My Virtual Communities
Posting content on Facebook is easy in comparison with other social media platforms. Also, developing a virtual community seems to be the easiest on this platform for me, as opposed to Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat or Twitter. I would not seek my news here, but do follow sites that post information on history and science so that I can observe how they share their content. Facebook seems to have the most options in terms of applications available. I just opened up Facebook account for the library's private summer reading program and plan to interact with our department patrons and also post content this summer. The image on the right is an example of our communication with a winner for our Artcycle contest. I commented on the great job this person did. This is part of a private group and the child's picture was selected as the winner. Some library applications for Facebook and Facebook Live could be: Author visits, Daily meditations, Exercise, Teen programs, Book talks , Educational and Adult craft programs, Art programs, Story time, Sign language, Cooking classes, Family games, and yoga.
Navigating Twitter has less options than Facebook. Twitter's simplicity makes for a nice user experience and there is even an editing tool after you create a live tweet. The video option is a nice feature because you do not need to download an app or upload video. I also liked that you can invite people to watch your live video as well as see who is watching and chatting during the live tweet. The post on the right is from my personal account of a post that I had done for class. I had just opened this particular account for class and had almost no followers. I used a hashtag with the class number. Applications for the library Twitter live could be: Author visits, Daily meditations, Exercise, Teen programs, Book talks , Adult craft programs, Art programs, Storytime, Sign language, Cooking classes, Family games, and yoga.
Youtube
I regularly post my own videos on my Youtube channel for both school and work. This summer we have been doing mostly virtual programming so I have been making easy STEM activity instructional videos for the library to post once a week on our summer reading page and also on the main page. We give out activity kits that go along with these videos every week. Once each video is posted, I put that video on my personal Youtube account so that I will have a place to keep all of this work that I have been doing. Applications of Youtube for the library: a place to post and share video content, Youtube live Author visits, Daily meditations, Exercise, Teen programs, Book talks , Adult craft programs, Art programs, Storytime, Sign language, Cooking classes, Family games, and yoga.
In LinkedIn I posted several original historical documents from the Library of Congress for the Fourth of July. Requesting membership to library organizations around the world was interesting for me to see how international library groups network. I also like this platform to keep tabs on job opportunities and their descriptions. Because this is a more professional networking site, the content is more business oriented. The applications for a library would be to possibly find community partners, community civic and leadership groups to get involved with. Also, libraries could use Linked in to find trainers, services, local resources and employees as well as help patrons find employment and do market research.
Tumblr
Tumblr is an interesting virtual community that reminds me of an Instagram and Twitter hybrid because you can post images and write your thoughts though you have a 500 character limit. Tumblr posts are longer than most social media content and is more of a place for blogs. Personally, I really like Tumblr and found so many interesting exploring/ travel and also history blogs with beautiful images that looked professional. Possible Tumblr applications in the library: library blog, book or archival site for curations.
Second Life
Second life was fairly empty when I entered this virtual community. The program was slow and unresponsive when I tried to move around. There were many places to go in this world but all of the places I visited were completely empty so I was unable to interact with other people. This role playing community is probably on its way out from the lack of involvement that I noticed. I did find an interesting location called the science circle, and also Mia’s Gutenberg Library location which is pictured on the right. Some of the virtual places had educational elements and could be used for programs or for gaming purposes in the library for tweens or young adults.
Ancestry.com
It has been about 10 years since I first opened my account with ancestry. I have been able to reach out to family members on the west coast and other remote areas that I never even knew about. Ancestry has also enabled me to expand my family tree through my newly found connections on the site. In addition, I have found images and articles that I probably would not have been able to locate had it not been for the family I have been sharing content with over the years. The DNA links have also enabled me to understand how I am genetically linked with newly found members of my family. Applications for the library include: geneology groups, local history groups, historical fiction writing and researching groups.
Zoom Meetings
Zoom meeting is extremely useful to me because not only do I use them for school, for educational webinars but now I host programs and meetings on these apps for work. I recently scheduled, set up and hosted my first Zoom meeting and plan to host two computer coding programs next week on Zoom. The recording feature is nice for making video or creating an archive of work, and screen sharing and breakout groups are nice to use as well. Zoom applications in the library: Book clubs workshops, Genealogy programs, Art programs, Coding, Author visits, Daily meditations, Exercise and Story time.
