Thing 12. Do You Digg?

Well, well, well! I am already busy sticking things (no pun intended!) into my Del.icio.us account. Really slick. Now I'll have to decide how or if I need to organize them.

For Thing 12, I started comparing the four recommended social media sites and thought I would sign up for one or two. Newsvine didn't appeal to me at all. Digg is a popular one and, I liked the tour they give. Also, it brings back the old saying from the 60's , "dig it", and I can relate to that! I like the idea that you can "dig and bury" an article too, but not completely of course. My first impression of Mixx was that it is very well organized, so I joined that one too. Reddit's recommended links become more specific according to your selections, but maybe they are all that way, I don't know. StumbleUpon does indicate that it becomes more personalized as you go along. I joined those two also, and I like the Stumble icon on the toolbar with the thumbs up and down.

I did select a couple of articles to share. Both had already been submitted, but it's interesting to see when that was, the number of votes it has received, and then read the comments.

This capability can be very helpful, but, as in so many things, it has both ups and downs. Too much of a good thing is just too much! I know that it is easy to start out with one article and then go from link to link to the point where I can hardly remember what I was doing in the first place! But now we're talking about time and discipline, since there is just no end to what we can read, even if it's narrowed down to our own preferred interests.

In my personal life I don't necessarily place a lot of importance on what is considered popular by the masses, yet I think it's fun to imagine that my "diggs" may give my perspective a better chance to be heard. In our library work setting I can see where it's good to know what's being talked about. We can especially zero in on those library related news items to share and generate discussion.