Online networks... my thoughts and experiences

So Thing 6 is all about online networks, including LinkedIn and Facebook...

I've been a member of facebook for SO long... i can't say I'm a regular user, I went through a period of using it really frequently but now I log in probably less than once a month.  I can honestly say I'm not a fan of it, I've had friends who've had bad experiences, including bullying / harrassment type situations - not nice.  I really want to delete my profile, as I disagree with their privacy settings (I actually looked up news & blog items about it as part of my activity for this week) - it's really surprising what they can get away with, but I just can't seem to let go... it's just used by so many people, if you're not on it, you're just not with it!

However, I have just joined google+ today... it seems a lot less intrusive, maybe a bit of a friendlier interface... let's see how that goes :o)

I have also been a member of LinkedIn for quite some time, I've used it several times to network professionally.  I think it's a great idea to have an online network for work purposes, and a place to discuss professional issues with peers and colleagues... My experiences are all positive.  In fact, looking at some of the other LinkedIn pages, I may log in and improve my profile a bit.

That's about it for online networks for me, this week has been really useful just to think about my online presence and my privacy (which is important to me).  I can see the benefits of online networks, but when they are used for the good of the customer, not as a way to gain information about me...

Looking forward to the next thing ;o)

Twits... oh! ok tweets... my experiences with Thing 4

I've been a member of twitter for some time, but I hardly ever use it.  I follow the usual people, like Perez Hilton, just to see what celebrity gossip there is... But, looking at it fresh today for Thing 4, I'm beginning to appreciate how useful it is for professional purposes too.  I am now following a whole range of people and organisations that are tweeting all kinds of useful information.  It is a great way of keeping up to date, without having to actually go out and search for updates myself...

I have used rss feeds for work purposes before, so this wasn't really new to me.

Looking at pushnote, I don't think it's something I would use really.  I'll keep it in mind though, and it's great that I've learnt about it through Thing 4 - i doubt I'd have come across it otherwise.

So... for me this week's Thing has been great - I'm going to keep checking up on twitter to see what's happening in the library and information world.  I'll let you know my thoughts next week!

Pssst... I may have a sneaky look at Cheryl Cole too... well, you can't blame a girl for keeping up with her gossip!! ;o) 

Thing number 2 - blog following

So for thing 2 I need to check out some other blogs, read their posts and leave some comments.  I'm also going to follow some.  It's been a really interesting exercise - it's great to read other's experiences; particulary because we're later to start the 23 things - most of the blogs are by those who have either completed or have almost completed all the things.  So it's good to know what to expect in the coming weeks!!!!

So far I've looked at the blogs produced by my colleagues, as well as these:

Adventures of a Welsh librarian: http://llyfrgellyddcymraeg.blogspot.com/

Dark-side-of-the-catalogue: http://darksideofthecatalogue.wordpress.com/

Branding myself or 'Thing 3'

Well the advice from the cpd23 blog about completing 'thing 3' mentioned that someone took 3 weeks to decide upon their blog domain name, and an hour to brand the blog!  This was a bit surprising to me.  I guess I am a bit impatient and I hadn't considered about my domain name before I started my blog.  I'm not sure if I'd change mine now anyway... it's out there in the universe so I guess it'll have to stay.

As for my branding, after some playing about, I feel that my blog looks like sunny days and picnics!  I suppose I want to make my blog look attractive as it is my space... my blog is going for the 'profersonal' approach mentioned in the cpd23 guidance.  My colleagues blogs are pretty cool I noticed... I am envious of http://becthelibrarian.blogspot.com/?v=0 and the spacey theme.

I googled myself, and google told me lots of interesting things about all the other Jemma Francis' in the world.  I had a slight shock, found my name on one not so good website...  Ummmm I don't think I'll be googling my name again... ;o)

Maybe I'll add some information about myself to the blog.  I did add a blog description, but I just find when I come back to it every week, I've learnt something new and I want to change a little something on my blog to reflect that.  So my branding is a work in progress... I might change something every week til I can feel it's what I'm completely happy with.

Thing 4 next week!!

My first thing - blogging!

I am a librarian working for the Welsh Government, and I am based in Cardiff, south Wales.  I am taking part in 23 things to learn more about social networking - not just having someone tell me about it and what I should be doing - but to actually take part in this myself!!!

I'm interested in how I and my colleagues here in the Welsh Government library, can use social networking to do our job better; including communicating with our customers in different ways, and delivering information to our customers in the most useful and appropriate way possible.  It is also great to finally be involved in this course and to share experiences.

I've never blogged before, so this is a new experience for me.  I should imagine I will enjoy it, as I love talking!!