because I believe it could be amazing when well done. In absence of something really wonderful to showcase, here are a few links to superb Fakebooks I came across by Amelia Earhart and Rosa Parks!

http://www.classtools.net/FB/1910-xKpWDy (Earhart)

http://www.classtools.net/FB/1248-H3y2Ri (Parks)

If you had any luck with this tool, please let me know. I look forward to having the opportunity to use it again someday, and I love that this one encourages the student to really get into character!