Monday, February 9, 2009

New tools = new attitude?

Well, seeing as how this is my first attempt at "blogging," I guess I'll just throw it out there and see how it goes.

Using iGoogle and Blogger is both fascinating and foreign. I think iGoogle seems like a way to get all of your information from one page and it lets you subscribe to feeds to keep you updated. I'm not sure if Yahoo lets you do that, but I've never really tried customizing it either. I think it could be because I don't necessarily like to personalize things on the net. It's probably way more efficient to take the time to get things organized like iGoogle, but if I were to log my time on the net, it'd be interesting to see how many websites I actually visit to check information. This would also probably explain why I never created a blog before. 

Now that I think about it, the majority of my time on the Net is spent just checking email. My wife, on the other hand, is adept at doing most things on the Net and is very active with communicating through different web media - of course, she's a former journalist. I guess my biggest insight in doing this assignment is that I actually treat the Net like a library. Some people spend a lot of time in the library, reading and researching, enjoying the books and its denizens. And then there are those of us who go into the library, get what we need, say a quick "hi" to friends and staff, and leave. I think I may fall into the latter category. 

Still, I think - and hope - I can change, especially if it will provide better ways to communicate with my classmates and students. Not to mention it will be a great step into the 21st century. For now, however, I am definitely a stranger in a blogging land.