As I learn more about this new Social Media world (new to me, clearly not new to many others) I am amazed at not only how many different media resources there are, but how well they are all linked to each other. It is really very easy to invite someone to join not only your Face Book “Friend” list, but your Linked In Network and your Twitter Page. And, in many cases you can see all of the people you know that are also out there so you can easily invite more with no more than a few clicks. The amount of information you can post out there about yourself or gain about someone else is amazing too – but it also makes you want to be a little more careful.
I am happy to report that I now have a Face Book page, a much more up-to-date Linked In account and a Twitter page. Should I ever decide to re-enter the professional world, these tools will prove very useful indeed. As a side note, this has also done wonders for my not-so-impressive social life, as I have re-connected with countless people from my past. What fun to catch up with everybody while at the same time building up my network.
I created my Linked In account some time ago while I was still working, but it wasn’t’ all that complete, and much has changed since then so it definitely needed to be updated. While I was updating it I was able to add new people that I didn’t have a relationship with when I created the account. I look at this tool as a more professional connection as it contains so much about the individuals, the companies they are/were with and the positions they held. There is also an opportunity for so much more detail with this site.
I created my Face Book account as a direct result of this class – I honestly had no intention of going “Face Book” until I was forced into it by way of keeping track of my kids computer habits. However, I was amazed at how much fun it is, and what a great resource it is. Face Book has helped me find people I never would have been able to find, and I have re-connected with so many people this way. I consider Face Book more of a “social” tool, as it tracks what people are doing, who saw who, and who likes what. There is certainly an opportunity to use this as a more professional tool, but I seem to have gotten stuck on the social end of it!
Like Face Book, my Twitter page was a direct result of this class. While I had at least heard of Face Book, I had no clue what Twitter was. After reading several articles posted on The Digital Bus’ New Media Drivers License page for Assignment #4, I had a much better idea of what Twitter was and how it was used. It seems to me to be an abbreviated combination of both Face Book and Linked In, which makes it a perfect tool to group with these two. Twitter is quick (limited to 140 characters for each “update”) and to the point, but you can “follow” whomever you want, whenever you want, without having to do too much reading. Its another great tool to use for networking and keeping in touch.
Overall, Face Book is my favorite, hands down. It is just too much fun (as attested to by my husband and kids due to the amount of time I know spen laughing in front of my computer). Linked In would be next on my list as its easy to use, easy to navigate through and full of really great information about the people I’m liked to.
I haven’t spent as much time on Twitter, so it would make sense that this is my least favorite, but that could very well change as I get more familiar with the tool. The limited space for “tweets” is one of the things I don’t like about it, but I also recognize that this is what makes is “quick and easy”, and allows for it to be a great tool for mobile phones. We’ll see what happens as I become a more efficient “twitterer”.
Juli Rybicki's blog 