My Avatar is not Myself

What type of avatar did you choose (idealistic, realistic, fantastic, or role-playing)?

I chose a realistic avatar. I tried to make it look mostly like me as best I could. I even tried to find the right skin tone (a honey color) and came pretty close. I even made her, more or less,  have the same body type as me (curvy). I gave her clothing that I would actually wear. I never considered anything different and I'm not sure what that says about me. Maybe I'm unimaginative?

I saw many other avatars in SL that were fantastical. In some cases, I see idealization  as an expression of how these individuals wish they could appear in "normal" life. Although I could be reading WAY too much into this. Maybe some people just think it's really fun to dress up.

How do we distinguish between avatars’ virtual social interactions and people’s physical social interactions? How should we?

Having spent a few hours in SL, I interacted with a couple of "strangers" in SL and I also interacted with some members of class and had very different experiences.

When I interacted with strangers, I basically tried to behave the same way I would if I were in a physical social interaction. I didn't stand too close because I didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable. I tried not to stand too far either so that they'd know I was interested in talking to them. When I felt like our conversation was coming to an end, I'd say goodbye and that I was going to teleport somewhere else. If only real life social interactions were as simple! I was still concerned about etiquette in SL, but less so. I knew there were no real ramifications (bad reputation, hurting someone else's feelings) for just walking away, so I just did so. The other avatars may just think I didn't know what I was doing since I was so new to SL. Kind of like how excuse small children for saying and doing inappropriate things- they don't know any better yet.

I made one "friend" that teleported me to Freebie Island and gave me a few skins and a "sexy walk" to download. She was my mentor. She offered to show me around more, but I had to go. I probably will never speak with her again, but that social interaction was positive.

During our class time in SL, I wasn't primarily concerned with an actual social interaction. I barely paid attention to my avatar except to follow the herd of classmates. I had no idea what was going on, so I spent most of my time chatting and trying out my microphone. I barely socially interacted at all with my avatar. There was a different expectation in that setting. It could also be that the screen on my laptop is much smaller than the monitors at school where I explored SL before. I felt less connected and immersed in SL during our class time. 

Second Life

"Look at me! I'm flyyyying!"

I never thought I'd ever really try Second Life. I have seen it on computers at school and thought, "Hmmmmm, would I actually try this?" I was tempted, but knew I'd better not. Thank God I took this class! I had a legitimate excuse to try it out. My overall thought is that SL a fun type of social networking/interaction. I don't really consider this gaming because you're not reaching any goals, which is the case in most games. You're just wandering around the "world" and, from what I understand, the biggest advantage is socializing.

I am a big fan of The Sims computer games. However, SL is very different. You don't control the whole WORLD (or town), which you can pretty much do in The Sims. You are practically God. This is not the case in SL. You cannot predict how others will react to you. You can only control YOUR avatar. These are the main differences.

So which do I prefer? I don't think you can compare the two. Second Life is great as a social interaction tool. You can also use it for marketing or, as librarians do, as an informational tool. However, it is not entirely user friendly and is a bit overwhelming.  

The Sims is a game, so you have goals to reach, aspirations to fill and houses to build. There's more to do.

However, you cannot fly in The Sims. I can fly to my heart's delight in SL and that's just really, really cool.

TSA's enhanced security spurs US 'airport rage'

I wish that all news was delivered in the same fashion as NWA World Edition. This “news” delivers news via a YouTube channel using animations and avatars. As this is a parody of news stories, NWA World Edition appeals to people who want to get a laugh, but also appeals to those who want to see the news in a fun and relevant way. I don’t watch television and I don’t read print newspapers. Occasionally I’ll skim online editions of newspapers, but I rely on other people to send me links or post on Facebook when there is something relevant to myself that I may want to read. Just the other day I tried to watch the news to get more information on something and received a brief and superficial analysis of the situation. However, this video and the others posted in this channel, offer in-depth explanations and use animation to illustrate ideas. I believe this is an excellent and relevant way to deliver news in these times.

Instant Messaging at Chatsworth University

Dear Director,

We have discussed in previous meetings our dilemma at the reference desk in our library. Chiefly, reference librarians, such as myself, are concerned that we are not meeting the needs of our users as well as we might with a virtual reference service. The reference desk is commonly underused and the reference librarians find themselves answering questions about lavatory locations and how to printer materials more frequently than they're asked for research assistance. After conducting a recent survey, we found that most students conduct research online and would be more inclined to use virtual reference service than in-person reference services.

As such, we propose using our staff in the place where we're needed most: on the web. We would like to start a virtual reference service on our homepage. Below are the top 5 reasons:

1.) Remote flexibility. Using an online chat service will allow our users to get timely responses from our librarians without visiting our library. They can access our reference services wherever they are during library hours. Our university's mission to increase hybrid learning capabilities is another reason why virtual reference services would benefit our university.

2.) Anonymity. Some students may feel awkward asking some questions. This will allow students to satisfy their reference needs without feeling embarrassed or "dumb."

3.) Easy linking abilities. Since there is a good amount of resources that librarians use on the Internet, sending patrons helpful links to websites and databases is easy online. Librarians can simply add the link to the chat.

4.) Eliminate bias. Virtual reference eliminates prejudices and biases that a librarian may have when helping users. Although librarians should assist every user in the same manner, an online virtual reference source further eliminated such biases.

5.) Low cost. Using open source and free chat software ensures that there not be a high overhead cost for this addition. Training for our librarians and marketing for these services are the only costs our library will endure. These costs are well worth the investment for the improvement of our reference services to our users.


Thanks for your time and I hope to discuss matters with you in person (or via instant message . . .) soon.

Facebook "friends"?

Do I spend more time on Facebook posting about myself or checking up on my family and friends?

 On days when I'm feeling down or disconnected, do I check my Facebook account more or less? Do I immediately want to update my status with my lament? Or when I'm having an exceptionally terrific day, do I immediately want to post the good news? 

When someone "likes" my status or comments, should it really validate my thoughts and feelings? If no one "likes" my status or offers any comments, should I take it that my thoughts and feelings are not viable or important?

Why do I get friend requests from people I barely know or don't know at all? Why do old high school classmates who I NEVER talked to or, better yet, who were absolutely horrible to me, feel the need to add me as a friend? 

After a falling out with a real-life friend, why do I de-friend some on Facebook and not others? 

If I de-activated Facebook for GOOD (if, by some miracle, that was a possibility), would I still have any friends at all? Or would doing this be like using a colander on my social life, weeding out the liquid waste and leaving only the good stuff?

Twitter

I've used Twitter more consistently in the last two weeks than I have in the last two years that I've had a Twitter account. I've used it off and on without understanding a lot of the features because I had no reason to learn. Twitter is confusing in the way it is set up. I still have trouble knowing who said what to whom and when. I also get thrown off by the "home" page and the "profile" page. However, I've enjoyed using it to share and gather information for this class. This was the most useful time I had with Twitter because I was actually communicating with people for a purpose. I felt a personal connection . . .and it was just fun. In fact, one of my non-gslis747 friends started reading our list and enjoyed it!

The most successful uses of Twitter seem to be for announcing events or sharing links to websites. I believe libraries can use this for those purposes. Also, if a librarian was very captivating, useful and humorous, perhaps a specific librarian at a library could make a presence on Twitter. It could sort of be like a "Dear Abby" librarian-style type of thing.

Our QC library might benefit from tweeting about new acquisitions, events, and other occurrences at our library. A student aide or circulation assistant could even tweet about the availability of study rooms during exam times, study hours, or printer/equipment statuses. This would be of use to students and save them time.

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies

             Every company, business and institution seems to be trying to make their presence in the social media technology world. On countless blogs, wikis, and social networks there are businesses trying to sell me something, get me to click on something or get me to go somewhere. It seems that some efforts are misplaced. Is a presence on Twitter the best option for a nursing home? Are they really attracting the right audience? Perhaps companies, businesses and institutions should give more thought behind their selected uses of social media technology.

            The POST method is an acronym for the "four-step planning process" that Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff (2008) describe in their book Groundswell:Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.  POST is designed to help companies and businesses interested in incorporating the groundswell strategy into their social media plan. POST stands for People, Objectives, Strategy, and Technology.

            Libraries can also incorporate POST into strategizing whether or not a social media presence makes sense for their library and, if so, what kind of presence is appropriate. Here’s how:

            PEOPLE- Li and Bernoff (2008) stress that it is important not to start a social media strategy until you know the capabilities and social media interests of your customers (Li & Bernoff, 2009, p 67. In libraries, it would be wise to gather demographic information about your users to find out if social media technology even makes sense. If your public library caters to a senior citizen community, social media may not work. If you are in an academic library, a social networking presence is ideal.

            OBJECTIVES- What does your library plan to get out of a groundswell approach? What is the library’s mission and/or goals? If your library is an academic library, perhaps you’d like to provide ample research assistance to users. If you are in a museum library or special collections library, perhaps your goal is to gain more attendees at your special events and exhibits.

            STRATEGY- How does your library want its relationship with the users to change? Do you want them to become more engaged or do you want more traffic in your library? This is important to consider as it determines how to measure progress, prepare you for the ultimate goals, and what kind of social technology is most appropriate.

            Technology- The absolute LAST thing, according to Li and Bernoff (2009), that should be considered is the technology. An academic library may consider using social networks such as Facebook to connect with their groundswell of college-aged students. An art library at an art school may consider using Flickr to connect with their groundswell. It truly depends on the audience and your objectives.

            The groundswell technique is about concentrating on the relationships you have and hope to have with your audience. This comes before using technology. Especially in the library setting, proper research is needed to ensure a library’s successful attempt at a social media presence. “We want to get involved with Twitter because everyone else is doing it,” is not the groundwell approach. Building meaningful relationships with your users is the groundswell approach.

More about POST.

Buy the book.

Find it at your library.

References

Li, C., & Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Press.