Social Software Round Up: Part 1
We had a good crowd come out on January 2nd for our first Tech Talk of 2007 -- it was a great way to kick off the year. I have been meaning to get this post written for the last week but have been swamped with other duties. I will split the post in two as I still need to find time to convert our PPT slides to PDF. Here, in brief, are a few of the highlights that Karen and I covered that evening.
What is Social Software?
A relatively "new" term with lots of creative and complex defintions.
Simplest Definition -- software that facilitates collaboration.
Wikipedia Defintion -- Software that enables people to rendez-vous, connect or colloborate through computer-mediated communication.
MySpace is one of the best known social software sites, but there are many sites that utilize social software for a variety of reasons. Social software is about meeting people, but it is also about sharing information, opinions and interests.
A few examples of Social Software Sites:
MySpace/Friendster/Facebook/bebo -- online communities for connecting with friends and meeting new people.
Second Life -- An online society with a 3D world.
YouTube -- a place to share, rate and comment on videos
Flickr -- a place to share and talk about photos
Xanga/LiveJournal -- communities of online diaries and journals
LastFM and LibraryThing -- sharing music and books (respectively)
del.icio.us -- social bookmarking (sharing your bookmarks with others)
Positive Aspects of Social Software for Teens (and others):
Expressing Individuality
Engaging in Reading and Writing
Sharing Ideas and Opinions (and sometimes creative work such as music or photos)
Great tool for learning hands-on about blogging, podcasting, and other new technologies
Community Building and collaboration with others
Communication with each other, but also Teens to Adults and Adults to Teens.
Raising awareness of events and "causes"
Freedom to choose, be creative and express themselves.
The "Hype" is that social software is dangerous and should be banned from places like public libraries and schools. While tt is true that predators can and do use social software to find victims, they also use Instant Messaging, Message Boards, and other forms of electronic communication in addition to going to public places like malls. The problem of online predators and cyberbullying is much larger than banning a few popular social software sites. A proactive approach of teaching our children and teens about online safety is crucial because the "reality" is that much of MySpace and other sites are safe when you are aware of common sense rules for protecting your identity online.
A great site for learning about safety online is WiredSafety, which includes great handouts on Social Software and YouTube.
I will hopefully find time to finish this post next week. Feedback and comments are welcome.