The effects of teacher self-disclosure via Facebook on teacher credibility

While this experiment had a number of limitations by its own admission, I have to say I am surprised by the results of its analysis. It admits that their are a lot of variable to take into account and it is by no means conclusive showing little difference in competence of those who showed high or low amounts of self disclosure. But the fact that high facebook disclosure positively influence students impression of trustworthiness, and caring is not what I expected. It does continue on the say that while student impression  may be favorable, depending on the type of disclosure, it may be negatively viewed by a employer. That makes a lot of sense to me. The more you associate yourself with your students the more you would seem to distance yourself from the faculty by default. I also agreed that their is a danger of giving false expectations to your students if the person you present in facebook (that they see) is not the same person in the classroom. This can definitely cause negative reactions from students who might feel jaded or lied to. Given the number of untested variable and possible negative outcomes I still think its best to limit self disclosure and err on the side of caution with your students, at least until more conclusive research has been verified.