Thing #16: Registering completion of the programme

Even though we could be accused of mis-selling under trades descriptions in that we have slightly fewer than 23 tasks in our programme, the time has come to wrap up for this year.

We hope you have found the programme useful, even where you were already aware of a technology and have had some insight into using Web 2.0 at work.  On September 8th we have already held the date for a joint team meeting  where we will celebrate both 23 Things and premiere our summer multimedia projects. The prize draw will be held to win an iPad, courtesy of Ex Libris, our library systems supplier and all completing participants will receive a gift voucher for Amazon, also donated by Ex Libris, to whom our thanks.

Your final Thing is to write a reflective blog post of the programme as a whole: your high and low lights, your favourite and least favourite technology (and why), what you think you will use most from now on.

If you haven’t yet managed to complete all Things, now is your time to catch up and register your blog in our registration form  (naturally created in Google docs).  All blogs which have an entry for each of the 16 Things will be eligible for the prize draw.

Thing #15: Social media – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Wikipedia defines social media as ‘…media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. The term refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.’

In the context of 23 Things take some time to review some of these services, specifically Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Whilst you can find and catch up with friends and colleagues on facebook, you could, for example, use these applications to do research by locating experts in a given field, find pages where you can ask for help, answer another individual’s question, or simply network with colleagues.

Find out more from these YouTube clips:

 

Getting started on facebook, LinkedIn and twitter

1. Go to either facebook or LinkedIn (LinkedIn is more aligned with your professional world) to build your network.

2. Create an account

Optional: Learn how to make the most use of your Facebook page

Twitter is similar to facebook and LinkedIn. However, this ‘microblogging’ service only allows posts of 140 characters or less. These updates are known as ‘tweets’. Where you have friends on facebook or connections on LinkedIn, twitter has ‘followers’ who subscribe to your profile and receive your updates.

Updates can be posted via computer or mobile device.

View the Youtube clip:

 3. Go to twitter and sign up

4. Customize your site

5. Find friends and/or colleagues, and ‘follow’ their tweets

Which social media site do you find most useful for personal use?  Which one could/do you use on a professional level?

Consider the University of Sussex Library’s page as an example of facebook and twitter use in an HE library context.

Follow the University of Westminster to keep up with latest news on twitter and facebook, where all updates will come to you with link as ‘tweets’ and as ‘wall posts’.

You just have to click the relevant buttons to add UoW to your twitter favourites (‘Follow’ button) or be a fan of our facebook page (‘Like’ button). Consider in your blog whether you find social media the communication form of the future, or technological hype?