Tweeting, Blogging or in Facebook?

If these words mean nothing to you - you are not alone; but neither are you part of the huge movement in social networking that is swamping the internet and fast becoming the preferred communications tool of many, potentially overtaking texts and email.

These sites are various platforms on the internet for communicating with friends, family and anyone else who might be interested in what you ate for breakfast, how you feel, where you are going and even if you have need of a virtual hug.

That is one way they can be used - but there is another side to using these sites, in an effective way that can make a difference. By using these tools, individuals, groups and organisations can keep in touch with their current members, promote their message to new ones, consult, collaborate and involve people in discussions about important issues.

Social networking sites are tools, in the same way that telephones, emails and the internet are tools. It is how you use them and how they can work for you that is important.

Twitter allows users to post short messages – a maximum of 140 characters at a time – onto the site from various sources such as computer, mobile phone and most hand held PDA systems. Users are often known as tweeters.
The benefits of this short message service are that you can relay very quickly, urgent and important information to lots of people at once from virtually wherever you are.
The recent G20 summit is an excellent example of how this service worked by delivering messages and updates to delegates, governments and media around the world, keeping them instantly informed of progress.
Of course the people wanting to cause problems also have access to technology and used the service to keep demonstrators updated with meeting times and potential trouble spots.
This shows quite clearly how these ‘tools’ can be used for good or not so good reasons.
http://www.twitter.com/

Bebo - short for Blog Early and Blog Often - attracts younger users.
This could be a really useful way of getting team members to interact or for posting short notice information about training sessions, meetings and events or just for keeping members informed about what is going on. This site lets you set up a page about yourself or your group and post, or blog, information, pictures and general chat about yourself. You can add friends and see what they are doing. Youth groups tend to find online information especially helpful as they are often using the internet anyway. A word to the wise – if you haven’t seen a Bebo page before, you might be surprised at how much information the younger generation are prepared to share with the world. It is always useful to be aware of what they are up to.
http://www.bebo.com/


My Space is much like Bebo but has a much wider user group who are mostly an older age group than the Bebo users. It has the same kind of interactive format of sharing news, chat, pictures and ideas but there is much more music and video content on this site. My Space was the largest and fastest growing networking site which could engage the user in virtual conversations until it was dwarfed by the rapid take up and spread of……
www.myspace.com

Facebook – originally intended for academics and students within the university network, but later expanded to any user, has become the world’s biggest online communications platform. Users range from individuals, groups, families and whole communities who band together and share information, ideas, chat, pictures and anything else that can be posted on the internet. Users update their status at regular interviews, letting the world know what they are doing. There are options to share with some, none or all and Facebook, as with other networking sites is constantly undergoing change and growth.
http://www.facebook.com/