Monday, June 22, 2009

Social Networking


As one of the ways we communicate at KFIZ radio we are getting involved in more social networking efforts. By that I mean Twitter and Facebook. KFIZ has a Facebook account and I signed up for Twitter because I thought its immediacy would work out well for some news efforts.

One thing I’ve found out is there are so many different social networking sites and services. The one’s I signed up for are free, but that’s not the only reason I have accounts with them. I’ve been invited to join Plaxo and a few others, but haven’t because I don’t want to spend all my free time posting entries just to post entries.

I’m still getting the hang of Facebook and have spent a little more time posting entries on Twitter. Facebook allows you to share with friends. Sounds like a worthwhile effort, but you have to make sure the friend you’re sharing with is the friend you think it is. For instance I got a name familiar to me and checked it out. Information on my friend said he graduated from the UWO in a certain year. Looked right until I checked it out with the friend of the same name and found out he graduated from Ripon College.

I also recently typed in Jane Doe on my Facebook account to see if I could find an entry for the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Jane Doe case, something they were going to try and do. Found out there are literally hundreds of Jane Does listed on Facebook and some of them are adult only if you know what I mean. After talking with the Sheriff’s Department I found out they had trouble trying to enter their Jane Doe on Facebook, maybe for the same reasons.

Twitter is kind of different. Like Facebook it allows you to update friends on what you are doing, but you are limited to 140 characters. For me it works out because I can put in short news bursts. For example there was a two-car accident on Fond du Lac County Highway WH at 7 Hills Road this morning that detoured traffic.

The thing about Twitter is I first thought it was a kind of instant messaging, but its more like posting your own thoughts and letting everyone in your circle know about it. This is one way of thinking out loud where you have to think about what you’re saying before you say it. Maybe that’s a good thing.

The funny thing about Facebook and Twitter is I haven’t added any family members yet. I’ve been trying to keep work and family separate and to be honest most of my family lives too far away to want to known instantly about what I’m covering through work. On the other hand those following me on Facebook and Twitter probably don’t care that my Mom got a brand new dog today, a 3-month old Yorkie named “Louie.” But now you do.
P.S. my Twitter name is BobNKFIZ

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