Category Archives: Social Media

The Emperor’s New Clothes (you and me)

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I am the child who is calling out, “Look!  The Emperor is wearing nothing at all!”

Hush!  You cannot say such a thing.

The emperor, in my analogy, is us.  Those of you scanning blogs, nings, social personal network sites, twitter, and a host of Web 2.0 user-generated content spaces (which I should name but I know people only stay tuned to a post for an average of 12 seconds) may identify with this blog post.  With our smart phones in our pockets and our many computer portals close at hand, we have built up a momentum of constant sharing.  Each of us, if we are honest, has personal interests and goals- one of which is simply to “keep up” with the current information (r)evolution.  We can’t.

Just as mankind always has, we look to each other (friend/follow) for guidance.  And in that quest to stay onboard the fast moving train, we gracefully glide from station to station (phone, computer station, portal, email check, tweet, Facebook post, network check, IM, text message).

Secretly, in our hearts, we think about getting off the train.  We remember days when an hour was spent in contemplation.  We remember things like:
the joy of making something with our own hands
reading a book
baking bread
no ringtones to distract us to some other place

The emperor is wearing nothing.
Nothing at all.
I am taking a break for a moment….just to reflect.

Sharing amongst Friends and Followers

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Sharing with me:

I learned about the power of participation from Mean Laura. Social media is only an effective tool when there is give and take. On twitter, she recently asked “In ONE word, what do you expect from 2012?”  I chose the word SHARE because I expect and hope to participate (both give and take) with others.

 

My good friend, the doctor of musicology, taught me that entertainment isn’t all bad and is, perhaps, as important as education.  Am I obsessed with meaning?  Must everything be significant and educational?  Go to thesaurus.com and check the synonyms for educate (edify, coach, enlighten) and entertain (delight, inspire, gratify). Words are just words but we decide the personal links to our lives.  The doctor is all about entertainment and inspiration through music.  He has introduced me to genres of great music that would have been outside my comfort zone and now has his own Internet radio show on xstream radio. What does he do with his love of music?  He shares.

 

And then there’s my artist friend, Zinnia, who taught me that we are all unique.  Technology is only a tool, like a fork.  You don’t need a fork to eat, but it does make it easier and more polite.  You do, however, need to eat.  Zinnia uses technology to create unique expression and to share that with others.  She helped me learn to take a risk with my own unique expression.  She does that much better than I do.  Yesterday, Zinnia let me pick a button from her bag of lovely colorful words…I chose the word share.

 

 

 

In 2012, let’s share

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Note to self:  It is time to let go of the negative attitude against Facebook, triviality, superficial nonsensical information quests, and start participating in the new hierarchy.  It is time to “practice what you preach” and put people first.  The hierarchy of the past placed the experts, the sages, the skilled and knowledgeable at the top.  Now, amongst the toppled rubble on the Internet (no library stacks), we all have a voice.

Was it an illusion that the library held the answers and helped point the way to a meaningful existence?  After all, a book or a library of books is created by human beings and human thought. Oh, but it was convenient to rely on experts to sift through nonsense and provide an assortment of the highest quality of information (may there always be libraries).

We still learn, as we always have, in “collision with others” (Vygotsky). We learn because we discuss, we argue, we collaborate, we confront, and (most importantly) we share.

Learn-Learn-Learn!  That seems to be my favorite topic and, as earning my PhD in 2012 suggests, my ultimate goal.  For a year or two, I have been saying I think most people are more interested in being entertained than being educated.  The old, perhaps trite, saying holds true that the more I learn the more I realize how little I know.  Learning how to thinking critically is more important than gathering knowledge. Yet, even more important than critical thinking is learning how to share.

Twitter: Who, How, Why

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I often contemplate life AFTER the toppling of the hierarchy of information. User-generated content, crowdsourcing, and a host of new media formats are now the top ways we access information. And one of the most popular new modes is Twitter.

Personally, I find Twitter more useful, more interesting, and more educational than Facebook. Thomas Cramptom blogged it this way, “Facebook is WHO you know, Twitter is WHAT you know.” I agree because I find FB is much social trivia (which has its place) alongside photos and current events. Twitter, on the other hand, can help each user form a personal learning network or professional learning community. There are no hurt feelings about not being “friended” and no pressure to “like” anything or anyone. Information is shared for the sake of being important to whoever finds it meaningful or significant.

Now: WHO will you follow? When you think about who you are, what is personally meaningful to you, what you are passionate about…a tool like Twitter allows you to move down a path toward those personally significant ideas, whether professional or simply interesting.

HOW will you follow? I learned from a colleague (Laura Solomon and her book on social media for librarians) that online networking tools require participation. Just as social etiquette teaches us to be polite, to use manners, and to think of others (not just what we want for ourselves), social networking is an ongoing dialogue that works best when we give credit to others and are willing to share with them.
Personally, the tweets I find most useful are those that share informative tidbits, links to cool cutting-edge information, or personal reflections on something meaningful. While Twitter can be great for sharing locations at conferences or live events, I don’t think that is the best use. Other geo-location apps are available to share where we are! Topics like what we are eating, who we are with, or our plans for the evening are best posted on FB, in my opinion (and maybe even limited to groups and individuals who are interested). As new tools emerge (and perhaps another tool will replace the ones we are now using), it becomes critical to understand the purpose.

WHY use Twitter? As I mention quite often on this blog, information delivery has been revolutionized. I can no longer keep up with current modes of access, storage, or any other information-related term. I need my personal and professional learning network. Oh- I still need books and other formats of information. But, without my PLN, I would be less able to cope with the constant barrage of high-tech gadgets, apps, and new media formats. As I scroll through my Twitter feed, my feelings about balancing the physical world and the digital world are validated by others who understand the need to pause and reflect on being human.

Twitter is just one of many tools that are helping me collaborate with others who share my quest for a positive outlook on the other side of the information revolution.

Monthly Web 2.0 Checkup #2

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Time to re-evaluate my personal outlook on social media (see Dec. 31 New Year’s Resolution post). This month, I traveled to Austin for the Texas Computer Education Association Convention, where the buzz word was Web 2.0. While some teachers are just becoming familiar with the term, others consider it “old hat” and are talking about Web 3.0, 3D web, or the Semantic Web.

Social media and social networking provide many benefits to users, but I have been struggling for the past year or two about how to balance my personal life online with my professional life online. Close friends and family members use social networking only for posting pictures and personal messages. My PLN (professional learning network) uses social networking for sharing new trends and educational content. Although I have numerous social network accounts (Nings, Myspace, Facebook, MyTLA, Linkedin, Googlegroups, Yahoogroups, and ALA Connect come to mind), my goal is to consolidate and simplify the daily barrage of information.

In the past couple of months, both my Library Supervisor and my University Director have suggested utilizing Facebook and requested I befriend their pages. I feel obliged to honor that request, even though I have not come to grips with my own use.

I purchased Laura Solomon’s book, entitled, Doing Social Networking So it Matters in hope of finding a meaningful purpose for FB. While it didn’t take me long to understand the best use of twitter (sharing information with those who have the same interests), I admit to being a reluctant FB “fan” to the point of being obstinate. Solomon’s book points out that social capital is best achieved through a long-term participation in community. Using social media strictly for marketing becomes apparent quickly. I found Doing Social Networking So it Matters a great guide for best practices in libraries. Now that my supervisor suggests using FB, I am rethinking my position, even though I am an elementary school librarian. I think secondary schools, public libraries, and academic libraries would have more reason to utilize FB.

So…have I made progress with my NY resolution?

Two bosses encouraged me to use FB. Laura Solomon’s book encouraged me to understand best practices in libraries. But, I still had this inside battle raging between the personal identity and the professional identity. Facebook does not make it easy to post to limited audiences. I speak in different voices- to nieces, to co-workers, or to distant friends.
Last weekend, during a lovely warm sunset, I brought the subject up to my husband. He has been listening patiently to my rants about FB for months. He has heard me discuss my distaste for the trivial nonsense and my fear of becoming a stuffy old academic who only values educational materials!

So, across the patio table on this lovely weekend evening, I asked, “The whole world seems obsessed with Facebook and I just can’t seem to figure out the point. What do you think I should do?”

His simple answer has given me much thought this week. In fact, it amazed me. He said, “I think you should just be nice!”

Monthly Web 2.0 Checkup

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January is coming to a close, so I decided to reflect on my New Year’s resolution.  A month ago, I set the goal to try not to “bash Facebook” this year!  How am I doing?

Ironically, during the first days of January, several educational groups, including a class at my university and a library honor society, requested I become a fan (or would that be a friend?).  There’s no way to retreat—everyone is already on fb.

Then, I received an invitation to “like” a recycling company that has helped my school earn money (through sending in old cell phones and ink cartridges).  Helping earn money for badly needed books and materials is wonderful, but is it my responsibility to advertise for the companies in which I do business?

On TV each morning as I was getting dressed, I heard news broadcasters suggesting listeners post opinions. (They really care about what the public thinks.)  I am trying to remain calm and not let my blood pressure rise, as I contemplate the fact that the news is no longer the news, but a popularity contest for ratings or a friendly chat over a cup of coffee.

A young high school English teacher I know was talking about her students’ writing abilities.  She proposed the idea that students may be writing more than ever with texting and fb status updates.   She proposed an increase in the perception that every tidbit that comes out of one’s mouth (or fingertips) is perceived as golden.  Rather than striving for high quality in writing (through painful revision), students fling personal messages and photos to an “awaiting” world.  The perpetuation of self-centeredness may be growing exponentially.  Which reminds me of a joke I heard from one of my favorite professors (a philosphical mathematician who made statistics fun).  He liked to state repeatedly (try saying it outloud), “Enough about me.  Let’s talk about you.  What do you think of me?”  Say it three times in a row!

Back to my monthly Web 2.0 checkup.  I really did try to work on my goal of understanding the fb phenomenon.  I created a custom group and posted a status update to only one person as a test for meaningful conversation.  Email would have been more efficient.   However, I have learned that many people check fb much more often than email.  To date, I still have learned nothing on facebook.  My sister reminded me that it is a “social” network and asked me why I feel it necessary to learn something.  If it is only for the purpose of casual conversation, why do I feel obligated, as an information professional, to associate myself with my university’s page?

I am not giving up, I have eleven months to go!  I certainly hope, dear reader, that this post is not misconstrued as bashing.  I have every intention of forging on through 2011 with an open mind.

But wait, for those who are compelled to check fb first thing in the morning, before they rise from bed– here’s a site that will help you limit yourself by saying “Keep Me Out!”