Twitter

Twitter...

Firstly, as the Teen Zone Tweeter I'd be really interested to know what the library peeps think about my tweets.

I have had some interesting conversations about how Twitter can be used. Jack was telling me about airlines using twitter as a marketing device by offering seat sales only through their twitter account. That way their customers are more inclined to jump at offers that come through the airlines tweets, making the customers feel like it is a genuinely unique/limited offer.

This has given me pause--making me wonder about how I can better utilize the teen zone account.

The question I have is how do I get teen followers. Up to this point the only people following me are library people, other organizations and book-ish adults. Hmmm...any ideas???

Library Thing

I am already a Good Reads user so I don't see myself signing up for LibraryThing. However, I do see the application for it. It is a nice way to connect with like minded readers. It also makes it easy to track your reading.

online productivity

I've always been a paper girl--however, since using Outlook at work I've been leaning more and more towards electronic. This was my first go with Google Calendar and at first glance I have to say it is amazing.

Hmmm...should I let google take over my life??

Flickr and YouTube

I do find Flickr and YouTube user-friendly. To date, I have not registered with Flickr. I use Googel Picasa. However, I have used Flickr for image searching and have always found it useful.

What I find interesting about these sites is the balance between user and product in terms of the content management. These sites are userfriendly and it seems to be because their management systems are user-driven...something we could learn from.

Bloglines

I was able to set up a feed. I've always wanted to use RSS, but have never bothered. I'm looking forward to seeing how this works.

I believe it'll make information collection better because it will bring succint information to me as opposed to me having to go get it...somewhat like your 'home' on FB. However, I also see this as just one more way for me to be bombarded with messages...more things to read.

Google

Google picasa works well for me. It is simple and convenient. I am able to upload many photos at once and sharing photos with people is as easy as entering their email adddy and clicking share.

I find it is an excellent alternative to sharing photos on FB as you are able to share them with a limited number of people.

Facebook

Points for FB:

• helps you stay in touch
• easy photo sharing
• fun/funny

Points agains FB:

• you can easily waste tons of time on it
• it can (if you let it) become a replacement for meaningful social connections
• if you do not moniter your privacy settings carefully, it is easy to release too much information about yourself

Wikipedia

It was not hard to find an article that needed editing. I chose the article on oral storytelling. To be frank, I could have spent hours editing it. It needs references and expansion. Due to time constraints, I limited my editing to a grammar correction. I was surprised to find that editing is an easy as it is. I had always assumed you would need an account to make changes to wikipedia articles.

Delicious

What are the advantages of storing, sharing, and tagging web content this way? What are the disadvantages?

Advantages:

• because users are given control over content the tool reflects users and their interestes
• it is free
• taging provides an excellent reflection of popular culture
• users have access to a personal infomation organizer

Disadvantages

• because it is so large, it can become ungainly & difficult to manage (much like anything else on the web)
• public content is emphasized individuals may have privacy concerns
• tagging is driven by popularity and as a result, less popular information sources may be overlooked

Web 2.0...

What I am intrigued by:

• how social media changes the way people interact
• social media and advertising
• how friendship is re-defined by social media
• how web 2.0 changes methods information gathering, sharing, and our perception of authority, information access, etc.
• the amount of time people spend using web 2.0 applications
• how quickly web 2.0 technology changes and what influences these changes

What I am intimidated by:

• how this technology is reshaping information services and the need for libraries to stay current and remain relevant