Social Media is all the rage these days (and has been for
awhile). Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Youtube, etc. RSS feeds can be useful
for individuals who want to access all of the social media quickly, easily and
in one spot instead of visiting each and every individual website. As you can
probably guess, the power that RSS feeds can have in saving time, energy and
every annoying password you've ever had to set up is incredible!
Personally, I'm not a huge social networker. Sure, I do my fair share of Facebook, Linked In and the occasional Youtube, but not enough that I'd consider a RSS a huge improvement to my life (because checking Facebook a few times a week doesn’t really warrant an RSS feed).
I can see how RSS feeds would be useful for the professional side of my job. A lot of times libraries exchange ideas across systems and counties to try and learn how to better provide services, save money, new programs, etc. It would be great if all of the different sites I browse for programs, bulletin boards, events, etc. (such as different facebook pages, Pinterest, and ALA message boards) could be easily compiled in one spot.
Out of the two apps recommended by the 23 Mobile Things Page, I chose to look at Zite. I like the fact that I can tell Zite what interests me and it will pull up articles and suggestions for reading. The more I read, the more intuitive Zite becomes in picking out what I like (I wonder if there is any way I can transfer that skill to other aspects of my life?? Maybe Zite could pick out my next book!).
As I was browsing through Zite I decided to take a look at books and libraries to see what would pop up. Surprisingly, there are a lot of interesting results that were presented to me. Suggestions included articles about e-books, early literacy, free books, etc. Zite even suggested more search queries based on my original query.
On top of all of this, I could also link my Facebook, Twitter or pocket to have everything all in one place.
Personally, I'm not a huge social networker. Sure, I do my fair share of Facebook, Linked In and the occasional Youtube, but not enough that I'd consider a RSS a huge improvement to my life (because checking Facebook a few times a week doesn’t really warrant an RSS feed).
I can see how RSS feeds would be useful for the professional side of my job. A lot of times libraries exchange ideas across systems and counties to try and learn how to better provide services, save money, new programs, etc. It would be great if all of the different sites I browse for programs, bulletin boards, events, etc. (such as different facebook pages, Pinterest, and ALA message boards) could be easily compiled in one spot.
Out of the two apps recommended by the 23 Mobile Things Page, I chose to look at Zite. I like the fact that I can tell Zite what interests me and it will pull up articles and suggestions for reading. The more I read, the more intuitive Zite becomes in picking out what I like (I wonder if there is any way I can transfer that skill to other aspects of my life?? Maybe Zite could pick out my next book!).
As I was browsing through Zite I decided to take a look at books and libraries to see what would pop up. Surprisingly, there are a lot of interesting results that were presented to me. Suggestions included articles about e-books, early literacy, free books, etc. Zite even suggested more search queries based on my original query.
On top of all of this, I could also link my Facebook, Twitter or pocket to have everything all in one place.
I find the idea behind RSS feeds and Zite a useful idea and I can see where it
would be really convenient to help sort some of my professional pages and
compile them all in one spot, especially across three jobs. Bonus points for
the fact it is on my phone and/or in the cloud so travels easily with me (you
do NOT want to see the back seat of my car).
While I can see this perhaps becoming a useful professional tool, I can't see myself using this in my personal life as I find that I am happy with my current level of social media and get addicted to news articles way too easily (especially when they're customized topics!) so it's a REALLY, REALLY bad to have them just keep popping up with no end in sight. They're kind of like M&M's, you think you can always eat one, but before you know it, half the bag is gone! Drats.
Nonetheless, I think Zite could be an excellent resource for many patrons as well, especially patrons who are interested in articles and magazine types of services on their mobile devices and are seeking something a bit more than the library sponsored Zinio product and it's free to boot!
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