Now that we're almost halfway through, I have to give an update about what I'm using and how...
Facebook - still primarily a personal tool. IMO, it's still the best way to keep in touch with the greatest number of people. Not a great professional or learning tool, per se, but not without merit. My favorite communities are all active here, and future employers will probably be looking me up this way, so it's important to keep up with.
Google+ - I consider this my public persona. Since I exist in the age of the internet, why not? I like that other people can't post whatever they want on my page, unlike some other networks...^^ And, communities of practice are easy to find and join. Sharing is easy and encouraged. Still an A in my book.
LinkedIn - it exists, though I don't log in frequently, as I haven't found it to be as suitable to my needs and interests as some other tools. I think it will come in handy for specific instances of networking, or when I'm more fully immersed in the professional world.
Scoop.it - This is a fun one, but today I tried to create a 3rd topic to follow, and was told I had to pay to upgrade my account. $12.99/month is a little steep for me. I decided to explore using Storify, but I'm having technical difficulties trying to create an account. Will update again once I get it working.
Pinterest - I currently have 43 boards, the vast majority of which are for personal, non-professional interests. I like that there's no limit to the content I can pin, though it lends itself less to verbal content - meaning, if what you want to post does not have an image to represent it, you either have to get creative (find an image to upload yourself, and link to the site) or forget about it. It wasn't meant for academia, methinks.
Twitter - I was all about this one a few weeks ago, but a couple of issues have deterred me from using it frequently. For one, there's always too much to catch up on. Regarding the pro accounts tweeting about education, data, web 2.0, etc., there are always so many links to articles and stories, it's overwhelming. The other is that I can't seem to figure out the conversations. I tried to participate in #lrnchat last week, but I could not find/see others' responses. In general, after this class is over I think I'll be using it as a personal sounding board. I like taking random photos when I'm out and about, but I just keep them on my phone most of the time. Maybe Twitter is a better place for those one-off random photo ops and following those few whose opinions I'm genuinely interested in.
How are you all doing with your PLNs?
43 pinboards? Yikes! :)
ReplyDeleteRe: #lrnchat - you have to to a search for the hashtag and then keep refreshing so that the new tweets will load.
I find I have to use a "start where you are" approach to twitter. I log in and look around, click on interesting stuff, and don't worry about what I've missed in the past.