Thing 16 - To Myspace or not to Myspace...

I have chosen not to make a presence on Myspace. To be honest I'm having difficulty keeping up with all the other presences I have online, so I'm not going to make another.

I have visited the world of Myspace through my child, and seen what people choose to put online, it looks easy and there's no accountability about what goes in. Adults can represent themselves as children and children can represent themselves as adults, resulting in some potentially dangerous situations.

I believe this is a type of generational reaction, to put things online that shock and gross people out, to impress peers, etc. I have visited sites of kids that I know, and have seen flights of fancy that make me a little nervous. So let the young folks have this site, I'll stick with other methods to "make my presence known".

Thing 15-Myspace phenomenon

One of my children is an avid Myspace user, so I'm familiar with the concept and perception from a younger generation standpoint. It certainly allows a freedom (good and bad) to express oneself to a wide audience with little effort. But, not everything is worth expressing and sometimes the fantasies that people create online can be a little scary.

With staff manning the IM line, do we have enough staff to monitor and respond on a Myspace site? It's easy to think that this will connect with the younger crowd, but given the type of site this is, I don't know if this would be as effective as some other methods of communication.

Thing 14 - RAWiki

This is a great way to append information from many sources. The reader's advisory is a great place for a Wiki. The process was fairly easy.

Thing 13 - Wikis

Thing 13 - Wikis. I really like the idea of Wikis. I have frequently refered to the Wikipedia online as a starting point for answering a question. The point I have to remember is that it is just a starting point for information and not the final authority on a subject. The library and university sites I visited were informative, and I can see a very effective communication tool that continually updates, if necessary.