One Journey Ends, Another Begins

My blogging experience began with my journey through Web 2.0 platforms. Over the last 12 weeks, I have been introduced and used many new Web 2.0 tools for educational purposes.

Some of the tools I tried include: Padlet, Diigo, Slack, Instagram, Twitter, Google Earth Maps, and Reddit to name just a few.

Of the tools I tried, Padlet and Diigo are ones I hope to continue to use. I used Padlet to create a produsage project with the idea that information could be shared among staff at a large university. The idea is to have a constructive space for staff to share experiences or resources for administrative tasks. Kinda like best practices or advice on how to....

I also plan to use Diigo for my current research. I like how easy it is to add a link or document. The amount of times I come across a site and think to myself "I wish I could easily remember to save this, or this is a good site to use" happens so often. So instead of having a list of browser bookmarks, I can have an account in Diigo. I can also tag or annotate the reference!

Prior to the course, I had an Instagram account. I will continue to keep it. I like being able to see pictures from the people I follow. I have manged to keep that account more fun and less political or negative. It's a good escape from Facebook.

If traveling continues to be non-existent, then Google Earth will be come a new place to explore and learn about places to travel in the future. 

I am grateful for the new tools I have learned. I am also less scared about trying new platforms. I think the key for me is finding ones I like and maintaining a use of them. For example, I can see myself not using Diigo as much with the thought "I don't need to save that. I'll remember it!" NOT!

Until next time....

Almost to a split in the road

I have struggled for the past couple of days on what to write for this post. As the semester comes to an end, I plan to reflect, but not quite ready to write that final course reflection yet.

Needing encouragement and inspiration, I decided to read blog posts from my classmates. A few of them have wrapped up their thoughts on the semester and acknowledged the must needed rest. I am right there with them. I am looking forward to a social media and technology break. I've even requested staycation time from work! I hope to stay as far away from my computer as possible. :)

Stay tuned for my next blog post, reflecting on the last 12 weeks of Web 2.0 activity.

Social Network Identity

Today I was reading a few articles for a final assignment. The research article was on blogging and alter-egos. As I was reading, my mind began to wander into how social media platforms do allow for participants to create their own identity they wish the social world to see.

Then the rabbit holes of thought continued. Recently, my Facebook news feed has been showing a lot of Gossip Girl quizzes or BuzzFeed fact articles. Probably because I clicked on one article with Blake Lively. Anyways, back to my thought, See SQUIRREL!  Gossip Girl is a TV show that is based on a book around high school students and an anonymous source of inside information and drama. I did not watch the show when it originally aired, but know enough to have this random thought as I was reading the research article on alter-egos and identity.

What started my thought was the discussion of the six elements of of blog identity. Name, profiles, post content, voice, affiliations, and visual design. Some of the elements applied to the Gossip Girl premise. The name: a pseudonym, of the story teller. The content: gossip, scandal, and drama. Voice: kept viewers guessing as to who is Gossip Girl. Affiliations: given that the show followed New York socialites, the community was thought to be small.

I later realized, as I was researching information for this post, that Gossip Girl is based on book about a blogger, which was adapted for a TV series. Who knew! I almost feel I need to watch the show to compare the research of blogging identities to the intentions of the show.

I find making academic connections to hobbies or daily activities, or even TV Shows, rewarding in my educational career.

Power of Social Communities

During this course, I have come to understand the power and necessity of social networks and communities.

One community I am a member of is for my grad school program. It is comprised of only the cohort I belong. We created a Facebook group during our first semester to communicate with each other outside of Canvas. Since the program is entirely online and a few members are even overseas, a social networking platform was ideal to bring us all closer.

The past couple of weeks, I have relied heavily on my cohort for encouragement and ideas to keep going. As we all know, it has been a LONG summer and a few times the motivation has been lost to continue. This is where being part of a community is beneficial. Having conversations with other that understand your frustrations and can appreciate the success as much as you, is keeping me going.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, I'm ready for an academic mental break. One more week!

Ready to Go Live!

A few days ago, I posted about a performance improvement strategy that involved the use of Padlet as a  collaborative sharing platform for university staff. After a few weeks of creating and discussing with various coworkers on what topics they would like to see discussed or shared, I am ready to go live!

As with any project, an evaluation of how it is operating will need to be conducted. But before we can evaluate, we need to share the word that the platform for knowledge sharing is available. My next step is to figure out how to share an unofficial university resource. I think my best bet is to reach out to my network of people to begin spreading the word.

I'm so excited to see how all the terms and tools we have learned this summer are coming together in a real world context.

International Social Media Use

This week my course is discussing the social media usage on an international level. When I first read the week's discussion topic, I began to think back to my personal travels and restrictions I had using social media.

China is the only country that I have visited with memorable social media restrictions. When I traveled back in 2013, I recall attempting to log into Facebook and being unsuccessful. I also struggled with accessing my email while traveling through China.

Traveling China was the beginning of my annual international trips, so the feeling of not being able to communicate with family back home was unnerving at the time. In the end, I gained a better appreciation for being unplugged.

On the flip side to social media restrictions while traveling, more recently when I traveled to Iceland, I remember using social media platforms to discover new places to visit and explore while in country.

It is interesting to consider and notice the varying countries censorship or restrictions to internet use. In the future, I will probably be more self aware while traveling.

When it all comes together

One of the best aspects I have found to being in grad school is when the assignments align with my job. Recently, I was discussing with a colleague the frustration of how the central administrative offices do not network or link staff on campus with other staff experiencing or troubleshooting a similar problem. For example, I have recently been tasked with setting up an online webstore for my college to sell training materials. In order to sell items, there is a whole PCI compliance component I have been thrown into the deep end to learn. Now, given I work for a large university, I am not the first department interested in or currently selling materials online. So, why when I reach out to the central IT office do they not connect me with a department on campus that is already using a PCI compliant vendor?

Now, here is where my wheels started to turn for an assignment on produsage. Why not create a place where staff can share their resources and experiences. The idea is not to be formal university procedures, but rather a place where job aids, "tricks" for dealing with the central offices, and other relevant information can be shared among staff across campus.

I pitched my idea to my coworker, and she loved it! As I begin the assignment, I am hoping it will become useful for others and continue to grow.

Traveling through Social Media

I'm a world traveler. And the state of our world has abruptly ended for the foreseeable future any international and limited domestic travel. This reality causes me much anxiety as I use travel to escape from the daily grind and refresh. During most of my trips, I unplug and enjoy the adventure.

I've posted before on how social media was used early on in the pandemic to curve some of the need to travel. In the post I discussed how photo challenges became a thing.

A resource I recently came across (and thankful I did!) is Google Earth. Hosted by Google and the use of Geo tags, contributors can post videos of various locations. What caught my eye was a Safari module. One of my most memorable trips is to southern Africa and the multiple safaris I went on. The videos presented by Sir David Attenborough brought back memories of my experiences.

The concept behind Google Earth Education is fascinating to me. As a child, I would have loved to have this as a class assignment. As an educator, I wish I had known about this when I was in the classroom. I'm not sure university staff would have the same appreciation, nor am I sure how it is performance improving. But non the less, it is a great resource and filled my temporary need to explore something new.

Check out the Big Five Beasts of Africa. They are not what you may think ;-)

Blogging Break

Last week, I took a break from blogging. Ten weeks ago, blogging was a new concept for me and my course requires at least 3 blogs per week to earn an A in the class. And who doesn't strive the A. I was grateful the instructor allowed for a break. It was needed. Prior to the break, I was struggling to find topics to write about. I had every intention to spend the week not writing to think about topics for the coming weeks. My brain had other plans, like resting.

Social media can be exhausting! It is important for us to take breaks before the burn out is too much and you just quit. I read a couple of my classmates blogs before writing this post. A few were missing the blog posts of fellow classmates and mentioning the drive not to quit. To a point, I totally agree. However, at what point do you need step back and rest so your performance will improve?

I am glad I took a break because now I am refreshed and ready to finish the semester strong.

Social media, here I come...again. ;-)

Social Performance Improvement

After my last post on using Badges for employee incentives, I started to think about how or if social media was being used for performance improvement. Performance Improvement is a strong interest of mine. My research for my dissertation will be on performance improvement, so reading how social media is influencing or being used is interesting to me.

Turns out there are some Web 2.0 platforms to assist businesses in employee performance improvement.  I found a few web articles on social technologies used for performance improvement. In many cases the social technology improved productivity performance. In other cases, the use of social technologies provided quick and timely feedback for employees.

I am excited to know there are social tools available and look forward to learning more about the research on the use of social media for performance improvement.

A Social "Job Well Done!"

When the course first began and I realized it was going to be a lot on social media, I was hesitant and anxious as to how well this course would be for me. I'm not a social person by nature, prior to this class I had one Web 2.0 app, Facebook, I used infrequently. I have created accounts on Instagram and Twitter (probably some others too) in the past. Now that we are past the halfway point, I am glad to be apart of this course. I have learned a lot about the uses of Web 2.0 platforms for educational purposes. The way the content has been presented and the tools being options but not requirements has also provided some ease to the anxiety I was feeling about needing to use them all.

Of the tools we have been exposed to and use with the class, I found Badges to be the most useful for my line of work and professional interest. Badges provides users a since of competition and accomplishment. As a performance improvement designer, I am interested in ways to motivate employees. For my job, I think Badges will offer a unique and fun way to encourage employees to take trainings and further invest in their own professional development, while also being "rewarded." I mean, who doesn't like a sticker for a job well done?!

Don't Know? Google It!

How many times do you use Google? Once a day? Twice? Every hour?

Google is a life line for many. It provides us information at our fingertips in seconds.

For me personally, I use it multiple times a day. It is my confidence booster, when I'm doubting myself. It is my teacher when I want to learn something new.

Google is the gateway to connecting you to new Web 2.0 platforms. In many cases, when you search for something, inevitably there will be a search result that links to a Web 2.0 platform.

Late last night I was thinking about my next blog post and Google kept coming to mind for knowledge sharing. Granted I know it is not exactly the same as the knowledge sharing activities we are learning about in class, but Google at one point (and arguably still is) a platform for knowledge sharing.

In the beginning, Google's creators, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, had a mission to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful" in 1998. Today, Google searches help facilitate learning and connecting people to the knowledge they seek. On Google's story, they state "the relentless search for better answers continues to be at the core of everything we do."  This line speaks to me on a professional level. As a performance improvement designer, the search for better answers is also at the core of what I do. After reading that line, I thought about finding a job at Google!

Today, Google has many enterprises and though searches is still is most popular use, they have created Web 2.0 tools and platforms which aligns more with our class' definition of knowledge sharing.

Reflecting

I have sat down several times today to write something for the blog. I got nothing! Thought about it for the last few days too. I’m in a blogging rut. 

Usually I get inspiration form course readings or finding a social media relation from my everyday life. This week I struggled with finding my blog topics. Perhaps I just needed a break. I’m looking forward to the coming week and hoping there is more inspiration to be found! 

The Daily Scoop

I'm going to be really honest here. I do not watch the news or routinely check news outlets. It frustrates me! I get more anxious and upset by it. I honestly cannot tell you the last time I watched news on TV.

Many of my friends are political enthusiasts and watch or read news articles daily. I am usually not current until I receive their updates. I should mention I have a variety of friends with varying political views. So I do feel I get a well rounded perspective when I hear their updates and perspectives.

How does this relate to social media? I'm sure you guessed. My Facebook newsfeed is my source of current events. I leave it to my friends and acquaintances to provide updates. Let me also say, I do not solely rely on their interpretation of a news report or article! If the headline or comment interests me enough, I will perform my own research to better understand the post. By having friends of varying political views or interests, I am able to learn a lot about what is going on in the world. I can then form my own opinion on matters. It might not be the best method and some may criticize, but this helps me live my life without being upset and frustrated about things out of my control. My overall mental health is better. I am respectful of my friends views and opinions. I do not get upset if I happen to disagree with their perspective, rather I take it as an opportunity to understand them better.

I think we should all seek to appreciate the differences each of us bring to the world.

Soical Media, A Rat Race

Ever feel overwhelmed by the constant social media updates?  Have you ever set your phone down, walked away and returned to 50+ notifications? The need for constant connection has changed how we live and our daily interactions with others. The news runs 24/7. Social media is accessible in seconds with new posts from friends/followers. But what are we learning from our friends and how does that affect our psychological well being and life choices?

The other night I was thinking about what my next blog post should be about. I try to think about how social media impacts daily activities or thoughts. I could not get out of my mind, the feeling of needing to check in on my various social media accounts for updates. I had not checked in on some platforms for days. The anxiety of not being able to catch up on all that I missed was unsettling. This is unusual for me. I'm usually nonchalant about missing out on these types of activities. So why now am I anxious? 

I do not have an answer, but it did prompt me to look at how social media is a Rat Race. I learned this term growing up. There is a financial board game and a movie with the same name. I've played the game and watched the movie. The meaning of Rat Race, per Cambridge Dictionary, is "a way of life in modern society, in which people compete with each other for power and money."

I found a couple of blogs on the Social Media Rat Race perspective. They were enlightening to read and provided validation to my thoughts. One blog focuses on the need for people to continually post and attract followers. The number of followers determines  social media success. For example, Influencers are born from the number of followers they gather (and knowledge they share). They are winning the social media rat race!

The social media rat race is affecting how we interact with others and how we live. We are influenced by the posts we see and become consumers of the ideas and likes of influencers. Are these your true desires? Something to consider...take a moment and reflect on what influences you and whether it is something you truly desire.

My feelings of needing to check in and be current on social media postings is my rat race. It's an endless and pointless pursuit to be "current." I have since regained my balance and refocused my intentions for social media usage.

Digial Break

I attempted to participate in a class digital detox challenge. My goal was to have most of my course assignments completed by Friday night so I could enjoy my Friday evening and Saturday without electronics or the obligation to complete school. Let's be honest, in grad school there is always something to be reading or completing. But nonetheless, we need mental breaks too.

The challenge for the digital detox was to step away from digital devices for 24-48 hours. My goal for the challenge was 24 hours. I was not completely successful, but I learned a lot about my digital uses.

    Here's what I learned about myself:

        When the goal is to shut down completely, it's more difficult than I thought. I found my attempts to be like starting a diet. I kept telling myself, at 8pm I'll put my phone down and step a way until tomorrow...then 9 pm came around, and I was still surfing Pintrest and Facebook. Being cognizant of wanting and needing to shut down, made it so much more difficult for me.

        In the past, I have been successful in performing a digital detox. Usually I would travel to a forgien country and not have a data service. I do realize today, it is a lot easier to get WiFi and stay connected, but I had no reason or desire to see what was happening back home. I was living in the moment and emerging myself in the country I was visiting.

        So why was this weekend so much harder to do? I felt like I needed a break. But I also felt like I needed to finish homework. I was also just mindlessly checking Facebook because I was bored.

In the end, I was able to take some time away from digital devices. I fixed a fence and cleaned out a pool filter. Manual labor will keep you preoccupied from electronics! I also caught myself before checking social media accounts for updates. I even let the notification build up on the various apps. That was difficult for me. I struggle with seeing those red icons!

It was a good exercise and I learned more about myself and became even more self aware.

Travel the world: Knowledge Sharing

I live to travel the world. Due to current global circumstances, my travel plans have been put on hold, so I am left to reminisce of past travels. For a course assignment on knowledge sharing, I decided to curate a gallery of photos from my various international trips. Check out my Instagram account to learn more about various place in the world I've traveled. 

Note: I'm very new to Instagram posting, so my original idea of providing captions to each photo was not successful as I created my first photo sharing gallery. I determined in order to share the valuable information per photo, I would need to post separate photos with captions.

Social Hoarding: It's not what you think, or is it?

Once again, I found myself reading an assignment for class and trailing off in thought. This time I was reading about digital collections and Web 2.0 tools available for collecting. As I was reading the assignment and various articles on digital collecting and curating educational resources, I had to laugh at the definition of collection. A few days ago, my family was watching a Netflix series on hoarding. One of the kids asked how the house got to be so full of stuff. My boyfriend proceeded to say, "this is what happens when you collect things." So with the conversation fresh in my mind, I thought about digital collecting turning into hoarding.

I Googled "social hoarding" and "digital hoarding" to see what information was available. In a quick scan, two articles came up that appealed to my interest. Oh, I did end up creating an account with Diigo to "collect" my searches more easily, rather than bookmarking to my browser or emailing myself the link. 

Both articles elude to social/digital hoarding as collecting social interactions. These include: emails, photos, Facebook friends, Twitter followers, etc.

As I was reading the articles, I expected to learn more about the Web 2.0 tools like Diigo or Pintrest that users are collecting information on but never using or the use of browser bookmarking. I was not successful in my quick search for find in particular information. But I did come across questions to consider in the two articles I did read:

• Do you keep every email, "just in case?"
• Do you collect Facebook friends, even though you don't know them (anymore)?
• Are you obsessed with followers on Twitter and Instagram?
  

The article by Mallet (2012) takes the approach of social digital hoarding to be a psychological disorder, no different than physical hoarding.

I'm guilty of hoarding tendencies in the sense of "collecting" sites (URLs) as bookmarks in various places and forgetting about them and where I saved them. Never to return to them. I think tools like Diigo and Pintrest are useful. My lack of digital organization is due to my lack in keeping up with all the tools once I am introduced. For example, I created an account with Diigo. Will I continue to use it beyond this class? I'd like to say yes, but being honest with my previous experiences using Web 2.0 platforms...probably not. But I may surprise myself! A lot of my continued use of a tool has to do with the usability. Diigo appears to be easy to use.

Web 2.0 Journey Pit Stop

I'm taking a moment to reflect on my Web 2.0 Journey. I'm about half way through my course and thought it would be a good idea to take time to reflect upon what I've learned.

I defined Web 2.0 as interacting with the web. I still maintain that to be true. Over the last several weeks, I have become more comfortable blogging. Hope you are enjoying the random blog posts! Last couple of weeks I joined a couple of online communities and expanded my understanding of online communities and the importance of not just lurking or observing. Participation is key to getting the most out of the group. 

In all honesty, I have not been very good about trying all the new Web 2.0 tools my course has suggested. I do check them out and for most of them, I'll create a log in. But I've not been diligent or active in many of the new tools. Partly this is from the feeling of being overwhelmed with social media platforms. I tend to limit my electronic use naturally, so it takes a conscious effort to be online. 

I have noticed, through my classmates posts, there are many educational benefits to the various platforms. And perhaps if I were teaching in a classroom, I would feel more obligated to discovering ways to incorporate Web 2.0 safely into my teaching. Since I work for the University and primarily with faculty and staff for administrative support, I have thought about how Web 2.0 can be better used for my job. I have not totally figured it out, but keeping my options available. That being said, I have found great professional development, leadership, and other performance improvement pins on Pinterest. 

Hopefully, the next half of the semester I will be more adventurous in actually trying the new tools! I'm trying...the first step is creating a log in. 

The new way to talk- #hashtag

This post was originally going to be about how social media symbols (Facebook 'like') have become a standard feature on many Web 2.0 platforms. After several hours of unsuccessful searching for articles or research on the phenomenon, the search began to shift towards how we (okay kids today) communicate outside of social media platforms.

Do you recall a few years back, 2013, when hashtag became popular? Thanks to a Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake skit on Twitter conversations, the use of verbalizing, and gesturing, hashtag went viral.

A little history on the beginnings of hashtag. It was first used by Chris Messina on Twitter in 2007. Chris suggested in a tweet, the use of hashtags for groups. What a concept, right? But in reading his Twitter feed on the first post with #, Chris mentions that Twitter resisted the use. He also says his intention was for the # to be used  across the Web, not just Twitter specifically.

In the various articles and multiple searches, I found it interesting the various impacts Web 2.0 has had on communication. This includes personal relationships and our online interactions. I stumbled upon an article by Darwish and Lakhtaria (2011) on The impact of the new web 2.0 technologies in communication, development and revolutions of societies. I skimmed it, looking for my original interest in communication technique, so I have not read it as of yet for its actual study. What I did recognize, is the research of social media use is vast and has revolutionized society and the way we interact with each other.

Reference:

Darwish, A & Lakhtaria, K. (2011). The impact of the new web 2.0 technologies in communication, development, and revolutions of societies. Journal of Advances in Information Technology. 2(4). 204-216. https://doi.org/10.4304/jait.2.4.204-216

Accountability from Social Media

As we know, social media has many uses. This semester I have learned about the social media used a network and community. Prior to my instructor defining a phenomenon I was experiencing, I had no idea social media communities existed. But as it turns out, I have been a part of one through my gym.

I am a member of an international boutique gym, OrangeTheory. I have been a member of the gym for about 5 years and subsequently following them on Facebook for about as long. It took me longer to accept friend requests from the coaches and fellow gym goers, but over time I have become Facebook friends with many of the members in my usual classes. Occasionally the friendship has extended beyond the gym.

I have enjoyed the community of the local gym Facebook following. They are supportive in members' health practices, encourage participation in corporate challenges, and keep the motivation high for attending class.

At the beginning of the year, the company holds a Transformation Challenge. The challenge is an 8 week motivational program to help members loose weight and transform their health. This year I decided to participate. I went in to the challenge not expecting to win or loose weight, but to to learn healthier habits. To keep it interesting the gym splits the participating members into two teams, Orange and Black (company colors). Each week, the teams compete in different challenges. Team points don't matter for the overall challenge, but you do earn bragging rights. And who doesn't like to gloat in good fun?!?

Each team is assigned coaches to provide rule guidance, motivation, inspiration, healthy habits, tips for success, and accountability. The coaches created a Facebook group to notify team members of weekly challenges and other information. One of the first posts was for each team member to introduce themselves and share why they were participating in the challenge. This activity set the stage for building a community within in community. I remember being hesitant to share my reason but did. Throughout the challenge knowing there were other's who knew my reason for being there kept me motivated. In the team group, people kept each other accountable for showing up and encouraged participation in the weekly team challenges. By the end, my team won. I think our Facebook group and the members in it had a lot to do with the success of the team and me individually. I ended up loosing some weight and even placed in the top 5 of my team's mid-point leaderboard. Knowing what I know now, social media and an online community played a huge part in the success of each of us.

A Life Long Learner

I identify myself as a life long learner. I love to learn and embrace new challenges at work, which often require learning a new process and the content of the process. I often use Google to search for something I'm not familiar with or to verify something I have heard. I'm not sure I would know what to do without Google at my finger tips!

Until taking EME6414, I had not considered having or realizing I have a Personal Learning Network (PLN). After reading several classmates' blogs, reading articles, and watching a presentation on PLNs, I can say I have a few PLNs of my own.

I'm a devoted gym member of two boutique exercise facilities. Yes, two! It's not cheap, but I enjoy what both workouts have to offer. Being apart of the gyms, offers opportunities to network beyond the local community. One of the gyms offers strategies and tips for performance improvement in- and out- side the gym. There is strong encouragement to visit other locations when traveling, including international travel. They also provide information for healthy eating and other health-focused resources, not necessarily specific to exercises. I have learned a lot through the various resources and added to my Personal Health Learning Network.

As a life long learner, I enjoy discovering new ways to learn things and new topics to learn. I've participated in webinars, utilized social media announcements to learn of events and new topics to explore, and through various courses have learned other avenues to explore new topics.

The struggle for me is there is so much out there to learn!

Virtual Traveling

Lately my social media outlets have been filled with negativeness and political views on current events. One of the ways I cope with stress and unplug from the world is by traveling. For obvious reasons, I am not traveling anywhere far. And since you don't know me, I should tell you, I live to travel to a new places. In 2020, I had three international and several domestic trips planned. I was able to travel to Jamaica and Mexico. Jamaica was a new destination for me. But the other trips were cancelled.
   
I have a scratch off world map. So I enjoy going to new places and being able unveil the color behind the country or state I visit. My life goal is to step foot on every continent. I have two more to go! 

Anyways, back to my reason for posting about travel. With everyone on lockdown (stay at home orders), it's unsafe to travel and difficult to plan for future travel, when you don't know when it will happen. I should also say, I am one who says I'm going someplace, and goes!

Keeping my desire to travel for relaxation and desire to unplug, I thought about how social media could be (or is) used for virtual trips. I recalled back in March, when the world began to stay home and not travel as much, a friend on Facebook posted webcam links to various beaches. I remember thinking "What a cool concept! Bring the vacation into your home or desktop." No, it's not the same as sitting out on the sandy beaches and hearing the waves crash or smelling the salty air. But the idea behind sharing a virtual trip was novel.

So this weekend I Googled to see what people were posting during our quarantine to keep the traveling spirit alive. I was amazed at what I found! Early into quarantine, there were instagram, Facebook, and other social network site challenges that involved posting pictures of previous trips or recreating a favorite trip photo at home. These were my favorite to scroll through.

It was interesting to see travelers come together virtually to (re)share their previous experiences so others could enjoy traveling to new places vicariously.

For those interested in virtual travel, check out some of the links below:

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/virtual-trips-travel-tours
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/virtual-travel-180974440/
https://www.boredpanda.com/people-recreate-travel-pictures-during-quarantine/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
https://www.buzzfeed.com/annahaines/virtual-travel-experiences

Over Socialized

This weekend has been difficult to be on social media. There's an overwhelming amount of political and unhealthy posts. I am glad I joined a couple of communities about mindful living. It has helped fill my news feed and social media outlets with positive news and posts.

One of the communities had a post about "where you get your self worth from." On the post was also a list of where you no longer get your self worth. The list contained social media, news/media, and societal norms. All of these are current and actively feeding to the negative feelings of being over socialized.

Finding a Community

The early part of this week, I spent a lot of time trying to find a community to join for a class assignment. I wanted one that I would enjoy being apart of and be willing to participate in. I’m a social media lurker, so this was a difficult task for me. Where would I be comfortable having a presence and sharing my opinion or thoughts. Keep in mind this is a me community I don’t know anything about. I don’t know their members and they don’t know me. Is that a good thing? Would it be easier for me to participate in a community of total strangers initially?

After a couple days of searching I finally decided on a community I felt would be open to me and one that I would be comfortable with joining. The community’s focus is on mindful living.
Could there be a better community to join for a social introvert?! Probably not.

As began reading the daily posts and comments of the community members, I felt a connection to the community and quickly was able to participate by liking several posts and pictures of mindful living tips.

Joining a new community can be scary but finding one that you can connect to makes it worth taking the leap. Trusting that my interests are also shared with others.

Silent Generation

Anyone out there still receive a printed newspaper? Over the weekend I received a newspaper clipping from my grandmother. It was on the best site to visit for travel deals. My boyfriend just laughed and said, "you know, she could've just sent you a link to the article."

So it got me thinking, how many Silent Generationals use social media or Web 2.0?

My grandmother is old school. she grew up in the depression era. To this day, she still receives a printed copy of the newspaper, does not have internet or event a TV in the house! She does own a smart phone (iphone) and regularly sends texts. Using texting shorts. I'm honestly surprised by this since she is always on our case for grammar!

If you are still wondering who is part of the Silent Generation, well they are the generation who preceded the Baby Boomers.

I did a little research on 1) what is the generation preceding the baby boomers called - the Silent Generation 2) do they use social media?

The answer is yes! In an article by Emily Vogels (2019), 28% of the silent generation say they use social media. In 2019, 37% used Facebook. Which is almost double from 2015.

The article was very enlightening to the various generations and how they use social media, the internet, and whether they own a smart phone or tablet.

Resource:

Vogels, E. A. (2019, September 9). Millennials stand out for their technology use, but older generations also embrace digital life. Pew Research Center. https://pewrsr.ch/2A3kD6X

Reflection

I spent a lot of time reading other's blogs this week and noticing all the different topics associated with Web 2.0 and social media. I read about social media books being read (for class and fun), bloggers rediscovering their blog voices, whether or not the blogger is a digital native or immigrant, and so many more. They all resonated with me on different levels and I left comments where I could.

I am still discovering my own comfort zone with social media, but excited for the journey.

Welcoming Social Media

My hesitation of social media comes from my desire to be private about my personal life. Perhaps I was hoping my childhood dreams of being a CIA agent would come true if there wasn’t a digital footprint. Obviously that is not the case. Or is it?! Just kidding.

Anyways, my first introduction to Web 2.0 was with social media platforms like MySpace and Facebook. Originally designed for participants to share their daily life experiences with friends. I often struggled, and still do, with needing to share what I made for lunch. I do realize that is not what Facebook nor MySpace was used for but you get the idea. I did not have a positive perception of online social platforms. To be honest I am still skeptical today, but have more of an open mind to the benefits of social media platforms for educational purposes.

To this day, my friends comment on my limited Facebook posts, acknowledging the “once-a-year” posting. It’s usually to my annual place of travel somewhere in the world.

Based on an article by Marc Prensky titled Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, I am a digital immigrant. I base this designation by how he defines the actions and thoughts of digital immigrants vs digital natives. As the article continues to explain digital immigrants and digital natives, I realize I am a cross between both. I like my paper books and printed articles, and yet I use Google as my life line for learning new things. I would be lost in thought without having a search engine at my finger tips.

Can I become a digital native, as is my generational classification? Or better yet, can I become a digital native instructor, as the article suggests we should shift towards?

    Prensky, M. (2001). Digital native, digital immigrants part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6.

Accidential Web 2.0 Wallflower

I woke up early this morning and realized I had not written/reflected what I've been reading on blogs and from class readings. I panicked! It's Wednesday, which feels like the end of the week, and I've been a wallflower.

I read a few blogs on Web 2.0 and Social Media. I left a couple of comments and some reflective thoughts on how the post resonated with me personally. One blog topic really caught my attention. It was on social media post's perpetual life.

As I was typing my comment to the writer, I realized I had written my own perspective post on the topic. I decided it was too much to leave in a comment and so revised my message to the writer to keep it simple. Then I moved on to reading the next few blogs. I had every intention to take my thoughts I had originally written in the comment and make my own blog post. As you can see, this is not it and I have not written my blog post on the for-ev-erness of social media posts. That's coming next...

Web 2.0 Tools

This week I jumped into a class on Web 2.0. I spend the better part of the week trying to define Web 2.0 and learning what platforms or tools are considered Web 2.0.

If you recall, my definition of Web 2.0 is interaction with the internet. There are many tools which allow for the contribution of information to the internet. Among the many tools a part of Web 2.0, I use Facebook, Pintrest, and Instagram. As my course suggested, I signed up for Blogger and joined Twitter. As the course continues, I anticipate learning more about how to use each of the tools more in depth and for a specific purpose, not just social fun.

This week is my first experience blogging. I think it's going well. You can tell me how I'm doing in the comments. :-)

Defining Web 2.0

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Web 2.0 is interacting with the internet. I spent the last couple of days reading and Googling Web 2.0 and what it means. Overall, all the sites, blogs, tech definitions, and videos I explored would agree Web 2.0 is interacting with the internet on various platforms.

One definition I particularly liked is from Tech Terms. The definition begins with a historical perspective of why we call it Web 2.0. As a history buff, I appreciate the background knowledge. I'm able to understand better why it is referred to as Web 2.0 rather than just Social Media.

I think it is safe to simply define Web 2.0 as interacting with the internet on a social level. However, keeping in mind, the evolution of how that occurs will continue to grow. Improvements will be made to specific platforms.

Reference:

Christensson, P. (2008, January 14). Web 2.0 Definition. Retrieved 2020, May 15, from https://techterms.com

What is Web 2.0?

I am beginning this blog to document my journey of understanding and immersing myself in social media.

First up, Web 2.0. What is it? I've heard the term before but never really considered what it meant beyond the internet. One of my professors recommended I register for a class titled Web 2.0. I was hesitant at first. I thought it would be all about designing a website- Not in my wheelhouse or really interesting to me. I was pleasantly surprised to learn it was not designing a website in a coding-sense (as I feared).

As mentioned before, this blog is going to document my growing understanding of what Web 2.0 is and how I interact with it. My first exposure to defining Web 2.0 is simple. Web 2.0 is interacting with the internet.

But is it really that simple?