Flickr Fun

This truly was fun!

Mappr: I had uploaded a picture to Flickr (the snake pic mentioned earlier)- I noticed that two other photos were tagged using my tags, so I got to see other pictures like mine! Then, I mapped this picture using the map feature in Flickr, so not only is the pic tagged it is also mapped!

Flickr Color Pickr: this was very interesting, I clicked on several different colors and found an array of various photos that shared that color -- an interesting way to sort photos, not by topic, but by the colors they share. It would make for an interesting poster!

Montagr: I explored my hometown, my college and some vacation spots I have visited. Tags really do bring a sense of community -- as I viewed these pictures I was fascinated by the sameness and the change that the photo mosaics captured.

And finally, I tried the Librarian Trading Card (I saved it on the CS site, sent it to my home), and uploaded it to Flickr -- and then chickened out when I made it private on Flickr.

Is anyone else in the Library 2.0 program still afraid of identifying yourself on the Internet? As cool as these things are I find I still have a sense of caution -- beware of what images of myself, or information I provide that may be used for identity theft or even internet stalking.

In any case even with the sense of caution I thoroughly enjoyed this exercise. I found many new ways to share photos, create photo mementos and imagine all kinds of possibilities for Flickr.
Flickr
Flickr mashups
librariantradingcard
mapping photos

Social Networking -- MySpace

Well, it did it!! I joined MySpace!!
Setting up the profile was fun and now I am waiting for my invitations to be a friend to be accepted! (Oh no!! What if Tom remains my only friend & he's too busy to talk to??!!) I can see why people enjoy this format for interacting with friends. I even added music to my page: John Fogerty!!! (oldies!!)

I still have some misgivings about privacy, my settings are set for probably more privacy than most people. Meeting people online and having fun is great, however some of the articles we read warned of predators, scam, pfishing, porn, identity theft, cyberbullying and impersonators -- all scary thoughts! I'm probably the only one who can get through my privacy wall!!

I wasn't going to sign up for a MySpace profile, but in the end I did. This whole learning experience is about change and growth. In Cindy's podcast she mentioned learning digital media skills, teaching & modeling safe practices and becoming relevant by being where the next generation of our customers are. It is incumbant on me as a librarian to constantly upgrade my skills. In the past my continuing education has been related to cataloging practices, but Learning 2.0 is my chance to experience and learn about new ways of communicating and new ways to provide information. I don't know if I will keep up with the blogs, MySpace, or even create the Wiki for Cataloging that I hope to create soon -- but I do know it was time for me to get into the 21st century way of doing things and now I can talk intelligently about all of our Learning 2.0 "Things" and say I have tried them all!
MySpace
Library 2.0
Libraries
Continuing Education

Social networking

Whew! I knew absolutely nothing about social networking sites, so I read all of the articles to catchup on what I have been missing!
The question: Should VBPL use a social networking site to connect with teens for me has the resounding answer of yes!
I viewed the MySpace sites of the Hennepin County Library and the Denver Public Library and I thought they were creative and seem to be in keeping with the themes that teens are interested in. Our teen councils, teen read week, teen music, sorting through local news stories and putting up only the articles that have impact on teens, even something as simple as We IM do you use us? so many things we do could be sharing with our teens in a way they would enjoy! I definitely feel that MySpace is an excellent venue to reach the teens in Virginia Beach!

Social networking sites are really about...
*teens expressing themselves and socializing (and adults too in some ways!)
After reading all the articles I can see where MySpace and Facebook are popular with the tweens, teens, and 20-somethings but I also read of all the warnings on cyberbullying and cyber predators, so it is not all fun and games either. Even realizing that police, and school authorities can be viewing the information should urge caution for teenagers.

*Educating teens on the safe use of the MySpace accounts is certainly a key. But in the end it also involves personal responsibility, as the Cornell University article so vividly pointed out! Think twice about what you about yourself online - it can be used against you later.

*Privacy is a concern of mine. One of the articles mentioned if you wouldn't post it on a sign in your yard - think twice about posting it online.

*the good and the bad I think the cyberbullying is probably the saddest part of the MySpace experience that I read in the articles. Teens go to the site to fit in and feel part of the incrowd only to be bullied online. Like so much of life, books, the internet and even MySpace have good parts and bad parts that you have to learn to deal with as one teen said in the articles the good outweighs the bad for them.

Now, the next Thing is actually having the courage to sign up for a MySpace profile -- will I be brave and do it or just blog about what I see others do?? Stay tuned for the next post!!
Libraries
Library 2.0
MySpace
Social Networking