Thing 11

Thanks go out to the lovely and talented "Miss Anne" for explaining how to create the embedded link. (Assuming it works) Hee hee

Shout-outs like these from Captain Rob totally make my day! I don't have nearly as much to say ont he topic of Social Media as Captain Rob, mainly because I didn't study or work in the field of Mass Communications. However, that being said, I would have to say Social Media, particularly in the instances for which the user can edit the site (like Wikipedia) is definitely, in my book, a productivity detractor rather than enhancer. While I think it's important to be "in the know" in terms of what patrons are using from a professional standpoint, in my personal view, I like my news less subject to what others out there think is important. Then again, isn't all news that way?

For casual purposes, I can see the advantage to cruising these sites to see what the masses find to be important, but knowing how fickle the average human is (much less those "colorful" patrons we get coming through the doors :)), I think it all has to be taken with a grain of salt. The attention span of humans today seems to generally be pretty short, so it wouldn't surprise me if these websites "top news" changed hourly, if not quicker. I agree with Captain Rob...I think Social Media is less about the news and more about the social aspect of connecting with others with similar views, hobbies, and interests. Or, the process seems more important than the outcome.

For what it's worth, I think it's interesting, to say the least, to keep on top of what the masses are thinking out there, and this is certainly one way to do that...