The Home Straight

Well, I added the Delicious widget to my iGoogle page, didn't like the way it looked there and removed it again. I think that's because I don't really use Delicious as a networking/discovery tool, I use it as a personal bookmarking account so that I can access my bookmarks from any computer, anywhere. If there's a subject I want to keep track of, I use my GReader account and RSS feeds, which work better for me than Delicious, I think.

I've also added the Flickr Photostream gadget to my blog, which is all well and good, but I only use Flickr for my crochet photographs, so that's what people will be getting for now!

Overall, I've really enjoyed 23 Things as a way of finding new tools and gadgets (Picnik is going to stay a favourite), and as a way of seeing how the things I already use can be relevant to a library context. It's been fascinating as someone who is already using lots of Web 2.0 tools to see what other people make of the things that are part of my every day life. Most of them will remain part of my toolkit (if Delicious ever disappears, I'm in so much trouble), some will remain on my radar (Facebook and LinkedIn, which aren't particularly relevant to me now, but might be in the future) and some I just didn't take to (ThinkFree and, I'm sorry to say, Blogger). The joy of Web 2.0 is that I've got lots of other options, and as these last 2 Things have shown, everything talks to everything else. I'll be moving this blog to Wordpress, but I can import my content, still have those gadgets in the sidebar, have my Twitter feed show up there and even connect to my Facebook account if I want to. The interconnectivity of Web 2.0 is what really gives it its strength I think. I remember seeing someone posting concerns about the diversity of websites and tools out there, wondering how we connect to each other when we all use such different sets of tools. Gadgets, widgets and our own shortcuts allow us to connect these things together in a way that suits us best, which the control freak in me greatly appreciates.

I don't have to do things the same way as you, but that doesn't mean we'll never find each other. We can still all be connected, just in a way that suits us rather than the way we're told to do it, and I think that has to be a good thing.