Week 1 Prompt Response

I am a regular user of Web 2.0 technology. Beginning in 2003, I signed up for LiveJournal (LJ), an online community where users can keep a virtual journal and participate in community groups and message boards created around common interests.

Following LJ, I joined MySpace and Facebook, but have since deleted my MySpace due to lack of use. At the time that I created my Facebook profile, the website was exclusive to college students, but has since (obviously) expanded to include a much broader audience.

About two years ago, I began a blog through Blogger. Since that time, I have created and maintained five different blogs (including this one), three of which are currently still active. I have also migrated one of my blogs over to Wordpress, who I find to be less user-friendly than Blogger but which possesses some features that Blogger lacks, such as their "Freshly Pressed" home page and built-in statistical analytics.

I have a Twitter profile which I tend to use in periodic spurts. It's been difficult for me to catch on to the Twitter craze, perhaps because so few of my friends use the site.

Recently, I joined Foursquare and it has developed into my latest obsession. Foursquare is a location-based social networking website and application for mobile devices. Users check in at venues using a mobile website, text messaging or application. You are awarded points and badges based on your check-ins. I use my smart-phone application (go Android!) with GPS capability to check in.

At work, I maintain Facebook, Twitter and Myspace pages for my office. I also regularly use Wikipedia, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr as information resources but do not have my own accounts.

So with that said, I wouldn't classify myself as a Web 2.0 leader or follower, but rather somewhere in the middle. On the Diffusion of Innovations curve I would probably be considered part of the Early Majority. There are usually a chunk of very tech-savvy people ahead of me and I scramble to catch-up, but I am never last in line either.

In this class, I hope to learn more about Mashups, Second Life, and other social networks that I am not currently utilizing, as well as how to use these networks to effectively communicate information to facilitate learning.