I will not be the first, or certainly the last to talk about social networking but here I go talking about it anyway. I am an introverted person so it is difficult for me to put myself out there. The internet does make it a lot easier to meet with likeminded people and to keep up with people both near and far. But…there is always that but…there are so many different ways you can network online how do you choose?
Over to the right I have a “Me Online” section with the places that I have somewhat of a presence for better or worse. Here is a run down on my thoughts about them:
Myspace–I really don’t like Myspace. I joined because I had friends who wanted me to look at their pictures and all and I have uploaded a few things but I find the interface clunky and very juvenile looking–granted it was designed initially for teens to use but I just don’t find it that interesting, it is more like a place to just have your website for free but for that I’d take wordpress anyday.
Twitter–Twitter is amusing. It is like mini blogging and/or mini chatting. The drawback? Hard to search for other people and to get other people involved, but I do like it.
Facebook–I like the look of facebook but it is a bit overwhelming with the number of applications that you can add. I have streamlined mine down (sorry I don’t superpoke and all anymore) but I definitely prefer it to Myspace.
GoodReads–what a nice resource for readers and writers a like. I’m just now getting my page updated again but I find it fun to see what everyone else is reading.
Poets & Writer’s Speakeasy–this is a message board. I am starting to use it again, but it was a terrific resource when I was applying for my MFA program and in the year after I started. I’m looking forward to monitoring it more often.
Zoetrope–Another message board. I only participate in Queens related boards on this site but I am considering branching out into the main site as well, but how much time do I have in the day?
De.lic.ious–Probably butchered that but I like Delicious for keeping a list of my favorite websites. I’m still not letting go of some of my favorites on Explorer but that might change in the future.
YouTube–I really enjoy youtube. When I get a new laptop I might consider vlogging but for now I love watching vlogs and videos from Japan. I have a few family videos and some Charlotte Writer’s Club videos up there.
Picasa–photo site for Google. Was uploading to this quite a bit but I found this kind of annoying to use and after I switched from eBlogger it made more sense to switch to Flickr
Flickr–just looks prettier than Picasa and, for me, is easier to use. I’m slowly merging photos over to my Flickr account and maybe it will inspire me to get out and do more photos.
Other things not listed? I like Nerdfighters site but it seems to be dieing when I just found it 
Other places I should be? Just tell me.
Overall, I still prefer email!
But, hey, we have to get ourselves out there and I’ll try to keep a presence up on as many sites as I can because I do love to chat with people and to see how other poets (and friends of poet like people) live.
