Thang 5 - Twitty

I am still trying to wrap my head around Twitter. It seems to encourage connections around shared interests more than personal relationships, which differs it from Facebook or Myspace. It is much less attractive and less intuitive than Facebook. I am also kind of freaked out that the three people who have become my followers in the last hour are all either offering porn or trying to tell me how I can get rich quick. Finally , the short blurbs aren't quite enough information to cause me to click on the links, and the links are so many that I am quite overwhelmed.

This is probably why this thang, Twitty, is kind of a creep. Maybe he is nice once you get to know him, but currently I can't get over his cockroach parts.

Thang 4 - Laicos

You can waste a lot of time on Facebook. Linkedin seems a little harder to just sit around and waste time on, mostly because you do your business and leave. Facebook, however, gives you this weird opportunity to poke around in people's lives...and let them poke around in yours. I find it difficult to speak to my old friends, my collegues, my students, and my clients all on the same interface. Self-editing is important if you want to stay professional. The constant stream of updates is what keeps you coming back. There is always something new to look at...whether or not it is interesting is another story. I have found some old friends that I lost contact with, and am grateful to the forum for that. And I do find it entertaining to find out all in one place what people are up to. I am continually hiding the stupid quizzes, though, and am even starting to hide people so I can focus on the ones I am truly interested it. I also find it very difficult to turn down any friend requests, so I have ended up with somewhat of an acquaintance list as opposed to close friends. I have thought about creating a Facebook avatar to just get to the people I want, but this sounds way to convoluted.

Thang 4 is named Laicos. He has a zillion eyes to look at all the posts, long arms to reach the computer keys from across the room, big ears to hear the gossip, and of course plumage to show off.

Thang 3 - Myai

Though I am a faculty member and cannot get into the portal, I am quite pleased with the redesign of the Ai site. I like that the blogs for each program are prominent, that the additional sites (like eCompanion) are linked easily, and that the look is so much more clean and attractive. When I hear a student doesn't have an account, I heavily encourage them to get an email address immediately. There are many informational emails sent out by faculty and ADs that they really might not get any other way.

This is Myai, the slightly-frightened-doesn't-realize-she-has-wings Thang 3.

Thang 2 - Feedy

So I set up the RSS account and started the feed. I tried both Bloglines and Google Reader. Between the two, I think the Google Reader is easier to use. It has a cleaner setup, and lists feeds you may be interested in by kinds. Bloglines also lists some feeds, but you have to click on each one to find out what they are about.

An old friend of mine has the most interesting internet links, and I think this may be the way she did it. Otherwise it would takes years to sift through all the sites out there.

And this is Feedy - Thang 2.

Thang 1 - Bloggy

When my stepdaughter first got her myspace account, she spent hours deciding on a layout, background and styles. After she got everything all set up, she found out she could create her own html coding and design something completely unique. I helped her figure it out, but it was significantly less cool than some of the coding she had found online. What is more important online, to be different or to be sleek?

By the way this is thang 1, Bloggy.