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Social Media

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1. What is a Blog?

"Blog" is an abbreviated version of the term "weblog." A blog is a web site that maintains information in chronological order.

Individual stories in a blog are called "posts". Over time, blogs become a collection of posts, all archived for easy reference. Each blog post can become a discussion through comments left by readers.

Blog readers can keep up with the latest information posted on more than one blog by using the feed function built into most blogs.

2. What is Facebook?

Facebook is one of many popular social networking sites.

Facebook can be used for keeping track of friends both old and new. Members can join networks based on school affiliation, employers, and geographic regions. There is no charge to join and requires only that you be over 13 years of age and have a valid email address.

3. What is Flickr?

Flickr is an online photo management and sharing application on the web.

As members of Flickr, our libraries post their photos and may even attach "tags" to them (tags are a word or series of words that may describe the photo). Tags make our photos searchable, and connect our images to other members' photos that happen to share the same tag.

4. What is an RSS Feed?

A format for content distribution, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a system that allows a user to get automatic updates from multiple web sites whenever new content is published on these sites. It acts like a personal web reader by checking your selected sites regularly for new content. If you set up an RSS feed from the New York Times Sports section, for example, you would be notified whenever a new article was posted. The notification takes place in an RSS Reader.

5. How do I start using RSS Feeds?

To use a site's RSS feature, an RSS reader is required.

Choose an RSS reader. An internet search will return many options. Some readers are web-based, such as Google Reader, My MSN, My Yahoo and Bloglines. Web-based readers require no software installation and are accessible from any computer that has Internet access.Other readers are downloadable applications, such as Feedreader or FeedDemon.

Once you've chosen an RSS reader, follow the instructions to download, install, and open the reader.

Decide what type of content you want the RSS reader to monitor. Many web sites provide RSS, which can usually be found on those sites as a link. An orange button is often used to display the service's availability. Sometimes the RSS feed is automatically added to the RSS reader and updates are sent every time new content is available. Alternatively, you may have to click the RSS link and copy it into your RSS reader.

6. What is Diigo?

Diigo is a free social bookmarking service that allows our librarians to tag, save, manage and share web pages from a centralized source.

Tags are one-word descriptors that we assign to our bookmarks on Diigo. Tags help us to organize web sites, and help you find the most helpful ones.

Tags describe the web sites and group similar sites together. They work like library subject headings, but there are no rules (other than using common sense) to applying them, and they do not form a hierarchy.

Tags are also collaborative. When other Diigo users post related pages using the same tags, our visitors can also see those.