Mmmmmmmmmmm, Del.icio.us!

This module was a breeze b/c I've used del.icio.us before; however, I now have a greater appreciation for the variety of ways it can be useful. In the past, I've used del.icio.us to access the silweb links, and I've also helped a patron set up a del.icio.us account (his original request was to ask for a floppy disk to save all of his websites on; he was glad to find out about del.icio.us and use it instead.) I've also searched del.icio.us for good computer tutorials and internet tutorials, as I'm the "computer class" person at my branch.

I haven't had a del.icio.us account of my own in the past but did create one for this module. I've found that del.icio.us is great for some searches and not as helpful for others. My sample search was "korean tutorial" and I got some mixed results, which, in my mind, were not as good as what I've found in a google search. I don't fully understand the magic of google searches, but somehow it's not quite as literal as the search in del.icio.us. If the tagger is a bad speller or just uses a different jargon (ie, uses "classes" instead of "tutorials"), then you won't find it on del.icio.us (at least, I don't think you would) but google somehow finds those good sites that use a different term than the one I chose.

One funny, serendipitous thing that happened in my "korean tutorials" search in del.icio.us is that one of the hits retrieved led me to a definition of "web 2.0", which I really appreciated finding, as I didn't really understand what that phrase meant. Helps me understand why we're doing this! (I do enjoy these modules, but I always seem to learn better when I can hang (seemingly) disparate web functions onto a large conceptual framework.)

I did watch the Clay Sprinky (or whatever his name is) video and I do think he's a brilliant guy but there are some holes in his logic for me. For one, I have never liked television, even as a kid (weird, I know) and I've always found that physical activities, time spent outdoors, playing/listening to music or READING A BOOK a much more soul-satisfying use of time than typing away on a computer. I really DO like the trend that the internet is leveling the playing field for sharing ideas, performances, etc., but still feel that personal interaction is much more meaningful in a face-to-face situation than by computer. I think that trying to bond with others over the internet is just not an effective way to scratch that social itch that all people have. I think for those adults that want to pretend to be an elf that you'll be better off getting together with likeminded adults, physically, than playing on a computer in your basement.

But then, I always tend to have a hard time with paradigm shifts (you know, the whole "rainbow" thing--don't like transitions) so maybe I'm just not able to wrap my head around this yet. I think these web 2.0 "social" tools are great for folks that have very few people nearby that share their particular interest, or those that are homebound for one reason or another. For example, parents who are raising a child with a rare disorder can find a great deal of information, relief and hope in connecting with others who are facing the same challenge.