Following the instructions and opening an account on Twitter was straightforward.
I wanted to follow the library where I work but could not find the address using the website on the OULS directory and a search on Twitter using its name and location was also unsuccessful.
A Twitter address on a poster in the foyer where I work used abbreviations and so I was able to find the Twitter address and become a follower.
I still wanted to become a follower of the library so I searched on the OULS Web 2.0 directory and found the address which also used abbreviations.
There is always a tension between social networking and privacy concerns but less so if an address is not easy to find. There seems to be no cross-referencing in Twitter nor sophisticated search robots. Putting the word library in my search brought up some useful addresses (eg Library of Congress, New York Public library, British Library) but nothing close to the name of the library.
On a work based course, the convenience of using free software is offset by using work emails which is a ready identifier of workplace. According to Wikipedia, which we explore next week, Twitter collects personally identifiable information about its users and shares it with third parties. The service considers that information an asset, and reserves the right to sell it if the company changes hands.
I resent ads, but accept them as part of the visual clutter of modern communication. While Twitter displays no advertising, advertisers can target users based on their history of tweets and sometimes may quote tweets in ads. Will we one day read plagiarisms of our teletweets in ads for libraries?
I am also concerned about getting drawn into the illusion of an online identity. Does a hashtag #ox23 link me to virtual bodies or colleagues with corporeity?
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