Social Media Timeline

The history of social media in a timeline format (info graphic) is a useful tool for teacher librarians and others.  For many, it is a walk down memory lane.  See the full timeline at http://www.siliconrepublic.com/new-media/item/25854-the-history-of-social-media


Add some education data points:

• 1994 - Net Day, an initiative to wire all schools and classrooms (and school libraries) to the Internet.  That is also when it became clear that schools needed to upgrade their electrical system.  Computers need to be plugged into electrical outlets.  This is also the year that Pacific Bell (now AT&T) started its Education First initiative and team, got CPUC approval to donate three years of ISDN lines for Internet access and interactive videoconferencing to all California schools, libraries and community colleges, and established 12 demonstration sites.  Library sites included Pasadena Public Library and Sacramento Public Library.
• 1996 - Telecommunications Act of 1996 included a section on Universal Service that helps schools and public libraries obtain access to state of the art telecom services and equipment at a discounted rate.  This became known as "E-Rate", short for "eduction rate."
• Summer 2007 - California School Library Association offered its free, online web 2.0 tutorials, School Library Learning 2.0 and Classroom Learning 2.0  

Add your own special dates and memories to the timeline!

Internet Librarian 2011

Love the annual Internet Librarian conference in beautiful Monterey, California. Wish it was held in August, not October at the beginning of the academic year. Once again, I can only attend one day -- the day I'm presenting on behalf of the California Campaign for Strong School Libraries.  The session is a part of the Schools@Internet Librarian conference-within-a-conference.  Here is the promo:

E101 – Changing the Story: The California Campaign for Strong School Libraries
10:15 AM – 11:00 AM
Jackie Siminitus, VP, Communication, California School Library Association
Connie Williams, Chair, California Campaign for Strong School Libraries, California School Library Association

The California Campaign for Strong School Libraries is a public awareness campaign that seeks to inform the public and policymakers on the importance of a strong school library in increasing student academic achievement. The campaign promotes the new Model School Library Standards and works to “change the story” of what a school is. California School Library Association’s Siminitus and Williams showcase a number of major outreach efforts including an audio journal; bus ads; Illustrators Galore @ LIBRARY STORE; leveraging library vendors as advocates; plus how to design and offer their free, online tutorial for teens, “Tools2Create: Summer 2.0 Fun.”

Social Media Revoution -- New YouTube

The future is here. Don't get left behind! Why it is so important for educators to learn web 2.0 tools:

1. See newest version of Social Media Revolution (below)
2. Sign up immediately for Classroom Learning 2.0 or School Library Learning 2.0
   

Share widely!
Help your friends get comfortable with social media.
If you work with young people, try the new Teen Learning 2.0 tutorial by the California School Library Association.

Cognitive Surplus - by Clay Shirky

AL Direct alerted me to a book and video presentation on the concept of cognitive surplus. See and listen to Clay Shirky, author of "Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age". Given how many individuals in the developed world have time and talent, mixed with the new social networking/web 2.0 tools, humans can make a big difference in making civic changes. He gives several excellent examples. Worth listening to.

Chris Croissant writes: “We were thrilled and privileged to have Clay Shirky come into the Penguin offices in London June 29 to give a fascinating insight into his new book Cognitive Surplus. Explaining how for decades, technology encouraged us to squander our time as passive consumers, Shirky argues that technology has finally caught up with human potential and examines the changes we will all enjoy as our untapped resources of talent and good will are put to use at last.”...
Penguin Blog, June 30

NING to Phase Out Free Accounts

NING, a free social networking site used by librarians and educators, among other interest groups, will gradually become fee-based. According to Don Clark's 4/19/2010 story in the Wall Street Journal, "NING Moves to Phase Out Free Accounts", the company is revising its strategy to make money and to better address misuse of its service. NING users currently can establish accounts anonymously, which makes it easy for disreputable users to abuse the networking service. Addressing misuse of its service is not the business it wants to devote so much time and effort to. One way the company can better control SPAM, pornography, and other junk is to eliminate the anonymity factor by requiring a credit card for monthly services.

Co-founded by Internet entrepreneur Marc Anderson in 2004, NING is cutting its work force by 40% and will focus its efforts on paid services. The WSJ interviewed NING executive Jason Rosenthal, who said that their customers who use NING premium services (paid services) account for about 80% of the company's revenue. The company's original business plan assumed that most of its revenue would come from paid advertising.

Given the change from free to fee-based, the California School Library Association (CSLA) will remove or de-emphasize reference to NING in its professional development courses, School Library Learning 2.0 and Classroom Learning 2.0. Educator NING sites include:

• Library 2.0
• ALA Members
• Teacher-Librarian
  
• Computer-Using Educators
  
• Teachers2.0
  

The good news is that NING plans to probably offer a low price for educators, individuals, and small non-profits. NING's starting price is $4.95/month, so the educator price would most likely be lower. New service plan offerings will be announced on 5/4/2010.

Social Media Online Guide

Here's a colorful and useful guide to social media from SMO.com that is downloadable. It includes 10 websites (left column) by customer communication, brand exposure, traffic to your site, and SEO (search engine optimization).

Websites covered include:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Flickr
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• DIGG
• StumbleUpon
• Yahoo! b
• Reddit
• Del.icio.us
  

Decorate your library, lab, office, or classroom.

The Conversation Prism

My son alerted me to The Conversation Prism: The art of listening, learning, and sharing. It is a fascinating, detailed social media map by Brian Solis, the "father" of the term "PR 2.0". See below. Zoom in to see the detail! This is a good poster to hang in a library by the computers.

MyPictr - clip or size photos for your sites

Librarian-in-Black posted about MyPictr as a cool tool for properly sizing photos or icons for websites and social networks. I could have used this a year ago! Check it out.

It is as easy as 1- Upload. 2- Select. 3- Pictr it!

Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2009

Each year since 2004, ECAR (EduCause Center for Applied Research) has surveyed college and university freshmen and sophomores on their use of technology. This is the 13-page key findings of "ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2009". Good number of charts.

Highlights for me include:

• Use of instant messages has declined, while text messaging and social networks have increased. See chart on page 5.
  
• Use of social networking software (SNS) has increased the most by older students. See chart on page 6. Use by students age 30-39 tripled, use by students age 40 and above quadrupled.
  
• Use of course management software (CMS) has increased significantly since 2004. In 2009, about 70.4% of students surveyed were in a class that used course management software (CMS) that quarter; an additional 18.5% have experienced CSM.
  
• Study identified and described 4 types of users of mobile Internet: power users, ocassional users, potential users, and non-users. Potential users (11.8%) indicated they probably would purchase a mobile device within the next 12 months. See page 10. Of note: about 35.4% of students who owned an Internet-capable handheld device said they never use that feature.
  
• Handhelds were used in class by about 32.2% of students for non-course use; 11% for course-related use.
• The study no longer asks about use of e-mail, assuming it is well-entrenched -- yet my college student rarely checks her e-mail and as a result has missed some important deadlines or communications from her college!
  
• Students like the use of technology, but want their academic experience balanced with the human touch. Apparently some professors overuse technology, while others avoid it.
  

The authors provide a proper citation for the longitudinal study:
Citation for this work: Smith, Shannon, Gail Salaway, and Judith Borreson Caruso, with an Introduction by Richard N. Katz. The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2009 (Research Study, Vol. 6). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2009, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Widget for Sharing -- "Share This"

Tom Kahn shared a cool tool -- a widget called "Share This" so I experimented with it on a number of my blogs. It allows me (and readers) to share a post with other social networking accounts. I shared an item from my Advocate4Libraries blog with my Facebook account, but could also share (re-post) with my Twitter and other accounts.

How would you use this? Here is an example: Members of the California School Library Association could post a message on their personal or library blog account about the California School Library Association's popular, free, online educational technology tutorials for teachers called "Classroom Learning 2.0" and "Discovering Assistive Technology". For those who have completed or almost completed School Library Learning 2.0, they could add a testimonial about how much they learned and enjoyed the discovery learning format. You get the idea! The more who hear about the CSLA professional development and program tutorials, the more visibility for school libraries. Remember, strong school libraries build strong students and lifelong learners!

Social Media is NOT a fad... - YouTube Video

Tom Kahn alerted me to a YouTube video he saw on the LM_Net listserv. Title is Social Media Revolution. Check it out.

Google Followers

OK. I've added the "Google Followers" gadget to my 2CoolTools blog. This is a new Blogger feature, so I noticed it when I created several new blogs for the California School Library Association. Not sure why I instantly had 2 followers. Now to see who else follows this blog.

Facebook Now #1 Sharing Site

According to an article in Mashable: the social media guide, Facebook is now the #1 content site that provides readers with an easy way to share stories across multiple social media sites. Data is from AddtoAny, a company that makes the most popular widget for websites to allow sharing of stories across multiple social media sites. So true! I just shared this story via my Facebook account.

1. Facebook = 24% share
2. Yahoo = 14.4% (includes Delicious, Yahoo Bookmarks, Yahoo Buzz, Yahoo Messenger)
3. eMail = 11.1%
4. Twitter = 10.8%
5. see full pie chart
   

Twitter Tips

Mashable carried a useful article on 7/20/09 by Josh Catone on "Twitter for Beginners: Five Steps for Better Tweeting".

1. Find people you already know. Find them. Follow them.
   
2. Find Like-minded Users.
3. Find People in the area.
4. Get a desktop or mobile client (upgrade from web interface).
5. Learn the ropes.
   

8 Ways to Create Paperless Business Cards

Thinking ahead to the next set of conferences and meetings where I'll be meeting f2f rather than online, I'll need a business card or slip of paper to give a lot of new contacts. I've been without a printed card for about 6 months and have managed just fine, but... Just in time, here is an item on "8 Ways to Create Paperless Business Cards" from Mashable, the Social Media Guide.

1. Wireless phone: SMS. Beam your business card via text message to interested parties.
2. Wireless phone: Mobile Web and iPhone-optimized web sites
3. Wireless phone: E-mail.
4. Wireless phone: iPhone.
5. Social Media Profiles: Social Networks (LinkedIn, Facebook)
6. Social Media Profiles: Google profiles
7. Social Media Profiles: Twitter
8. Social Media Profiles: Profile aggregators

My new netbook arrived in time to play with it this weekend.

Social Networking Wars - video

A friend alerted me to this video on the "Social Networking" wars. Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, Second Life? It is really funny and on point. Be sure to watch it to the end.

LINK-Live for Presidental Party

Groups and individuals across the country can LINK-live at no cost to the 1/20/2009 Presidential Inaugural Gala Event at the Corcoran Gallery of Art to http://www.inauguralgala2009.com/

The event will be broadcast live through video streaming and interactive technologies. Participants around the country will join in to celebrate via live broadcast quality video streaming, blogging, i-reporting, social networking, and more on a web 2.0 platform. LINK-live sponsors and participating organizations are building a social network, posting information, videos, and providing links to exciting projects that support the theme of Technology Serving Humanity in the areas of Life, Information, Nature, Knowledge (LINK). Libraries and librarians clearly support two of the themes: Information and Knowledge.

NOTE: Formal underwriting for city celebrations is still available by contacting the Kempster Group.

Are You LinkedIn?

Has a friend or colleague invited you to be LinkedIn? Over the past two years, I've been invited to link to a growing number of individuals and as a result, I've started to explore the social network. One of my very tech-savvy colleagues says he uses LinkedIn as his Rolodex.

For those who are active outside of work in leadership positions in professional associations, non-profit programs, school site councils/PTAs/coaching, and such, this can a good forum for getting recommendations and recognition. What a good way for non-profit leaders to commend their outstanding volunteers or award winners. For example, in addition to recognition of the Library's or YMCA's volunteer-of-the-year in the organization's newsletter and website, the same recognition sentence or paragraph can be copied and pasted into a LinkedIn letter of recommendation to the volunteer. Nice!

As individuals retire or lose jobs, this is a network that keeps you connected with those who you have worked with over the years. It is a treat to get a message from a former co-worker that you knew 10 or 20 years ago when you lived on the other side of the country or world.

diigo.com - research and communicating

Check out this video tutorial on diigo.com and how it can be used to bookmark, highlight, and annotate web pages. This social networking research tool would be good for group projects.