Friday, November 20, 2009

Things 2 & 3: More With Blogging, Social Bookmarking

Congratulations on making it to Things 2 and 3! I hope everyone is as excited as I am about all of the fun and exciting tools we're going to explore during this Web 2.0 journey. Before I go on, I wanted to point out the "Tracking Spreadsheet" on the sidebar to the right. This is how I'll be keeping track of who is in the program and who's already completed which Things. If you notice that I'm missing something for you, just email me.

Thing 2: Doing More With Your Blog

Blogs are great for keeping up to date with other people, so for Thing 2, you'll be commenting on and following some of your colleagues' blogs, in addition to tagging the posts you've created so far. First, choose at least five of your colleagues' blogs (see the sidebar on the right), and comment on their first post or on their video. Commenting on blogs allows us to ask questions of one another, make suggestions, or simply to reply to what has been written or posted. I will be commenting on various blogs throughout the 17 Things to Chew On program. Once you've commented, you should then "follow" those blogs. Oh, and "follow" this blog (17 Things to Chew On), too. As you can see in your own blog, I have "followed" you- so you can now see my picture on your blog's sidebar. Now when I log into my blog and look at the Dashboard, I can see what's been updated on the blogs I'm following! Cool, right? Let's try to share the love, so if you notice that someone's blog has not yet been "followed" by anyone but me, you might choose to follow them. Also, let's "tag" the posts you've created so far. Tagging allows you to categorize your posts, which is really helpful if you blog regularly. If you look at my Bulldog Banana Bread blog, you'll notice on the sidebar to the right that I have a bunch of different keywords listing all of the different subjects my posts have been about. That's because I tag each post with relevant keywords. What keywords will you use? Finally, write a blog post telling us who you're "following" and also what tags you created for your first several posts.

So, for Thing 2:


  • Comment on at least 5 people's blogs
  • Follow the 17 Things to Chew on blog AND the other blogs on which you commented
  • Use keywords to tag the posts you've created so far
  • Write a post about about who you're "following" and what tags you've used so far


Just for Fun (optional!): Upload a picture to your profile. It can be a picture of you or of something else you want to represent your online self. Having a picture makes your blog a little more personal!

Thing 3: Social Bookmarking

The next Thing we'll be looking at is social bookmarking using Delicious, which will help you organize all of your favorite websites (this was my part on the Web 2.0 Fairy video!). Watch this explanation from Common Craft and then sign up for a Delicious account. When you first look at Delicious, check out some of the "Fresh Bookmarks" and "Popular Bookmarks" to see how they have been tagged.



Once you've created a Delicious account, add and tag some of your favorite websites. Post your Delicious username on your blog (mine is mrsduelllibrary), then, once other people have started posting their Delicious usernames, add a few of your colleagues to your network. You can add me first just to see how it works. When you're finished, create a post and relect on your Delicious experience. Do you see this as a useful tool? Would you actually use this? How could it be helpful in a school setting?

So, for Thing 3:

  • Create a Delicious account and add websites
  • Add me to your network (mrsduelllibrary), then add a few of your colleagues
  • Create a post about your experience AND post your Delicious username

Just for Fun (optional): Add the Delicious buttons to your toolbar on your HOME computer (it won't work on your school computer- it will just get removed when you re-boot). I tried it and it was pretty simple, plus now it's even easier than ever to bookmark new websites! Just click on "Help" at the top and find the "Need Tools?" section and follow the directions from there.

3 comments:

  1. Still trying to figure out if I have to comment on someone's blog before I can follow them.

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  2. Hi Alicia - I'm just entering the 17 Things world, but am excited to follow some of the participants and learn from them!

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  3. Bridget,
    You don't have to comment on someone's blog in order to follow them. You can click on "Follow", and you'll have to sign in with your Google account.

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