Facebook Groups-Thing 9

I've already joined several groups over the past year. Some are specific to people I know, like the YC Homecoming 2009 group. Some are generic, like the I saw Twilight at Midnight group or the Diehard Judith McNaught fan group.

I have been surprised by people who have contacted me over the past year, but only a couple of times. One was someone who was older than me at the small college I went to. I really don't think we knew each other at all, but I eventually added him as a friend. My kids tell me that some people collect "friends" like notches on a belt. Whatever! What is really fun is connecting with other people's networks. You may find several people you have wanted to reconnect with simply by finding one. Yep, I'm addicted!

Facebook-Thing 8

I admit it. I'm a Facebook junkie! I set up my profile a little over a year ago and have almost 200 friends in my network now. I've reconnected with old high school friends, church youth group friends, college friends, former students, coworkers, you name it! I've organized them into groups. Very librarian of me, I'm sure! There is a lot of talk in the school arena about 'befriending" students and parents. I have ignored a few requests, but overall I've friended them. Why? Well, I feel like my life is relatively transparent. My first friends were those from church. I don't do things that I would be ashamed for others to see, so I'm not afraid of students seeing me in a compromising picture. To me, Facebook is all about the small town experience. It used to be that everyone knew your business if you lived in a small town. Maybe that keeps you from doing something you might regret later, or something that might get back to your parents. Facebook brings that same level of transparency or perhaps paranoia to our modern lives. I do feel like Facebook is a safer environment than My Space. I have my settings set so that only my friends can see my info and pictures. I really don't want the entire world knowing everything about me. This has also been a good way for me to keep up with my kids and their friends. Although, everynow and then I see something I wish I hadn't!

RSS Feeds-Thing 7

Can I just say that I LOVE those CommonCraft videos? I've used them before to make sense of some of the web 2.0 tools that I just didn't understand. I added one feed to my reader, but I'm concerned that I'm going to get information overload! I used to subscribe to LM_Net, but there was just toooooo much to keep up with. Will RSS Feeds turn into the same thing?

Thing 6

I like the way Google Reader mimics other products with its format. It seems easy to follow and use. I subscribed to another blogger participating in NT 23 and it was fun to see how far we both are at this point. I've just added the internet to my phone and I can see how using a reader like this will be a much easier way to navigate all the content I regularly access.

Comments on Things 4 and 5

Wow!! This stuff is so cool! I've seen a lot of these mashup tools on Facebook, and actually didn't realize what they were. I think kids are going to love these tools, but I'm worried. What about those kids who will take pics of other kids and then bully them through these sorts of tools. You can certainly use them for good, but there are always those looking for a good laugh at others' expense. I wonder if anyone has had any experience with that side of these tools?

Thing 5

Bella's Thoughts with Captioner