Online networks

I had hoped I would have a small head start on this topic, as I had already joined and used both Linked In and Facebook, but once again, I discovered my knowledge left much to be desired.

I joined Facebook a few months back, reluctantly, because my teenage daughter wanted an account. So I joined up first, researched all the privacy settings and explored it, only for Facebook to change everything 2 days later! Whilst my daughter is an avid user, I must admit I struggle to see the benefit bar sharing photos, and I am still wary of it, fearing its potential for harm.

Linked In I also joined months ago but only recently fully completed my profile.  I feel more comfortable in the world of Linked In - perhaps because it is much more on a working life not social life basis. I followed Linked In's advice when completing my profile, and almost word for word uploaded my CV. I found the links to other people's profiles in Thing 6 very useful as it reassured me that I was operating on the same or similar lines to other professionals in the library world. Thanks for sharing and reassuring. I had not really properly explored Linked In's groups before, so found that feature  useful to know about. Equally, I had not been aware of Facebook groups either so took a brief look at some of those mentioned. I was delighted to see the British Library had a sizeable number of "Likes" and Voices for the Library also had vocal supporters campaigning in favour of Public Libraries. In comparison the number of "Likes" for CILIP seemed tiny, which seemed to support my decision that I will keep these two online networks separate. I have decided to use Linked In in a processional capacity and my Facebook (which I use very infrequently anyway) for my personal life.

I did not know about the Librarians as Teachers network before and I am delighted to have discovered it. I have not joined as yet - but I am due to start a new role soon, where it may prove useful to me, so once again, discovering a new resource has been a great benefit of 23 Things.