This is going to be a bit of an itsy bitsy post, as I've explored a couple of different Web 2.0 platforms this week.
The first is Yammer, which not only has a similar layout to Facebook but seems to serve a similar purpose. I had never heard of it, and I'm guessing that is because many of the tools available on Yammer can be found on Facebook, but it is directed towards professionals. Although I have only had a superficial look at the platform, layout and what it offers, it seems like it would be very useful in a professional environment. Facebook is directed towards a social setting, but Yammer would be useful for group projects and conversing with people in similar roles but in different offices. As it has the option on commenting on a post, it can replace email in these settings.
I have had Facebook groups, similar to Yammer networks for University Study Groups, but I like that fact that I can separate my private and university life- not that my Facebook is where I air a heap of dirty laundry! And I'm sure that the lecturers like that they can join it without having to show us what their profile picture looks like! It also come on a phone app which is useful.
This blog post was interesting about what Yammer is good and bad for. http://theteachingtomtom.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/social-networks-at-work/
The second thing I discovered this week is Feedly, an RSS feed. I have never been a huge lover or user of blogs, I've looked at the occasional friends blogs and do look at baking blogs when I'm procrastinate. But I have never really had a niche in which to join a community of bloggers, and as most of my friends have Facebook I can share things with them on that. And I am very prone to procrastinate, so not having a personal blog means I have less reason to not do what ever I am supposed to be doing!
Feedly, however, looks like a really wonderful platform for people who do follow a lot of websites or are involved in communities online. I have already created a folder full of the baking blogs I look at sometimes- and I think I will end up finding it really useful. It also seems really easy to use as well which makes it all the more appealing to me!
All in all, this week has been a very useful exploration of the uses of the internet which I had really just pushed aside. I think I will continue to use some of these thing as a passive user, I just need to begin being more active- ie. Tweeting more. Thats the goal for this week I think.
I think Feedly is a brilliant platform. I occasionally look into different blogs, but generally forget to keep track of them or forget which blogs I actually like. Feedly is good for several reasons. First it means I can track the blogs I like, its all in one place, it is a highly usable platform (read pretty) and it suggests some fantastic blogs! I've had a look at some other social bookmarking sights such as delicious but it just does not compare.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many of us will delete the multiple social media accounts we have opened for this course, or if we will just let them lie? I already found I had accounts on a couple of platforms that I had joined in the past and then barely used and given up! Delicious was one of them, and I can't say I am particularly enthusiastic about it the second time around.
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