The Good and The Bad
I started typing this on train while consulting my smartphone on precisely what I’m supposed to be typing on (well I’m a bit behind, yes, I know!) because it was connecting better than my dongle was. While simultaneously arranging cinema with my brother and checking Twitter up-dates. This more or less tells me that yes I like my online networks even if I’m not great at the technicalities (which tend to harass me totally trying to sort out before I get there finally in a nerveless exhausted heap gibbering gently) or quite as addicted to it as some. Well, I SAY not addicted, but you haven’t seen me when I lose internet connection or my ICT goes pear-shaped at home. Major trauma is not in it until everything’s calm again, because it’s become integral to life for lots of different things.
We’re given six networks to consider. I think I pretty much covered my use of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter in Thing 3 on personal online branding, but quick summaries on all…
LinkedIn -
I need to pay more serious attention to, I’m there, I’m a member of several groups, I accept people nicely who invite me to connect to them… but my profile’s out of date and mostly I use it to follow the odd discussion (and sometimes to post), and my professional Twitter is (ho hum) ‘linked in’ to it but I don’t tweet from that account much. My LinkedIn people tend to be lawyers, CILIP folk or law librarians. That kind of sums it up. I do need to do a serious up-date on it (see Thing 3). I’ve started this week just up-dating the odd section and adding things.
Facebook -
I use socially (though am a member of various professional groups on it), or used to a good deal, I find it incredibly slow these days and I’m very busy. The fact it’s always been evenings I’ve principally been able to get at it when I’m just too tired for it doesn’t help either. So I’m getting nudged a lot by Facebook this last year or so which frankly I find annoying. Even uploading photos to it takes forever these days, I haven’t got forever available. I get incredibly frustrated by that.
Twitter -
I have the professional / CILIP identity I feel rather careful about so don’t tweet nearly as much from as I do from my personal one which goes to very few people and has nothing professional or work per se on it. I use my professional one a lot, but more reactively, reading other people’s posts, following interesting links…, tweet a lot less from it.
CILIP Communities -
I do use and always have, currently various CILIP blogs I have an interest in are brought together through it which is useful, documents I need to access on it, or there might be an interesting conversation someone has told me about. But I tend to go to it for very specific purposes. I really need to up-date my profile on it.
LAT Network -
The LAT Network is a totally new one on me and it’s fascinating, enjoyed having a good rummage about on it, especially as I’ve been thinking about TeachMeets recently after chatting to the person responsible for the Poster Session on at Umbrella, but it’s too teaching orientated for me although I really enjoyed my look through it.
LISPN -
The description of on the Thing blog surprised me, ‘new professional’ is indeed a broad term, but I didn’t realise quite how broad it was being interpreted. On the basis that you’re as young as you think you are I still think I’m more likely to answer to Methusalah than I am to ‘new’. But I went and I had a look through and found the current discussion thread on how far would you travel for a job really interesting.
Solutions implemented –
This week
- I got wifi installed finally at home (after moving the box about the living-room since July)
- Got my smartphone (a summer addition to life) connected to my home network.
- My Twitter accounts and Facebook properly set up on phone.
These are major achievements. I’m now emotionally exhausted for the week!
But being able to check things and up-date from anywhere at home will make it a lot likelier I’ll find the energy to post as well as read. I’m no longer chained to the kitchen table at home.
Solutions to come -
Just contemplating this list makes me glum truth to tell. I have so many lists for so many things as it is. But I've definitely made progress this week already (see list above). The things below would also constitute progress for all they'll take a bit of time and application some of them.
- Have a good look at whether I finally go data plan for external use re smartphone. My Pay As You Go costs are just too prohibitive for regular external internet connection and I never know if I’ll find someone else’s available network or not to connect to when I’m away, and I’m away a lot.
- Finish up-dating LinkedIn profile.
- Up-date Communities profile.
- Re photos time to (shriek horror) start a Flickr account. See if that’s quicker for uploading.
- That invite gathering dust to Google+ - go have a play with it (something else I’ve been hearing about a lot in the last couple of months). But I currently doubt I have inclination or time for ‘yet another’ largescale network to keep up with.
- Look back at my Thing 3 list and check there’s nothing else outstanding on that.
Conclusion
All in all I don’t think I’ll change what I use as a result of this Thing.
But it has made me have a look through things I hadn’t known about or hadn’t explored before.
It has certainly helped giving me the momentum to find time and nervous energy to just get various things done to improve the ‘how’ I use them best for my own convenience.
It’s going to take longer than a week though.
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