Social Networking As Pedagogy

For the life of me, I cannot understand why this essay is in AV Technology magazine (an industry trade pub aimed at those who install and use av equipment.) In any event, the author, a music/technology professor, raises some interesting issues: "To the extent that social networks like Facebook have become a de facto channel for communication between students and instructors, do these networks enhance the level of interaction between students and instructors, or are they simply another distraction? More specifically, are we increasing the level of student engagement by utilizing social networks or does this simply add more background noise, ultimately de-focusing students from the tasks at hand?"