RSS Feeds vs. Twitter

A year or two ago I set up my Google Reader account with RSS feeds from various library, technology, and education-related blogs and websites.  Everyday for a week or two I would diligently log into my iGoogle site (remember those) which my Google Reader "fed" into.  I would try to scan the headlines, and read a full post or two, and then that feeling of information overload set in!  I felt as though I just couldn't keep up just as Craig Burgess described in his post, "Are blogs still relevant?" (http://geniusdivision.com/2012/06/20/are-blogs-still-relevant/).

Then came "Google+" and "Google Chrome" which started phasing out the iGoogle site (it will no longer be available after November 1, 2013).  I sort of walked away from my Google Reader and honestly didn't miss it.  

Enter the "mobile everything" phase.  I found if information was on my phone I would read it...anytime, anywhere.  I found that I could enter my Google Reader into my mobile FlipBoard app, and suddenly reading the RSS feed headlines became fun again. So what made me stop? "Push" or lack there of.  

Twitter is quick, brief, and it pushes the information I want right in front of me by way of notifications on my phone.  Do I read every Tweet?  No way! But I can search for hashtags related to subjects that interest me (at that moment) and have them "pushed" to me without searching out feeds, and updating my aggregator.  In addition to the push technology and the ability to search with hashtags, Twitter also has something RSS feeds do not...people!  The "social" nature of following people versus a blog has wider appeal to me.  

Perhaps I am not using RSS feeds to their full current potential out of a lack of better understanding, but for this busy graduate student and mom, they have long since died on the vine!

My Return to Blogging

This week in IST 611 (Information Technologies in Educational Organizations) we've been asked to blog some thoughts about, well....blogs.  So as you can see, I haven't updated this blog since IST 511 (Introduction to the Library and Information Profession)! Why?

• Blogs take time (something I had virtually had very little of last year while I was working full-time as a licensed teaching assistant, taking classes, and trying to squeak out an ounce of fun out for my children and husband).  Although posts are typically brief, taking the time to organize and reflect on what message you want to send is important!

• Blogs are better with a focus and a purpose (something I also had very little of last year).  Random reflections on my learning would have been fine, but who really would want to read it?  Taking IST 616 (Information Resources:  Organization and Access...a.k.a. Cataloging) and IST 605 (Reference & Information Literacy Services) nearly bled the life and passion for libraries out of me last fall! I had nothing enlightening to say!  What audience would I have been speaking to?  Why would they want to come back?  Since that time, I have immersed myself in school media classes and the passion is back, so this blog may find its focus after all!

• Finally, I'll admit it, I'm a perfectionist!  Still trying to find that perfect blog name, write that perfect blog entry, etc.  Do you know how many blogs I started and then recreated under a different name?  I'm working on letting go of this!

 So now that I'm in my second year of graduate work, and starting to look toward graduation in August, my purpose and my voice is starting to find that focus.  I hope to have a lot to share and say, so stay tuned (perhaps through a RSS feed or on Twitter @shannon4bs)!