social software

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On Twitter

August 18, 2009 in internet, social software, tech by spinstah | No comments

I resisted Twitter for a long time, and when I finally signed up I felt a bit sheepish about all my pooh-poohing. So why did I finally sign up? Because friends were having conversations there that they weren’t having via other mediums, like chat and Facebook. I have found that I really like hearing about the stupid annoyances and routine happenings of the lives of folks whom I care about but rarely see. Recently, danah boyd wrote an interesting post that defends the social aspect of Twitter, in the face of a report that finds that the majority of tweets are meaningless blather:

I vote that we stop dismissing Twitter just because the majority of people who are joining its ranks are there to be social. We like the fact that humans are social. It’s good for society. And what they’re doing online is fundamentally a mix of social grooming and maintaining peripheral social awareness. They want to know what the people around them are thinking and doing and feeling, even when co-presence isn’t viable. They want to share their state of mind and status so that others who care about them feel connected.

That is exactly what finally drew me in. Once there was a critical mass of people I cared about on Twitter, I started paying attention to their tweets, and eventually I jumped in myself because it seemed silly to email someone in response to a tweet they had posted Sunday night, which I was seeing in my newsfeeds over lunch on Monday. I still really don’t care about following news organizations or random famous and semi-famous strangers and librarians. To me that’s not what Twitter is for, though it makes sense to use it that way (and I do follow a few of those types of accounts). That’s also partly why I still have my account locked, because I don’t use the service in such a way that I see any reason for some random person I have never met to follow me. To me it’s a social space similar to Facebook, and I apply the same rule of  “do I (or would I if you lived nearby) hang out with you in real life?” before I friend or follow someone.

It strikes me that all this kind of silly stuff we post to Twitter is probably what people who talk on the phone a lot talk about. Despite the fact that I will post it on the Internet, I still won’t pick up the phone and call any of my friends to discuss these kinds of little things.

Politics of Class Online

July 17, 2009 in internet, social software by spinstah | 1 comment

I find Danah Boyd’s work absolutely fascinating. Her application of ethnographic research methods to the technology sphere, and in particular social networking, contributes immensely to my understanding of these technologies and how they’re being used. I just read a transcript of a talk that she gave at the Personal Democracy Forum last month (The Not-So-Hidden Politics of Class Online) and it’s really gotten me thinking. Here, she’s looking at another side of the digital divide which I think gets lost in the conversation:

Social media does not magically eradicate inequality.

When we talk about the digital divide, we’re usually focused on access. Who has access to the web? What kind of access? Is it access they can afford? Is it access that is convenient? Are the speeds at which they can connect fast enough to actually engage with what’s going on? But in my experience, that conversation rarely gets to a point where you’re talking about what they’re doing when they’re online and who they are. Have you ever thought about the fact that there are class and race differences between who is using MySpace and who is using Facebook? As she points out, on the web we (as a society) are essentially replicating all the different social stratifications that exist out on the sidewalk. It makes sense if you think about it — with social networking sites many of us are essentially just recreating our offline social networks. That means you go where your friends are. But how many of us are aware of this, and to what extent?

Anyway, I highly recommend reading through this transcript if you have an interest in social media, social networks, and how people use them. This kind of broader thinking can really help to provide a better context for what’s happening in the different areas in which we’re all focused (for example, I pay attention to reports and information about what undergrads are up to, and  give maybe a cursory glance to the stuff on other age groups).

Holiday pics

December 26, 2008 in internet, social software by spinstah | 6 comments

After thinking some more about the question of whether or not to make fewer photos on Flickr public (Privacy on the Internet . . . and Me), I’ve decided that I’m going to make more of them friends & family only, especially those featuring people*. That means you’ll have to make a (free) Flickr account (they’re owned by Yahoo!, so you can use an existing Yahoo! account) and be friended by me in order to see them. And in order to be friended I need to know you in real life. Them’s the breaks.

There are ways that I can share the photos out to people without accounts, so I will probably do that with big events and parties. But for random occasional/incidental photos you’ll need a login. I am toying with the idea of making a guest account — something that folks who don’t have a Flickr accunt and aren’t interested in having one could use to get access to my photos — so let me know if you are intersted in this.

All that’s to say that I started this new system with the family holiday photos I just uploaded. I’m still debating on whether or not I want to go back and change the permissions on photos I’ve already uploaded. (I suspect this will happen some weekend when I’m bored. We’ll see.) So, consider this your warning that at some point, certain of my photo archives will disappear if you are not already a Flickr friend.

*Contributing to this decision was the fact that within a couple of days of writing that post I noticed that a photo of mine had been favorited by someone who was going around making a collection of photos where ladies’ pants were riding a bit on the low side. Luckily the gal in the photo in question was a stranger, but still. It appeared that at some point Flickr had deleted their original account, but they had created a new one and were going back and re-finding all their favorites. Ew.

Privacy on the Internet . . . and me

December 21, 2008 in internet, social software by spinstah | 6 comments

As I was writing the previous post (Privacy on the Internet) it got me thinking about how I approach posting things online. I have a ton of stuff online about myself and am easily findable with a quick Google search. (At the moment 6/10 (without middle initial) and 8/10 (with) of the first page of results are about me.

Even though I’m all over the place, I’m still taking advantage of privacy controls, and I’m trying not to post things that I think could cause me trouble down the line. (There was an exception to that rule for several months.) But I’m finding it increasingly difficult to balance the desire to be out there,  making myself findable and accessible, with the desire to control who can see the details. Read the rest of this entry »

Privacy on the internet

December 20, 2008 in internet, social software by spinstah | 1 comment

Hand-in-hand with my interest in social software and social networking technologies is an interest in privacy on the internet. Slowly but surely, the landscape is changing.

We’ve all seen the news stories about people who have lost their jobs because of a blog post or something on a profile on MySpace or Facebook. But here’s a new twist: earlier this month, Read Write Web reported on a college student who not only lost a student teaching job because of a photo & caption on her MySpace profile, but as a result her college converted some credits to change her degree in education to one in English. I haven’t looked up anything else on this story, but as RWW reports, the situation is a little more complex than a simple matter of the woman in question not using her privacy settings (which she obviously hadn’t been). It sounds like there were some disagreements between her and her supervising teacher, and the article hints at the possibility that the woman either wasn’t cut out for high school teaching, or she didn’t receive the kind of mentoring one would expect while in a student teaching position. Anyway, I can’t really comment on this case much more than that, but Abby and I got to talking about it. Read the rest of this entry »

ASIS&T 2008: Conferences & Social Networking

October 28, 2008 in conferences, social software by spinstah

Making the Most of Conferences Via Social Networking
Presenters: Crystal Fulton, Julie Hesberger, Kate Johnson (absent), Ophelia Morey, Ruth Vondracek

[Sessions at this time were only given an hour instead of 1.5 - 2. Seems like poor planning to me. Was OK to run over because there are no sessions again until 2pm, but still, you have maybe 15 minutes extra before people start to leave.]

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ASIS&T 2008: Life on the Web

October 27, 2008 in conferences, social software by spinstah | 1 comment

My So-called Life on the Web
Presenters: Allison Brueckner, Gary Marchionini, Catherine Marshall, William Jones (moderator), Marcia J Bates

[Came in late, so I missed most of the first presenter, Fred someone-or-other. Sounds like he talked about privacy on Facebook. Sat on the floor in the back of a full room & couldn't really see the screen. Marcia J Bates was listed but isn't here – missed intros so not sure what happened, guessing Fred took her place.]

Read the rest of this entry »

Flickr upgrade

September 19, 2008 in review, social software by spinstah

The other night, I noticed a little link on my Flickr homepage — did I want to upgrade to the new interface? Why sure. I have to say, I like it. Given that there hadn’t been any big announcements that this was coming (a ala the new Facebook) I figured it probably wasn’t going to be that much of a change. But in some important ways, it is.

Now, the first thing I see when I hit my Flickr homepage is recent activity. That’s both on my photos (who’s commented, favorited them, tagged them, added a note, etc.) and on photos on which I have commented — that means I can more easily follow the developing conversation around a video that a friend took of new dining spaces at my library school. This information was available previously, but this change really puts the social aspect front and center. Of course, there are those of us who were already using it as a social tool to a certain extent, but I think this will make it more obvious to other folks. (The social aspect of Flickr is something that seems to puzzle people when I am explaining what it is and why it’s so much better than whatever online service is provided by your camera manufacturer.)

I can also see a small line graph of daily views of all my photos, and when I click through on that I get a more detailed breakdown of which photos have been viewed recently. Again, this was available before (I believe) but it wasn’t front and center. Now I know that a photo I took of a Loyola building in January was viewed 7 times yesterday. (Welcome, freshmen.) And I also know that this photo of a ballband dishcloth has been viewed more than 14,000 times since I uploaded it on 11/18/06. (I blame Ravelry, and also the incredible popularity of this pattern among a certain type of knitter.)

When I scroll down on my homepage, I can still see the 8 most recent uploads from my contacts (I believe previously on the homepage you only saw 6; that or the thumbnails were smaller). And below that, the four most recent photos from one of my groups are displayed. (Not sure how the group is picked – randomly? Last one I added to?)

There’s still a small box highlighting a recent post on the Flickr blog, and there’s another little box with a rotating announcement. The really neat thing is that I can manually refresh that little box and cycle through a handful of announcements and helpful info. I know this is not really an unusual feature, but I like the little icon they’ve made to indicate that you can do this. (In nerdspeak — I am fond of this design pattern.)

Anyway, that’s that. Flickr users should keep an eye out for that little link (not sure if they are slowly rolling it out or if it’s available for everyone). Oh, I should mention that there’s an entertaining little interlude while your homepage rearranges itself, too. I thought it really captured Flickr’s friendly/funny vibe.

del.icio.us changes

July 30, 2008 in macbook, social software by spinstah | 1 comment

This was news to me, but apparently del.icio.us is being redesigned, and that redesign is about ready to debut. One thing to note: they’re asking that everyone make note of their login info, as when they update with the new design, everyone will be logged out and will have to log back in. So, go check on that.

Also, my MacBook is here. “Here” as in sitting in my office right behind me here and I have only opened the shipping box and peered inside. A cute FedEx guy brought it this morning. I have things to do at work now, so Willpower is currently set at “iron” in order to avoid throwing the rest of my workday off track. (Normally it is set at “silly putty,” all the better to take advantage of any passing cupcakes.) I cannot wait to get home and I am psyched that tomorrow I work the evening shift — that means I can play all morning. (So much for that bike ride.)

Online Marketing Webinar

May 8, 2008 in libraries, public relations, review, social software by spinstah | 1 comment

So, I just listened to a free online webinar through OPAL — Online Marketing for Libraries, by Sarah Houghon-Jan, the Librarian in Black. (Here’s a link to the archive page this is listed on. I can’t figure out if there’s a way to link directly to the entry without just linking to the files, not that I tried very hard. Yes, the files are already posted. OPAL is fast.)

This was really cool. I’ve never heard Sarah speak before, and I thought it was a great presentation — and that’s saying a lot since I couldn’t see her, and we were stuck just looking at PowerPoints (though it was a good PP, as these things go!). The gist of it is that she covers a ton of ways, many free, that you can build your online presence aside from your library website. This includes things like blogging and social networking sites. But she also had a ton of great tips: making Wikipedia page for your library, or adding a link to your library from appropriate pages on Wikipedia (like a city or college entry, for example). Where do you come up in search engine results? Do all the various domains your users might type in to get to you point to your website? Are you listed in places like Google Maps and Library Thing Local? What about websites listing free WiFi hotspots? (Well, if your WiFi is free and not password-protected.) Read the rest of this entry »

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