FACEBOOK TWITTERING

Faces, Faces, Everywhere


Before I started the lesson Web 2.0 on Facebook and Twittering, I have personal pre-conceived bias and prejudice against them because of much publicized media reports of many innocent users of social networking websites ended up as victims of web scams, so I signed up with some reservations. I faced the task of finding "friends".  Keyed in a few names, no match to my first few searches - guess they are not Facebook members or they used other names I know not, or have de-listed themselves from Facebook.  The search by name can at times throw up dozens "hits", and narrower search by name plus image of the face may not be easy to identify the real right face on Facebook especially some have creatively and cheekily put on unusual head wears to camouflage their real  true face!  It is fun though to see faces, faces, everywhere and who is the right "Friend of all" for me message  for my Facebook lesson???


"Twitteratis" on Twittering Trails


As on the Twittering lesson, I  preconceived it to be a chattering channel and true to my expectation, after signing up, I landed in the tweety  tweety tweety Twitteratisland filled with Twiterratis engaging in their less than 140-character tweeting and re-tweetering per tweet ritual dances (oh last night happened to watch a TV program on how some very rare and real colourful beautiful male birds found  deep in the thick forests of PNG performing their  unique ritual dances to attract the attention of the female) .  Having followed the trails of some Twitteratis, I can now understand more fully the worldwide scenario of seeing more and more people, young and old, on buses, trains, along pedestrian crossing paths, in shopping malls/supermarkets, are always looking down, more than looking up nowadays, I fear for them to drop accidentally into the manhole along the way so immersed in their tweeting mood. Back home, I watched with wonders how  these Twitteratis have so much energy and time to tweet and re-tweet, with smiles on their faces, some tweeting lasting throughout their bus or train journeys!


Personal Post-lesson Thoughts


The brief Web 2.0 lessons  gave me an insight (tip of the iceberg?) to both Facebook and Twittering.  Both serve as powerful useful tools for social networking in the Web world such as in encouraging people to stay connected, thus enhancing family closeness and unity; improving information exchange and dissemination timely especially application in life-saving situation where quick instantaneous communication can activate faster decision-making issues for necessary actions to be taken at personal, local, national or even international levels; and they can be used effectively for the marketing purposes, publicising merchandise and services in competitive commercial sector where time- and cost-saving are very essential to reach targetted potential customers, PROVIDED all users of Facebook and Twittering do not misuse or abuse such social networking system by abiding the necessary codes of conduct and practice.. Libraries can further promote and enhance their information services in the use of the social networking system PROVIDED there is a sustainable resourceful manpower to administer and oversee the implementation and maintenance of the system within its whole automation system, subject to funding availability.
　

Food for Thoughts

*Confucius said:

"It is not the failure of others to appreciate your abilities that should trouble you,

but rather your failure to appreciate theirs"

"He stands to benefit who makes friends with three kinds of people.

Equally, he stands to lose who make friends with three other kinds of people.

To make friends with the straight, the trustworthy in word

and the well-informed is to benefit.

To make friends with the ingratiating in action,

the pleasant in appearance and the plausible in speech is to lose"

(*Source: Confucius Says…/edited and translated from classical Chinese into modern Chinese by Keong Tow Ying, English translation by D. C.Lau. Federal Publications, 1982. First published 1979 by Penguin Books Ltd.)