INF506 Social Networker.. Me?

My own definition of Social Networking is quite simply that it is the interaction between individuals and organisations via websites designed for that purpose. I think this phenomenon was founded in the desire to communicate more effectively with groups of friends in a public forum, but grew on the twin desires to show off our lives to others, and to know what other people are up to. Some people are prolific contributors while many will only ever look. However, these networks now also allow for communication by public and private organisations as we choose to include them in or personal networks, and they are increasingly more reflective of society as a whole.

I think my use of social networking sites is motivated by the desire to keep in touch with people I would not otherwise see often. I speak of course of Facebook, although my recent experience is that most people I know rarely/never post updates, while a small number of individuals with a lot of spare time post every mundane activity in their lives, and I tend to wonder why I am still checking it out. Beyond that I have dabbled in social bookmarking such as Delicious and Diigo for study and work, but tend to forget that they are there. While I have used blogs in study and at school, I would not use one in my private life. I think that, like many people, I do not have the time to use these networks often enough for them to feel useful.

I suppose I expect to learn new ways to use social networks/media from INF506, and to reprogram myself to be a more automatic/comfortable user of sites such as Twitter. I am particularly interested to see how we use Second Life. I have been aware of its use in education for some time, but have yet to see this in action.