Hello? Anyone?
Hello. I am new here and not entirely sure where I am heading, so I thought I'd start with where I've been.
Most people who know me at all in the land of shared and recommended websites know me as Judefa from a relatively tiny network called Stumbleupon.
But while I still use SU -- every day, in fact -- I spend more time and get more from Facebook these days, and simply send my recommendations on to SU; and post the occasional rant or review.
Social networking and bookmarking has changed so much over the four years I've been involved that I find myself constantly re-evaluating and discovering something new. So what I said last month may not be what I will say next, but what I will say this month is:
1) Facebook rules for ease of use, interactive discussion on news and politics and finding links via public pages and searches.
2) I try to keep up with a few hundred blogs, news sources, Flickr members and Facebookers via RSS but there are never enough hours in the day. That irritates the shit out of me actually, because I am greedy, a voracious reader and so very eager to impress everyone who comes to my pages. ;=)
Click avs and icons for links to . . . Facebook and Tumblr
Flickr galleries, Flickr favourites, Delicious, Stumbleupon, Twitter
3) When I need my spirits lifting or just a break from words, facts and opinions, I often immerse myself in Flickr or Tumblr. Flickr offers the perfect respite from words and from grief about world affairs -- I save favourite images there and look at some of them again and again. I have been collecting them under themes as well, which is rather fun.
4) Tumblr has turned out to be another good source of arts, and so I trade findings there with other Tumblr members when I just want to consume or display what pleases the eye and imagination.
Please connect with me in Facebook if you're interested in news and world affairs; we can share so much more that way. And if it's arts and photography you're after, look at my favourites in Flickr; I am excited about so much going on there.
My blog here consists mostly of imported posts so far but will likely be a new home.
~ ~ ~
PS I am on Twitter as well but I don't do anything the slightest bit interesting there. I mostly go there to see who's been writing and what they're on about. Ideally I'd follow more trusted news sources and commentators, and get more out of it that way, but I do find it short on more than just words. There are too many hash marks, @ signs, codes and telegramese . . . I couldn't get addicted to it any more than I could to a teleprinter.
Now how to sign off? I'm not even sure who I'm talking to here -- possibly just the six subscribers; possibly not even them. I knew so many people in Stumbleupon but we've all scattered to the winds, let down by changes and lured to scores of new networks, each offering something we didn't have before. -- Jude
Where I spend my time: 1 Facebook, 2 Google Reader, 3 Flickr
Since so many of us, Stumblers and Tumblers, these days find ourselves trying to juggle a range of social networks, I thought I’d write a summary of what I use most, and what appeals about each one. I’ve included Google Reader as well, as it is central to prioritising what lobs in.
In order of time spent:Facebook, because of
1 discussions — someone posts a comment, question or link to their wall and their friends chime in quickly and easily with responses
2 news from sources you trust — via friends and pages you subscribe to
3 it’s fast!
1 It’s the fastest way to read from a lot of blogs, news sources and any site with RSS options
2 You can click links on any item in your list to go to the source that supplied it (a blog, news site or whatever)
3 You can view what has lobbed in list or detailed form (the latter presents the full item, with pictures)
4 There are options to arrange subscriptions in folders, by topic etc; I depend on them
Flickr, because of
1 The ability to create personal galleries from others’ photos has given a new appeal to me
2 The search engine is excellent, with a range of options for context searching within names, groups, locations etc
3 I subscribe to dozens of group pools which feature photos by theme, and find a lot of good photographers that way
1 It has a huge range of free template designs, and new ones are always being added
2 It is the best choice for visual blogging, as posting is easy and the display can be very impressive
3 There is no sense of policing and yet it is also virtually spam-free
Stumbleupon
1 It’s the fastest method of sharing websites with friends
2 It’s easy to keep in touch with SU friends via toolbar messages
3 Good tagging allows you to find your bookmarked sites and pages again
And SU Mk 4 encourages people to simply thumb sites up rather than stop and examine them, and God forbid, review them.
The latest revamp was unfathomably stupid unless they simply want to collect data and/or work with the money-for-clicks crowd and generate revenue there.
Delicious
1 A sophisticated tool for managing and finding bookmarked sites
2 Its search engine allows fine-tuning in context, date periods, networks etc if you’re using it as a general database.
3 It simply does its job, does it well, and is used mostly without ulterior motives, so you get quality links
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ With apologies to those who continue to despise Facebook, friends I visit less frequently though I may still read (thanks to RSS) and people who are sick of the pics I post on here these days.






