Article: (part 1) Social Networking Tools: Let's Be Social

[This article is divided into three parts: Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3. This article was previously published in the November 2007 issue of the RPCN Newsletter and a version of this article appeared in Oct/Nov issue of the Bulletin of the Information Technology Division/SLA.]

After the presentation I did at RPCN on Sept. 21, I realized that it might be useful to talk more about how I use various online social networking tools and when. I am a firm believer that you need a defined reason (or benefit) to may your use worthwhile, so I am chronicling my benefits in hopes that you might see how they will benefit you.

I spoke about social networking tools in three categories. Some tools help you connect with other people. Others provide ways for you to share information with others. Finally, a growing number of tools facilitate collaborations. A trend is for a tool to work across these three categories and several that I use do just that.

CONNECT

We are used to connect face-to-face, on the phone or via email. Social networking tools allow us to connect in ways that ensure that we are:

• Accessible
• Able to exchange information fast
• In the know and considered part of "the crowd"
• Not "missing in action"

In fact, these tools allow us to be "hyper-linked." You are linked to your colleagues not just in one way, but many ways.

The tools you use to connect to your colleagues will depend on the tools they are using. The people with whom I want to connect are using LinkedIn.com and Facebook.com. Some of us also connect as friends through various sharing services (below) including Flickr.com.

LinkedIn describes itself as "a place to find and leverage professional opportunities, now and throughout your career." There are more than 14 million professional on LinkedIn who:

• Present their professional capabilities
• Find and connect with colleagues
• Use their extended networks to find and reach potential partners, clients, or employees
• Discover business opportunities
• Locate information

A basic account on LinkedIn is free. Premium accounts are available for those who really want to work their networks in LinkedIn. As an example of a LinkedIn profile, you can view mine at http://www.linkedin.com/in/jillhurstwahl . Notice that others on LinkedIn can leave recommendations on your profile that are visible to everyone.

If you are using LinkedIn and want to learn more about using it effectively, read LinkedIntelligence.com, a blog that focuses specifically on LinkedIn. The blog gives great advice for making LinkedIn work better for you. You might also read The LinkedIn Personal Trainer written by RPCN member Steven Tylock.

Facebook.com was originally a place for college students to connect. (Some of us may have memories of the printed face books given to us as college freshman). After a while, Facebook was opened up to high school students, and then to business people. Facebook has replaced MySpace for some, because of its better features and functionality. Facebook describes itself as "a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet."

Here is a good place to talk about privacy as well as learning more about your colleagues. It is important to consider what information you do not want to disclose about yourself online and then be consistent in applying your rule with every social networking tool. For example, I am very honest about who I am and what I do, but I do not disclose my home address.

Since people generally are willing to be more open about their lives in these social networking tools, you can often learn more about your colleagues through these tools rather than what you can learn from them face-to-face or via email. Someone can easily "buffalo" us in a quick face-to-face meeting, but may drop his/her guard online because the person sees these tools as both serious and fun (and we tend to disclose more when we're having fun).

To read a blog post I did on Facebook, go to http://tinyurl.com/ypwg2z . I'm on Facebook for a few minutes each day, updating my status (what I'm doing), checking on a colleagues, and perhaps sending a message to someone else. Facebook has become an important tool for staying in contact with several specific people. I've been able to use Facebook to teach my "friends" what I do in my consulting business, which I believe to be very valuable.

Friends? Many of these tools allow you to connect with "friends." Friends are those people that you want to be connected with, whether they are a friend, acquaintance or someone you don't really know. Who you consider a friend is a very personal decision. Some people will "friend" someone they have actually met face-to-face. My rule for who is a friend is different for each service I use and based on what I'm trying to achieve in a specific social networking tool.

** Continued in Part 2 **

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Technorati tags: Connecting, Sharing, Collaborating, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, MySpace

Article: (part 2) Social Networking Tools: Let's Be Social

[This article is divided into three parts: Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3. This article was previously published in the November 2007 issue of the RPCN Newsletter and a version of this article appeared in Oct/Nov issue of the Bulletin of the Information Technology Division/SLA.]

SHARE

The power in using social networking tools for sharing is that you can share what you know AND you can benefit from what other people have shared. Tools that fall into this category include blogs, micro-blogs, wikis (discussed below), and photo, video and presentation sharing web sites.

A blog is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. Think of each blog entry (post) as a short article. Most blogs allow for comments, which means that readers can add information or feedback on specific posts. Business blogs are often focused on specific topics where the authors share information that they have with their readers. Since a blog can have a tremendous amount of content, blogs often rank well in search engine results. If you are trying to establish yourself as an expert, a blog can help you do that. I used my blog (www.digitization101.com) to establish an international reputation in digitization. That reputation did not come overnight, but was built by consistently adding to my blog and then marketing my blog constantly.

There are several places were you can build a blog for free including Blogger.com (owned by Google), WordPress.com and Vox.com. There are actually many web sites were blogs can be built. Please think about what functionality you want in order to decide what site/software is best for you.

Micro-blogs are places where you can send and receive short messages (under 140 characters) with a group of people. They are different from instant messenger services because you are broadcasting your messages to a group of people, not just to one person. Micro-blogs are an interesting way of sharing information with people you know. I'll admit that you can't really understand a micro-blog unless you use one. The one I'm using is Twitter.com (see http://twitter.com/jahurst/with_friends). I don't use Twitter every day, but I have found it a great way of feeling connected with others, and of exchanging information. I do receive useful information from colleagues via Twitter that I know I would not have received otherwise.

There are many sites for sharing photos, videos and presentations. Photos can be shared at Flickr.com, PhotoBucket.com, and KoffeePhoto.com. I use Flickr because I have colleagues that use Flickr. Most photo sharing sites are free, but may charge once you get above a specific number of photos. (Some people have thousands of photos online!) Although I began using Flickr as a way of sharing fun photos, I quickly found business uses for the service:

• Post screen shots of presentations.
• Post information that you want people to review or comment on.
• Post photos to use for instruction (formally or informally).
• Store photos that you want to use on your organization's web site, then use a widget to display those photos.
• Search photos for ideas.

For more information on these five uses, go to http://tinyurl.com/yowd74 .

When we think of videos, many of us think of YouTube.com, but there are actually other services for sharing videos (e.g., Yahoo and Google). Although you may not have video to share, think of searching these sites for videos on business topics that are of interest to you (e.g., 7 Behaviors of Business Success). Many reputable organizations are placing their videos in these services as a way of spreading their message or sharing important information. I now incorporate YouTube videos into several of my workshops because they do an excellent job of illustrating key points.

I put my presentations on my web site, but I could place them in a presentation sharing service like SlideShare.net. (Actually one presentation is there at http://tinyurl.com/yqnswg .) This service allows people to upload and share presentation for free. If you don't have presentations to share (or don't want to share them in this way), you can still use SlideShare to find presentations that interest you. There are presentations on many business topics.

If you need to share your bookmarks (or favorites) from your Internet browser, there are tools for that too. This can be useful if you are collecting bookmarks on a specific topic and then need to share them with your clients or partners. One site for sharing bookmarks is http://del.icio.us. I have found del.icio.us important in working with one specific client. (I've since gotten additional mileage out of those bookmarks with other colleagues.) No need to worry about emailing URLs and having them "break;" I just tell people by del.icio.us account information. To see my bookmarks on podcasting, go to http://del.icio.us/jahurst/podcast .

** Continued in Part 3 **

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Technorati tags: Connecting, Sharing, Collaborating, Twitter, YouTube, Blogging, SlideShare, Flickr, delicious

Article: (part 3) Social Networking Tools: Let's Be Social

[This article is divided into three parts: Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3. This article was previously published in the November 2007 issue of the RPCN Newsletter and a version of this article appeared in Oct/Nov issue of the Bulletin of the Information Technology Division/SLA.]

COLLABORATE

I am writing this article using Google Docs (docs.google.com). Google provides software that allows you to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations on its web site, with many of the features or functionality that you are already familiar. The files are password protected, but I would not place anything in them that was proprietary or confidential. Google Docs allows you to create and edit a files with a group of collaborators, whom you select. Multiple people can edit the files at the same time. Google keeps track of the changes (revisions) and the person who makes them. (That information is viewable, if necessary.) I find Google Docs and Zoho (www.zoho.com), which provides even more tools, to be great tools when working at a distance with a colleague. There is no need to email files back-n-forth and worry about who has the correct version. In one instance, a group of more than a dozen people edited a procedures manual in Google Docs. We were able to make changes effortlessly, leave comments, and mark text that needed to be discussed. This allowed the group to work faster and more accurately.

At their core, wikis are a way of collaborating or allowing a group to share what they know on a specific subject. The most famous wiki is wikipedia.org, which is an encyclopedia being built by thousands of people. Wikis are a great way of building and maintaining manuals, since they often require input from several people and need to be maintained by several people. Many wiki web sites allow wikis to be built for free, but your wiki will likely have ads in it. To eliminate the ads, you may need a fee-based account. To find a wiki that suits your needs, check the wiki matrix at www.wikimatrix.org.

Why am I using Google Docs for writing this article? I'm on my laptop and don't want to have to transfer the file to my desktop to edit later. With this document in Google Docs, I can work on it from either machine, or from another location, as I tweak my wording. In this case, I'm using Google Docs as my word processor instead of MS Word. (By the way, you can export documents created in Google Docs using several common formats, including MS Word.)

Both Google Docs and Zoho are free. I should note that Google has taken some criticism recently of their licensing agreement on Google Docs (see http://tinyurl.com/yqr9r4). At the moment, I don't see a need for concern, but we should all remember that we're using a service that we don't ultimately control.

CUT DOWN YOUR PHONE BILL

We've heard of voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) or broadband phones. If you are not using a broadband phone service (e.g., Time Warner), you can still take advantage of the technology using services such as Skype.com. I decided to use Skype in January 2007, when I realized that I was going to be on a many long distance conversations with clients this year. For $30/year (plus a $25 headset), I can use Skype to call any telephone in the U.S. or Canada. Yes, unlimited phone calls for $30/year. Calling international is also very inexpensive. The call quality is very good and I have definitely received my money's worth. You can also send and receive instant messages through Skype as well as exchange video.

ONE MORE TOOL

Likely you've noticed that some of the URLs in this article are from tinyURL.com. Instead of emailing or printing long URLs, you can use tools such as tinyURL.com or DigBig.com to create short, easy to type URLs. Both services are free and very easy to use.

EVERY DAY & EVERY WEEK

I use at least two social networking tools every day. Besides blogging every day, during a typical week, I'm on instant messenger, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. Depending on what I'm doing, I'll also be on YouTube and spending time in a virtual world (SecondLife.com). Over the last year, I've cutback some tools (e.g., MySpace) and adopted others (e.g., Twitter). The tools I'm using now are useful to me and are easy to use. I know that in the next year, the tools I use will continue to change. I keep an eye on my colleagues and see what they are using, as well as trial tools that sound of interest. However, I won't adopt a tool unless I know that there are others using the tool that are in my circle. Social networking tools are meant to be learned and used socially. So I'll learn the new tools with my friends and adopt what the group adopts.

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Technorati tags: Connecting, Sharing, Collaborating, Twitter, YouTube, Blogging, Flickr,Facebook, MySpace, Google, Zoho, TinyURL

Blog post: TWITTER TOOLBOX: 60+ Twitter Tools

Why people like Twitter can be difficult to describe as well as what you can do with it. Twitter describes itself this way:

Twitter is a community of friends and strangers from around the world sending updates about moments in their lives. Friends near or far can use Twitter to remain somewhat close while far away. Curious people can make friends. Bloggers can use it as a mini-blogging tool.

The key is that the messages sent through Twitter are 140 characters or less, so these are compact messages, not long ramblings.

Today, I exchanged public and private "tweets" with a consultant who was wondering about creating a cancellation policy for her workshops. She posted a public tweet asking if anyone had a policy and I responded publicly, then privately with more details. The information exchange was quick and to the point...and timely.

If you're using Twitter and wondering what else you can do with it, you might want to cheek out this list of Twitter tools. I installed TwitterFox yesterday and really like it. Better than another add-on I tried earlier. And today I used Twittersearch to locate mentions of Alton Brown. Someone is posting links to his Thanksgiving recipes (as I learned from another person on Twitter) and I wanted to see them. Voila, there they were!

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Technorati tags: Connecting, Twitter

Croquet

I've been using Second Life for more than a year and am now getting very curious about other virtual worlds. Here is information on Croquet, which seems like a cool world! The video is definitely worth watching.

Croquet is a powerful new open source software development environment for creating and deploying deeply collaborative multi-user online applications and metaverses on and across multiple operating systems and devices. Derived from Squeak, it features a peer-based network architecture that supports communication, collaboration, resource sharing, and synchronous computation between multiple users on multiple devices.

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Technorati tag: Croquet

Photo sharing web site statistics

According to HitWise for the week of Aug. 25, this is how the photo sharing web sites ranked in percentage of users:

Photobucket -- 38%
Flickr -- 8%
Slide -- 7%
Kodak Galley -- 4%
RockYou -- 3.6%
Others -- 39.4%

I use Flickr and most of the people I network with also use Flickr. Obviously, though, PhotoBucket is very popular. PhotoBucket allows you to share photos, videos and graphics, so it is very versatile. PhotoBucket is also free, while Flickr charges for more features and storage space, as well as ad-free browsing ($24.95/year).

Which photo-sharing service is right for you? If the one you're using works for you, you may want to stick with it. Consider sharing, though, if another service will give you better functionality OR if the people you want to network with are already there.

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Technorati tag: Photo Sharing

Quick LinkedIn statistics

These statistics were published in the Sept. 5, 2007 issue of USA Today and give you an idea of why you should be a part of LinkedIn:

• Founded in 2003
• 154 registered users
• More than 1.4 million members who self-identify as senior executives
• All Fortune 500 companies have executives that are members of LinkedIn
• On average, 25 new members join every minute

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Technorati tags: Connecting, LinkedIn

Book: The LinkedIn Personal Trainer

Born out of helping others with LinkedIn, Steven Tylock has written a book entitled The LinkedIn Personal Trainer. The book is a comfortable mix of explanatory text and short exercises to help anyone build a better profile in LinkedIn, create stronger connections, and ensure that LinkedIn does help them professionally. It's actually written in a question/answer format that seems very natural and not stilted.

I read an electronic version of the book while traveling and was amazed at what I learned, even though I've been using LinkedIn for several years. I found myself making notes of things I wanted to change in how I use LinkedIn. One idea I wrote down was to give more recommendations to colleagues. Tylock suggests that we actively seek recommendations for ourselves, but I think we should also voluntarily give recommendations to others, especially those whose work we value.

I've always said that you must "work" LinkedIn in order for it to work for you. Tylock's book proves that my adage is true and gives plenty of tips to help with that effort.

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Technorati tags: Connecting, LinkedIn

UM's library application for Facebook

I've received questions about how to promote an application that you build in Facebook. Here the University of Michigan is promoting an application they built for Facebook. A person must be a Facebook user in order to install the application. Interestingly, with this application, you do not need to be association with UM in order to use it!

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Technorati tag: Facebook

Facebook Business Solutions

Facebook is once again allowing businesses and organizations to have a presence in Facebook. Information on creating a Facebook page is here. Once this was announced, many organizations jumped right in! What about you?

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Technorati tags: Facebook, Connecting

Blog post: 31 Flavors - Things to Do With Flickr in Libraries

Although geared for libraries, undoubtedly you'll find useful ideas in this blog post. For example, instead of showing what new books you have, take photos of what is new with your company, put them in Flickr, and also use them in your blog or on your web site.

BTW some people are taking photos of their business cards (especially if they get a new one) and then sharing the photos through a photo-sharing service. Did you get a promotion or a new job? Announce it with the photo of your new business card!

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Technorati tag: Flickr

Growing pains...

eNetworking 101: The Blog is nearly a month old and going through its first round of growing pains. I'm using Blogger, but publishing the blog on the eNetworking101.com domain. This process has not been as smooth recently as it should be. Is it me? Is it them? Or is it just the joy of being "online"? Time will tell. (If you've seen a post multiple times, this is the problem I'm fighting.)

Connecting to people through photo-sharing

For photographers, their calling card is their work (their photos). We select photographers because we like the photos they have done.

Amazingly, we select people to connect with based on their photos! We like to look at each other's photos perhaps because it allows us to live vicariously through another person. Or maybe it is because we can learn more about a person by looking at that person's photos. Or maybe we just like looking at pictures. (A picture is supposedly worth a thousand words.) Whatever it is, sharing photos online either through a photo-sharing service, via Facebook, or some other tool seems to be a great way of making meaningful connections.

I attended a conference in spring 2006 and took some photos. Once home, I uploaded photos to a photo-sharing service (one that many others at the conference used). It was Sunday night, but it was an active night! Evidently many of us were uploading photos, checking to see who else was online, and sending invitations to connect with each other. Suddenly and quickly, because of my photos, I was connected to several well-known people from the conference.

Since then, I've checked their contacts/friends in the photo-sharing service and friended several people from those lists that I know. And after every conference, I seem to gather more contacts through the photo-sharing service because we connect through our photos.

And yes, we're learning more about each other through our photos. We're having conversations about our photos. We're learning about our profession through our photos. And we're even using each other's photos (with permission).

Now I use an RSS feed to see what new photos my contacts are uploading. This allows me stay up-to-date on what they are doing, since often my contacts take photos of their presentations, travels, and colleagues (as well as fun stuff).

If you are using a photo-sharing service, consider sharing the URL with your colleagues, especially if you have photos from events that they have attended with you. Find ways of using the photos with other social networking tools. I think you'll be amazed at the connections that will arise because of them.

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The photo above is a fun photo a photographer friend took of others photographing a wedding.

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Technorati tag: Connecting, Flickr

The Big Juicy Twitter Guide

Caroline Middlebrook has created a guide to Twitter including information on how to use Twitter for business. Twitter is hard to describe and best understood by using (with your friends/colleagues, of course), however, she does a great job of getting you to see Twitter as a legitimate business tool.

By the way, If you'd like to see what I'm twittering (and what my friends are saying), go here.

And if you're using Jaiku, but want to follow your friends who are on Twitter, Steven Kaye has written directions on how to do that. (BTW Jaiku has been purchased by Google.)

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Technorati tags: Connecting, Twitter

Article: Facebook Has LinkedIn In Their Crosshairs

It is obvious to many Facebook users that we're using it for networking. Facebook has also recognized that and is making changes so that it is better for those of us who are networking professionally in its service. Facebook is making changes to its structure to allow for the concept of "networking." Soon you will be able to sort your friends into "groups" for yourself, so you can quickly separate social friends from business colleagues.

If you are using Facebook for networking, right now you can change your "Looking For" (under Profile, Relationships) to "Networking." That instantly will let people know that you are in Facebook as a professional, rather than someone who is interested in just socializing.

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Technorati tags: Social Networking Tools, Facebook, Connecting

IL2007: Tour of Second Life

I did a 15 minute cyber tour of Second Life to a standing room only (SRO) crowd in the exhibit hall on Wednesday. I showed people part of Info International Island and even interacted with a couple of people there. Yes, the tour was live! For some, this was their first look of SL running in real time. (BTW there is no other way of running it, although can see videos -- e.g., videos on YouTube by Ohio University and NOAA -- and pictures of SL.)

During the cyber tour, I told them five things I thought they should know:

1. A basic Second Life account is FREE. It is amazing how much you can do if you have a basic account. However, you cannot own land and cannot buy/sell things. Is that a stopper? No, not for many of us. I'm on a free account and have done presentations in SL and taught classes in SL.
2. The residents are making SL what they want it to be. Linden Labs, who created SL, aren't building it. It is people who have SL avatars that are building the places, products and services.
3. There are no formal governments in SL, but there are simple rules to keep things civil. Really "the rules" try to get us to play nice consistently and to "do unto others as we want others to do unto us." Other than that, Linden Labs is following the rules of the U.S., which is where the company is located. For example, gambling is no longer allowed in SL, since gambling for money on the Internet is not legal in the U.S.
4. In order to run SL, you need a computer with lots of memory, a good video card, and a high-speed Internet access. Some people find that they cannot run other programs when they run SL, and that is something they had to figure out for their setup.
5. People from all walks of life, socio-economic status, physical abilities, interests and time-constraints are active in SL.
   

Afterwards, several people stayed and asked questions. SL seems to always generate questions! I suspect a few people will contact me later with even more questions, especially as they begin to think about using SL in their organizations.

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Technorati tag: IL2007, Second Life

IL2007: Second Life, part three

The final session on Tuesday at Internet Librarian concerning Second Life had Kelly Czarnecki and David Lee King talking about working with teens on Teen Second Life. Some thoughts included:

• Teens and adults need to know the basics before taking on a project
• Projects may take longer than expected
• Teens can get very engaged when working in a virtual world
• Projects can be focused on a specific school or activity (e.g., teen digital bookcamp)
• how do you assess your work?
• Who handles the money in SL?
• Hands-on learning creates engaged students

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Technorati tag: IL2007, Second Life

IL2007: Second Life, part two

More notes from the Second Life track on Tuesday:

• Micki McIntyre talked about health/medical resources/sites in Second Life, e.g., Center for Disease Control, National Library of Medicine, and the American Cancer Society. There are also support groups in SL. In addition, there is the Support for Healing Island and Healing Island.
  
• Some people with disabilities are using SL and finding it beneficial. [related blog post] People with disabilities find camaraderie and a place where they can do things there that they cannot do in real life (RL).
  
• There are spirituality sites in SL. There are recreations like the Mosque at Chebi and Sistine Chapel. there are places that have real congregations like Wings of Hope and bFirst Unitarian Universalist Church.
• Micki's handouts are at www.healthynj.org/sl.html. Additional resources at http://slhealthy.wetpaint.com.
  
• Derry McMahonElisabeth Marripodi talked about virtual training hospitals.
• Why?
• Immersive environment
• Interactive
• Controlled environment
• Can be scripted
  
• What do they do? e.g.,
  
• Case presentations
• Discussions
• Patient scenarios
• Drawbacks
• Unreliable Internet connection
• Unpredictable problems in-world
• Other
• Combine virtual and real resources
• Can do disaster preparation training (without a real disaster)
• Can create custom designed learning environments

Updated 11/03/2007

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Technorati tag: IL2007, Second Life