I joined Twitter and had lots of fun tweeting with my buddies during class last week. I am a follower of The State Library Victoria, National Library, ALIA, The British Library and others.
I also get MIM Yammer updates via my email, which I find really useful. It is a good way to keep up with what is going on and any problems that other students are having. Today I actually contributed to Yammer for the first time. There are 3 different really interesting Information Management related meetings/events coming up, so I posted the details on Yammer. Check it out!
One thing I find with all of these tools though is finding the time to keep up with them and contribute to them. I don't know how people have time to tweet, blog, update Facebook etc! All of these tools are blocked at my workplace, so I can't use them there (probably a good thing!), and I don't have a smartphone, so I have to wait until I get home and switch the computer on. In fact I think I just prefer to receive all my information, and communicate with people via email. You aren't limited by space (as in Twitter) and it is just one place to go and look.
It is important for any organisation that needs to communicate with the public to offer all of these different ways of communication though because people have their preferences for the formats they want to use. And it is really important of course to know how to use all of these different communication tools.
Kathrine! After having posted some Info Management events on Yammer do you feel as though your view of this social media tool is now different? - ie do you think you'll feel compelled to keep finding things of interest and posting them? I ask because I am signed up to Yammer but have never posted anything. On a broader view I think that I have not been so taken with Web 2.0 tools because I have never seen myself as a 'content creator'. The problem with this stance is that I feel as though these tools are not for me and am thus resigning myself to being out of the loop. I'm hoping that I can find a happy balance between reading and writing using Web 2.0 tools.
ReplyDeleteHi Ellen, that is a good point about not seeing yourself as a 'content creator'! I feel the same way, and I think that is why I haven't felt the need to contribute to all of these tools in the past. I must say though that I think I will continue to contribute to Yammer. I can see that it is a tool that all IM students (if they are signed up to receive it!) have access to, and a good way of reaching my fellow students. So I will continue to post relevant seminars/meetings/talks - just in case people are interested. Personally I think it is important to post things that are of relevance - I'm not so keen on posts that are done just for the sake of saying something. I guess the beauty of these tools is that you can easily scan the posts and see which ones are of relevance and you can ignore the ones you aren't interested in.
DeleteYep, totally agree with you on Yammar being a good tool for MIM students (and students of all disciplines!) to connect and share relevant IM stuff. I guess too that it would make me more motivated to search for current/trending IM stories and news if I was in the habit of posting on Yammar. Good on you for continuing to contribute! Its my goal to do it even once in the next few weeks. I'll let you know (or you'll see it!)......
DeleteI like your realism when it comes to Web 2.0 tools Kathrine and I agree, finding time to maintain all these different platforms can get a bit tricky (esp. without a smart phone - though at least you can avoid the temptation to Tweet etc in bed!).
ReplyDeleteGood on you for jumping on board Yammer. That's the one tool we've covered in the class so far that I really haven't taken to. This might have something to do with the fact that I feel like I have ENOUGH social media sites to maintain (personal Wordpress blog, DocMan1 blog, a personal Facebook page plus a PoMoFo public page, Twitter and Linked In...not to mention work email, personal email, RMIT email).
It's like social media central in my house and I don't know how I could possibly squeeze another one in. Wow. I've never actually listed them all before...
So, I hear you.
Yes, it's really overwhelming, but quite addictive! I'm really enjoying these blogs!
DeleteInteresting to hear that your work has blocked facebook etc - I wonder how many other businesses do this?
ReplyDeleteAnd for the organisations that do allow access - do they track an employees use at work??!!
I am actually glad that I can't access these tools at work because I can see that it would be very easy to get addicted, and you would feel like to have to look at each new tweet or post as it arrives, and then tweet or reply..... it could take up a big chunk of your day.
DeleteMmmmm it IS distracting...
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