Week 8 - Social Networking

To successfully complete No. 8 - Social Networking, you must...
READ this blog post.
DO and THINK about the information in the "Learn More About" activities.
LEARN by completing the Hands On Activities, including reading the Important Tips.

Your total time commitment is about 30 to 40 minutes.

Introduction to Social Networking
Social networking site are about establishing and maintaining personal connections and finding friends with shared interests. All social networking sites allow registered users to find people they know or look for other people with similar interests or affiliatons. After registering, site users establish a prfoile with basic information about themselves and begin making connections or "friends".

The online friending concept can be very different from a real world one. Friends online may be people with common interests or hobbies that you meet at an online site like Meetup, Match.com or Myspace. Friends in real life are generally people that you already know well and have some geniune affection. Both friending concepts may include people in your peer group at work, school friends, etc...

There are social networking sites for almost every conceivable topic and hobby; these sites range from photo sharing to music to book clubs to social activism. The most popular social networking sites, MySpace and Facebook, also have groups. These groups are chat boards for members with similar interests. LinkedIn, a popular professional social networking site, offers even more features such as jobs ads, recommendations and questions/answers.

Social networking sites can also be used for recruitment for both students and professionals. Government agencies can advertise jobs and answer questions about jobs on sites such as LinkedIn. They are also a great way to announce events, to engage citizens in dialog on issues of the day and align government with citizens. Check out the City of Virginia Beach's Facebook page. There are great citizen's comments there!

Social networking connects people globally and provides an avenue for municipal governments to create communities of practice across the enterprise, where members can learn from each other and create new knowledge. They can be used to further promote government information and services. Don't believe it? Check out the Library's Facebook page at Social networks also create opportunities to establish relationships with professionals outside the organization in other local governments and professional fields.

The Internet is woven into everyday life; it is transforming communication into a seamless process. People move between telephone, computer and in person encounters actually increasing daily social interaction. Social networking sites play an interesting role in the lives of many people today.

"Learn More About" Social Networking
1. Read this Wikipedia article on Social Networking Services at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service . (Time Commitment 5 minutes)
2. Watch this YouTube video, Social Networking in Plain English at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc (Time Commitment 1:48 minutes)

Hands On Activities
Try out a social networking site. I recommend that you try either Facebook or LinkedIn.

The Library Department has an organizational profile in Facebook. Many library staff are Facebook users as well. If you want to try Facebook, do the unofficial Facebook Tutorial at http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-tutorials/facebook-profile-tutorial/.

LinkedIn is a networking site for professionals. Hundreds of City of Virginia employees are part of the LinkedIn network. If you want to try LinkedIn, watch this YouTube video on LinkedIn at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzT3JVUGUzM. (2:28 minutes)

Four more weeks to go!