Joyfully Retired

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the various forms of social media (that post is here). At the time I was learning what the various types of social media there were. I promised to check them out and report back to you. Well, here I am – completely socially-mediad-out. But at least I’m a bit more savvy. Here’s what I put into practice.

I joined Twitter. Twitter is a way of communicating with others – if they also have signed up for the service. The communication can only be done in very short messages (140 characters or less). It didn’t take but about 20 minutes to sign up for an account. The next step was to find other people who are on Twitter. They are the people you want to “follow” which means you get to read their messages. Then people follow you which means they can read your messages. Organizations are also on Twitter so it’s possible to get their messages too. For instance, every time NPR or The NY Times Book section sends out a message it’s right there on my message board.

I signed up for two Bookmark services. I joined Delicious and StumpleUpon. It took less than five minutes to sign up for these services. Now everytime I visit a blog or website that I like, I hit the little button and Delicious or StumbleUpon saves that bookmark. It didn’t take long and the two Bookmark services knew what I liked and started giving me suggestions of other sites I would enjoy based on my bookmarks. And, hopefully, they will start sending other people to my blog.

I’m not exactly sure how Ning works but I sure like it. It’s a “social network” of people gathered together for a purpose. I first heard about Nings from Genevieve, my d-i-l, who belongs to several. Her Nings are organized around community action and environmental causes. I joined one for Book Blogs. Members can join groups for all sorts of purposes. There are also discussions having to do with books and blogging. If you are interested you can click my button in the left sidebar.

I’ve also done a few other social things the past few weeks. I already belong to a few organizations that sponsor forums such as an RV travel group and a knitting group. In addition I joined another group called LibraryThing. Members of this group meet online to discuss books and related topics. In addition, members of LibraryThing enter into the system the titles of books they own or have read or want to read into their “library”. LibraryThing tells you other members who have similar libraries. It also gives you some recommendations for new books based on what you already have. LibraryThing also has various groups a member can join.

The Blog Improvement Project is sponsored by Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness. Click the image at the top of this post for most information.