Although slightly backwards, I am going to go ahead and write my reflection before I am technically finished with my 13 things because I guess this is part of the process. I didn't realize how challenging getting a grasp on some of this technology could be, and it should be noted I have messed around on different types of computer social and professional applications before, but trying to embed codes is just not my forte.
Although it was very challenging at times I kind of wanted to pull my hair out with all of the different types of applications and accounts I was signing up for, I think in the end it is very worthwhile knowing how to use Web 2.0 and the different functions that work alongside it. I never knew just how many types of applications and networking that actually tend to overlap. I know we live in an age of technology, but I guess I wasn't aware just to what extent. I think it's a completely different mindset that comes in growing up in this particular society at this particular time.
I think my favorite was looking at Google Reader and messing around with Wordle, even though I have had problems trying to embed those codes as well. I don't know that my lack of enthusiasm came from any particular application, it was more learning how to blog and incorporate these things into my blog posts that became more of a nuisance. I think I must be more "old school" than I give myself credit for sometimes.
I think there are a lot of applications I will take with me after leaving school, including the idea of developing a personal and professional blog. I think this may have been the largest challenge; keeping up two blogs at one time is not something I completely recommend.
Overall, I am really glad I was forced to do this project, even though it got tedious and demanding at times as far as pushing me past my "techie" skills comfort level.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Visual Thesaurus
The idea of Visual Thesaurus is an interesting idea. In fact it is so interesting, the word I chose to use in the application was "interest." I was amazed at how many options for synonyms popped up right away. I think my favorites were "sake," or reason for doing something and "pursuit," or the search for an alternative which meets cognitive criteria. These words just seemed more exciting than the word "interest."
I use thesauruses almost regularly when writing. Most of the time I use an online thesaurus to do my dirty work. It always seems like I am trying to find a word that works better or provides clarity for any particular given audience. I know it sounds slightly juvenile, but if you use it correctly, a thesaurus can help to make you sound more professional and intellectual, which can come in handy especially in the working world.
I use thesauruses almost regularly when writing. Most of the time I use an online thesaurus to do my dirty work. It always seems like I am trying to find a word that works better or provides clarity for any particular given audience. I know it sounds slightly juvenile, but if you use it correctly, a thesaurus can help to make you sound more professional and intellectual, which can come in handy especially in the working world.
Creative Commons
I really really like the idea of having something like Creative Commons available to the general public. I don't know how many times I have used images off the internet and have not known whether what I was doing was technically legal. I feel as though this idea of creating some new standards for the use of certain logos and graphics, information, quotes, and what have you for academic purposes and furthering one's education seem completely ethical and logical. With the internet highway exploding, it seems silly NOT to have something like this available for the average Joe or Jane.
Google Reader
Since taking this class, I have explored options in iGoogle. It's a really convenient way to organize one's life with all of the gadgets available to make life easier. I knew nothing about Google Reader, however, and I have taken a liking to this particular feeding system. I often find myself getting flustered sifting through materials online and filtering through what I want to read and getting the most out of both my time and the materials that are of interest to me in particular.
I can see this tool being very beneficial in a professional setting, especially in a non-profit organization. People working in non-profits are constantly looking for new information and places they can send their clients for more information. It would be so nice to have materials that directly relate to one's area of interest in a non-profit setting easily at hand.
I can see this tool being very beneficial in a professional setting, especially in a non-profit organization. People working in non-profits are constantly looking for new information and places they can send their clients for more information. It would be so nice to have materials that directly relate to one's area of interest in a non-profit setting easily at hand.
Social Bookmarking
I created a Delicious account and after feeling slightly overwhelmed once again with a new type of technology, I actually found it rather interesting. I didn't know bookmarking could be this easy or be so time-efficient. It's nice being able to pull up my favorite websites and topics of interest to me wherever I go. I also liked that I could access favorite pages of others, and how easy they made it for me to search highly recommended and sought after websites and topics. This is probably one account I will find very useful in the working world. It's kind of like having a filing cabinet, with the exception that it is online.
Before I was "required" to sign up for a Twitter account for class, I had actually already Twitter account mgtoay77 and had been spending a lot of time getting used to tweeting and what have you that actually goes on in Twitter. In essence it is really just a short and concise form of blogging. I'm not going to lie...it was never one of those things I yearned to do in life. Actually, to be completely honest, I have been quite satisfied with Facebook and e-mail up until this particular semester in my life. Sometimes, I feel discombobulated by all of the updates with my friends lives and getting the 4-1-1 on everyone's situations all of the time.
I can't help but to find in a time where people complain about violation and lack of privacy in the world today, that we make such an effort in letting the whole world know what we do, when we do it, and at the exact time we are going to do it. To be frank, there are just some things the world does not need to know about you...or anyone else for that matter. Why not make some things private? Keep some thoughts to ourselves? Learn the decency of keeping a secret or holding one's tongue?
I know to some of you who are reading this now, you are thinking...wow, is she a hypocrite or what? She has a Twitter account, a Facebook account; she e-mails and now she is blogging too...how is this not contradicting everything she is saying? To be honest, yes, it is a contradiction...but only to a certain extent. I use Twitter, but not in the same ways people use it now...or rather, people my age. People my age use Twitter to post every emotion, attachment, detachment, crazy idea, dumb quote or song lyric, overused phrase or slang, or what have you every second of the day. I have received updates from friends five times within a ten minute span...excessive? Yes, I would say so. This is what I mean by over sharing...if I wanted a play by play of how your experience in the bathroom with the latest Cosmo was going, I would have asked...need I say more?
I guess what I am trying to say is that I appreciate social networking for social networking's sake, but there is this idea that seems to be looming above all of it. We share because we have the ability to, and because we have access at our fingertips, But is it really necessary? I tweet on random occasions and on sporadic topics; sometimes what I say has no relevance but to one individual and sometimes I will say it to my general audience, but I will never become addicted to this particular social media in the same way I have witnessed others.
I was lucky enough to find a couple of good professional "tweeters" in the Public Relations field to follow, including those willing to list available jobs. One, whom I particularly like is Rob Skinner at Skout PR in Manchester, UK. He is always giving advice as well as website updates that may come in handy when looking for jobs or information in his particular market. I found this to be extremely intriguing. The idea of using a social network to post job listings with words spelled "gr8" and "kol". I don't know how I feel about the idea of employers posting jobs on Twitter with words spelled like this. Does that mean that as a future employee I can spell things like this simply out of the inconvenience of number of characters available to the one tweeting?
Twitter can be either a learning tool or it can way in which we socially navigate the world, or both if you let it. If you choose to go that route, however, you will need a lot of filtering on what is and is not appropriate for such a Twitter account.
I can't help but to find in a time where people complain about violation and lack of privacy in the world today, that we make such an effort in letting the whole world know what we do, when we do it, and at the exact time we are going to do it. To be frank, there are just some things the world does not need to know about you...or anyone else for that matter. Why not make some things private? Keep some thoughts to ourselves? Learn the decency of keeping a secret or holding one's tongue?
I know to some of you who are reading this now, you are thinking...wow, is she a hypocrite or what? She has a Twitter account, a Facebook account; she e-mails and now she is blogging too...how is this not contradicting everything she is saying? To be honest, yes, it is a contradiction...but only to a certain extent. I use Twitter, but not in the same ways people use it now...or rather, people my age. People my age use Twitter to post every emotion, attachment, detachment, crazy idea, dumb quote or song lyric, overused phrase or slang, or what have you every second of the day. I have received updates from friends five times within a ten minute span...excessive? Yes, I would say so. This is what I mean by over sharing...if I wanted a play by play of how your experience in the bathroom with the latest Cosmo was going, I would have asked...need I say more?
I guess what I am trying to say is that I appreciate social networking for social networking's sake, but there is this idea that seems to be looming above all of it. We share because we have the ability to, and because we have access at our fingertips, But is it really necessary? I tweet on random occasions and on sporadic topics; sometimes what I say has no relevance but to one individual and sometimes I will say it to my general audience, but I will never become addicted to this particular social media in the same way I have witnessed others.
I was lucky enough to find a couple of good professional "tweeters" in the Public Relations field to follow, including those willing to list available jobs. One, whom I particularly like is Rob Skinner at Skout PR in Manchester, UK. He is always giving advice as well as website updates that may come in handy when looking for jobs or information in his particular market. I found this to be extremely intriguing. The idea of using a social network to post job listings with words spelled "gr8" and "kol". I don't know how I feel about the idea of employers posting jobs on Twitter with words spelled like this. Does that mean that as a future employee I can spell things like this simply out of the inconvenience of number of characters available to the one tweeting?
Twitter can be either a learning tool or it can way in which we socially navigate the world, or both if you let it. If you choose to go that route, however, you will need a lot of filtering on what is and is not appropriate for such a Twitter account.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Why Blog?
Honestly, in the beginning, I didn't much care for the idea of blogging. I knew it was going to be a lot of maintenance and I didn't quite understand the purpose of such a thing. Why do people need to know my every move? Is it going to be beneficial for myself as a writer to post blurbs like these into a nicely organized and specially designed web page? I'm not sure if I have any of those answers, however, I do know that I am enjoying this process more than I thought I would. I think it particularly helps that I have classmates who are sharing in the same process with me. It's been particularly interesting getting the opportunity to read up on some of their personal blogs.
I always find it interesting to see what friends choose to write about in papers and what have you, but now that they get to choose topics daily on things they have a particular interest in, I am not only gaining a deeper understanding of their interests, hobbies, and what have you, but also I get to see firsthand what type of writing methods they use.
I also like the advice some of them gave in their blogs about things to try, places to visit on the web for additional help and organization. It's always nice having extra feedback and help with any project, and blogging is no different! As far as labels and tags go, I outlined them based on the numbers we were presented with for class. I figured if classmates were interested about Thing #6, they should be able to locate it by that particular label without having to know the title of the particular post for that day. It appears to be a legitimate way of searching for posts.
I always find it interesting to see what friends choose to write about in papers and what have you, but now that they get to choose topics daily on things they have a particular interest in, I am not only gaining a deeper understanding of their interests, hobbies, and what have you, but also I get to see firsthand what type of writing methods they use.
I also like the advice some of them gave in their blogs about things to try, places to visit on the web for additional help and organization. It's always nice having extra feedback and help with any project, and blogging is no different! As far as labels and tags go, I outlined them based on the numbers we were presented with for class. I figured if classmates were interested about Thing #6, they should be able to locate it by that particular label without having to know the title of the particular post for that day. It appears to be a legitimate way of searching for posts.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Action Squad!
So, I decided that it would be fun to do a Google search of amusing blogs to see what I would or could come up with and I instead I found a really interesting site that wasn't necessarily a blog, but more a less a blog of different adventures a group of men decide to go on. This group happens to be from the Minneapolis area and call themselves the Action Squad. This group go on various onsite scavengers throughout the "urban city" to see what types of underground stories they can unravel. It's pretty cool and kind of creepy. The men document their trips with photos and narratives, careful not reveal too much about their identities in order to stay under radar of police enforcement. It is a totally different spin on a type of interesting idea I had never thought of. If you are interested in learning more about the Action Squad just click on the link!
Friday, February 18, 2011
My Mind Map
This mind map presents a clear representation of work I have or am currently in the process of doing for my internship at the Alzheimer's Association this semester. As part of professional working staff at a non-profit, I have been juggling several large projects at once, which is very apparent in this particular mind map.
https://bubbl.us/?h=79dc6/e715d/4968v2cg4CqVM
Normally, I like to sketch things out beforehand using pen and paper to get a clear idea of what I am undertaking in any given project, assignment, activity, or what have you. I have done this in various ways: making lists, similar mind maps on paper, outlines, etc. Because I am such a visual person, I have learned what works and does not work for me. Maps such as this always seem more tangible. I really enjoyed this program because I could move objects around and edit them easily. I could see myself using bubbl.us more often; it seems like a fairly useful tool!
https://bubbl.us/?h=79dc6/e715d/4968v2cg4CqVM
Normally, I like to sketch things out beforehand using pen and paper to get a clear idea of what I am undertaking in any given project, assignment, activity, or what have you. I have done this in various ways: making lists, similar mind maps on paper, outlines, etc. Because I am such a visual person, I have learned what works and does not work for me. Maps such as this always seem more tangible. I really enjoyed this program because I could move objects around and edit them easily. I could see myself using bubbl.us more often; it seems like a fairly useful tool!
Professional Facebook Posts
Advice by: Meredith Toay
In my opinion, there is a definite difference between what is acceptable to be posted on a company website and that which is acceptable for a Facebook page. Facebook tends to make things more acceptable and universal in meeting the needs of their customers. The more interactive the site, the more likely customers will use it, meaning when customers have access to the Facebook wall to write opinions and give feedback. I work for Express currently and our Facebook page <http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/express> is very interactive. The company receives feedback on coupons, promotional deals, and customer service without the formalities of surveys and what have you. In all actuality, the creation of a Facebook page for one’s company can really be an insight into the minds of a consumer base that the company may not have seen without such a tool.
Although it is important for companies to keep a professional appearance for any marketing they do, I think it is as equally important to give consumers a place where they feel safe. Creating this type of environment with interactive feedback is essential to the success of any company.
In my opinion, there is a definite difference between what is acceptable to be posted on a company website and that which is acceptable for a Facebook page. Facebook tends to make things more acceptable and universal in meeting the needs of their customers. The more interactive the site, the more likely customers will use it, meaning when customers have access to the Facebook wall to write opinions and give feedback. I work for Express currently and our Facebook page <http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/express> is very interactive. The company receives feedback on coupons, promotional deals, and customer service without the formalities of surveys and what have you. In all actuality, the creation of a Facebook page for one’s company can really be an insight into the minds of a consumer base that the company may not have seen without such a tool.
Although it is important for companies to keep a professional appearance for any marketing they do, I think it is as equally important to give consumers a place where they feel safe. Creating this type of environment with interactive feedback is essential to the success of any company.
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