Transcript of the Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable: March 21, 2019
Topic: Where We Gather and Discuss
Photos by Beth Ghostraven
Where are the online places and applications that you like to gather with other people and exchange ideas and information? Virtual worlds: and if so, which places and events? Social media: if so, which ones? Messaging apps? Google apps? Do you gather with different people in different places? What happens when a place closes down (like Google+ is for non-enterprise customers)?
Sheila Yoshikawa: Hi Fauve
Fauve Aeon: hihi 🙂
Fauve Aeon: Happy Equinox
Sheila Yoshikawa: cute geta with the goldfish!
Fauve Aeon: hee tyty
Fauve Aeon: impossible in real life shoes!
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): hi everyone
Sheila Yoshikawa: yes would be cruelty to fish @Fauve
Beth Ghostraven: Hi Selby!
Beth Ghostraven peers at Fauve’s shoes
Fauve Aeon: hihi Selby
Fauve Aeon: well if they were battery powered fish…*grins*
Beth Ghostraven: wow!
Sheila Yoshikawa: 😉
Beth Ghostraven: I love the bubbles in them
Fauve Aeon: tiny world in a shoo:)
Sheila Yoshikawa: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable. We meet on Thursdays at 12 noon SLT for an hour. VWER is a forum to educate and inform the community about issues that are important and relevant to education in virtual worlds. This is a public meeting, so we will be keeping and publishing a transcript in due course. The transcripts can be found at https://vwer.info/. The VWER continues to develop a community of educators from around the world. Please join the VWER group here in SL. If you are on Facebook please join our group there http://www.facebook.com/groups/159154226946/
Sheila Yoshikawa: I am moderating today. The topic for this week’s meeting will be: Where we gather and discuss. Let’s start as we normally do and introduce ourselves. As usual we will be in text chat for the whole session.
Beth Ghostraven: I’m Beth Ghostraven, middle school teacher-librarian in RL and owner of the Book and Tankard Pub in Victoria City, Caledon in SL; owner of Ghostraven Professional Attire, classic clothing for educators in SL (http://bethghostraven.com); Communications Chair for the VWBPE Conference http://vwbpe.org; Communications Chair and Focus Sessions Producer for the ISTE Virtual Environments Network; and unofficial liaison between education groups in SL. For information on events for the educational groups that I work with, see the ISTE VEN Massive Open Online Calendar at http://venetwork.weebly.com/calendar.html; Twitter: @booklady9 I’ll be taking photos to publish with the transcript and recording this session on video; if you have any objection, please IM me.
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): Selby Evans, blogger
Social media for the virtual worlds (RiP G+). Summary https://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2018/12/2018-promo-people-social-media-for.html
BENEATH THE WAVES in a virtual world. An exploration of our less conscious realms (invited article) https://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2019/03/2019-beneath-waves-in-virtual-world.html
How do I find communities I like on the hypergrid? https://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2019/03/2019-hg-people-how-do-i-find.html
VWBPE 2019 announces its program, running from March 23 to April 19. Internet conferences get longer. https://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2019/03/2019-edu-vwbpe-2019-announces-its.html
Stranger Nightfire: that is long
Beth Ghostraven: VWBPE starts in FOURTEEN DAYS!!!
Fauve Aeon: hello everyone, I’m Fauve Aeon, rezzed in SL in 2008, virtual world ballerina and wardrobe mistress with Ballet Pixelle, LEA grant recipient for summer this year…pioneer still noob-level in Kitely.
Sheila Yoshikawa: I teach and research in the Information School, University of Sheffield, UK (and at the moment we are having a Strategic Review, so I am tired from sitting in stuffy rooms answering questions about Research Strategy, and Programme level Assessment, and Strategic Aims etc etc). I also an lead organiser of VWER
Elli Pinion: Becky Adams (Elli Pinion SL) – online instructor and recently retired Director of Online Course Development and Faculty Services at the University of New Mexico, USA, on Board of VWBPE
Marly (marly.milena): Niela Miller, M.S.Education/Communications http://www.peoplesystemspotential.com Founder of Octagon:Creative Exploration in SL. Also co-founder of Adventures in Lifelong Learning and facilitator for Community of Creative Elders.Combine multi-arts processes with humanistic psychology, coaching and education. Doing programs at VWBPE
Sheila Yoshikawa: Thanks everyone!
Sheila Yoshikawa: So the questions I forecast when publicising this were: Where are the online places and applications that you like to gather with other people and exchange ideas and information? Virtual worlds: and if so, which places and events? Social media: if so which ones? Messaging apps? Google apps? Do you gather with different people in different places? What happens when a place closes down (like Google+ is for non-enterprise customers)?
Sheila Yoshikawa: So starting with the first and main question “Where are the online places and applications that you like to gather with other people and exchange ideas and information?”
Sheila Yoshikawa: so obviously I like to gather with people at VWER
Marly (marly.milena): This is the most regular place I <gather> and have for years. However, I am wondering why the attendance has gotten smaller over the years
Sheila Yoshikawa: good question Marly; new people have come along, but more people have left than come along. Fewer educators? the sessions got duller? SL got less interesting?
Beth Ghostraven: publicity is not as good?
Sheila Yoshikawa: also there is the time of day which is geared more to Europeans than some events, but if there are fewer Europeans….I’m not sure the publicity was BETTER in the old days, though certainly we could improve it now
Marly (marly.milena): Also attend some NPC meetings when the topic interests me. BUt the main most valuable gatherings for me are the monthly groups that Sky and I have done for four years now. We go deep. People share a lot. The next one will start end of April (Beneath the Waves). Also, I like to meet in SL with individuals and have in-depth dialogues on all sorts of topics
Stranger Nightfire: the fewer educators part is certainly one aspect, I even know one person i talk to on Facebook on occasion whose job involves working with students on VR and virtual world activities who has not come into SL in years now; and ISTE is nothing like what it used to be
Fauve Aeon: I like dance communities, there is usually some form of education outreach and we do reach people who never see rl ballet
Sheila Yoshikawa: and you have common interests @Fauve?
Fauve Aeon: also steampunk areas for learning, competitions, the builders and thinkers gather there, readers too
Sheila Yoshikawa: can make some assumptions about shared interests and attitudes about ballet?
Fauve Aeon: I am the wardrobe mistress for ballet pixelle so sharing tips and tricks always with other dancers, costumers etc, we learn from each other
Sheila Yoshikawa: Seeing the pictures of VR on social media, perhaps we need to be more assertive and pretend this is newer than it is to make it seem more leading-edge?
Fauve Aeon: well I am not formally working in education but you seem to welcome me because there is a lot of learning and teaching going on in sl? *grins*
Beth Ghostraven: Hi Tori!
Tori Landau Herbit (tori.landau): Hi folks! °͜°
Sheila Yoshikawa: I’m thinking that now of course I feel a duty to attend VWER and lead sessions, but what attracted me still holds – and it is partly that it is relaxing and enjoyable as well as informative. So not necessarily a deep experience, but a more relaxing one that I like?
Stranger Nightfire: same here Fauve, hell i am a college dropout
Beth Ghostraven: Stranger, I don’t think that matters at all
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Fauve lol we welcome anyone who is not actively a griefer – anyone who finds the discussion at all interesting is more than welcome
Elli Pinion: I like the sharing of experience, research and ideas
Sheila Yoshikawa: And I like the synchronous nature of this kind of gathering, that you don’t have to remember what a discussion thread was supposed to be about from yesterday or something
Fauve Aeon: teaching and learning is so much more organic here in virtual that I want to learn better how to share things sometimes but since I am not a teacher, it’s harder for me to express it in some kind of way sometimes, lol…
Maggie Larimore: I like to get back here whenever I have the time. I’m taking a break from grading right now, so glad to be here, but to be honest lately my main reference group in SL is the Spanish class I take with Eugenia Calderon and the grammar study group we do on our own on the next night, Wednesday/Thursdays nights are that, and I’ve been hunkered down trying to redo the garden and the Chilbo library, so Chilbo community members at the moment are where I’m focused
Elli Pinion: I find time still challenging, but do like a synchronous discussion regularly
Maggie Larimore: I haven’t even seen my SL discussion group in months, hoping to get them together again soon
Maggie Larimore: speaking of Chilbo hey Josain
Sheila Yoshikawa: synchronous means a commitment to be at a computer and accessing a broadband network of a certain power, finding time for that regularly is not always easy
Elli Pinion: I think both you, Maggie, and Marly have hit on one thing….colleagues that you join.
Elli Pinion: @Sheila: That is so true! I do as little sync as possible with my students. Colleagues are different
Josain Zsun: G’Day! All! Just completed a Science Circle podcast interview on my Trusted Friend talks.
Maggie Larimore: 🙂 and kind of project based at the moment
Marly (marly.milena): I also have a team I work with and we meet every few weeks not just for business but to catch up on each other’s lives.
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Maggie that sounds like a full virtual life 😉 rather nicely balanced, gardening, language learning and teaching
Elli Pinion: Wow! Cool, Josain
Maggie Larimore: I missed your talk Josain, I’m so sorry, do you have a link for the podcast interview and congrats on that!
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Josain welcome
Beth Ghostraven: I love my Caledon community here, too–I held a dance in my pub to celebrate our 13th anniversary, and it was so good to see so many friends and neighbors in one space together
Maggie Larimore: you’re right Sheila, hadn’t thought of it that way
Elli Pinion: Team….there you go.
Sheila Yoshikawa: “Where are the online places and applications that you like to gather with other people and exchange ideas and information?” – is the question we are discussing
Fauve Aeon: that too Beth, I enjoy visiting you
Elli Pinion: @Beth: We really need/enjoy that.
Beth Ghostraven smiles at Fauve
Fauve Aeon: most interesting discussions happen that way, through events
Elli Pinion: Agree, Fauve
Elli Pinion: Facebook…though I hate it and don’t really trust it.
Josain Zsun: If it weren’t for Beth, I wouldn’t know about a LOT of SL events.
Beth Ghostraven: Elli, I don’t trust Facebook either, but it seems to have the widest reach of anything like that
Marly (marly.milena): Difference between discussion and dialogue. I hanker for the latter which is why I prefer one-on-one or small group get-togethers
Fauve Aeon: I have limited my FB time and started an SL dedicated instagram instead, stories through pictures more, show don’t tell 🙂
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Marly interesting and useful distinction there.
Marly (marly.milena): The larger the gathering, the less likely it is that in-depth, meaningful exchanges can happen
Tori Landau Herbit (tori.landau): That’s true Marly
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Marly but I do see meaning in the less in-depth discussions as well, I suppose in terms of – balancing my life? I don’t know, I find them life-enhancing anyway, even if they aren’t deep
Marly (marly.milena): @Sheila, that may be a personality difference. Small talk is difficult for me; my soul thrives on deep exchanges
Josain Zsun laments the soon passing of G+
Fauve Aeon: my instagram posts to my FB so I only go to FB for group things I need to tend to, it’s gotten very shallow and time wasting and quite frankly often depressing
Beth Ghostraven: I agree, Josain, I”m angry with Google over that
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): If I limited my activity to trusted sites, I would post almost nowhere but my bank
Fauve Aeon: lol Selby true
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Selby 😉 yes I only bank online at my computer at work, which has an excellent firewall and I’m using a fixed network connection….
Josain Zsun: True Selby and I only deal with my bank in a walk in basis.
Fauve Aeon: I am setting up my domain for my website then will share all from there starting this summer with my LEA grant
Elli Pinion: A group of friends and I have moved to Mewe, but not sure we trust it either.
Beth Ghostraven: Fauve, I can’t wait to discover what you’re doing for LEA
Maggie Larimore: On the Facebook thing I use it for marketing and seeing my family’s recent photos (not everybody’s on Instagram), I relax on Pinterest, but I really live on YouTube, I watch a lot of podcasts and make comments when I see things people are saying that I love, whether it’s the podcaster or a commenter, and I’ve gotten to know a bunch of them
Fauve Aeon: I like the larger events for meeting and greeting new people, then keep up with smaller groups and then friends, like rl
Tori Landau Herbit (tori.landau): What is Mewe Elli?
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I Post on Mewe
Maggie Larimore: I’m on Ravelry too, an international old timey thing where knitters and crocheters, weavers etc get together, and I lurk in some of those feeds
Elli Pinion: A newer FB…suppose to be more private.
Tori Landau Herbit (tori.landau): Thanks Elli
Beth Ghostraven: http://mewe.com/
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I put videos on YouTube
Fauve Aeon: I enjoy the art of social conversation as well as the deeper connections so I need variety.
Stranger Nightfire: i suppose i am a paranoid conspiracy theorist but Google+ shutting down strikes me as a way of concentrating as many people as possible on Facebook where they can be more easily manipulated
Maggie Larimore: learning to knit seriously, so that’s a huge community for me outside of SL (which is why the Garden is now nature, craft and sculpture, well that’s the plan)
Fauve Aeon: I have met many people I went on to collab with at those big parties too 🙂
Maggie Larimore: I miss the heck out of Josain on Google+ I must say!
Marly (marly.milena): I love Skype for meeting with far-away friends and family. It is almost like having them <in the room>!
Elli Pinion: I use Skype a lot.
Maggie Larimore: oh me too Marly; my students too
Stranger Nightfire: it is after all pretty clear all these companies work closely with the intelligence agencies
Josain Zsun: Reddit is a fire hose of info.
Sheila Yoshikawa: Yes, I too – but almost all Skype for work-related things
Maggie Larimore: my brother loves Reddit. I’m not a fan
Elli Pinion: I lurk on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I promote articles on FB and Mewe. My blog is my main outlet
Sheila Yoshikawa: I tend to talk just on the phone to people I’m closest too
Maggie Larimore: I market and lurk on Twitter, mostly lurking on Pinterest, lots of hearts on Instagram 🙂
Elli Pinion: Wow…what a concept, Sheila! (sarcasm) lol
Beth Ghostraven: I rarely talk on the phone–it’s almost a phobia. If I can’t connect with someone online somehow, it’s really hard for me to stay in touch
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I promote articles on Twitter
Elli Pinion: Actually, I barely talk on the phone anymore.
Maggie Larimore: I’m on a Facebook page for people who grew up in my hometown, a good number of oldest friends (longest friends) are there. Our phone almost never rings, I must say
Elli Pinion: Yes, I find FB to be a reconnect to old friends.
Sheila Yoshikawa: So people are coming up with a variety of places! and it’s evident people have their own preferences and motivations for choosing one set of applications/channels, very interesting, we all have SL in common, but quite a variety of other preferences
Marly (marly.milena): I do not use a phone at all (except if I travel–a little flip phone ); just too much spam etc, I delete any numbers that appear. I am probably one of the few people alive who do not have a smartphone.
Elli Pinion: Mine, either. I worry when it does. Text, is another thing.
Maggie Larimore: I call out (to my students) more than anybody calls in but that’s also because we’re in a ravine in our apartment complex and I can barely get a cell signal here, so it’s just the VOIP phone
Tori Landau Herbit (tori.landau): Same here, we were talking about that today. Family and friends use Facebook and that is it.
Marly (marly.milena): I use email 95% and FB occasionally….use them differently
Josain Zsun: I get harassed for not having a smartphone. I swore I would no longer have one, unless provided by employer or it made money for me.
Maggie Larimore: my family and friends mostly Facebook, definitely although I tend to pop on to market my husband’s blog or something and then check for baby photos (lots of new babies in my family) and whose talking about our favorite Woolworth Counter from the 1960s from my hometown and I get stuck 🙂
Elli Pinion: My husband resisted for a very long time, too. I had one early, as I felt having email on it was helpful with my work.
Maggie Larimore: my husband shoulder surfs Facebook and Pinterest when there is something to see
Elli Pinion: lol….we talk about the Woolworth Counter, as well. Fond memories!
Fauve Aeon: my fiance has his work inter-network things and does not like the social networks at all
Maggie Larimore: I use LinkedIn and http://www.academia.edu/ too sometimes
Sheila Yoshikawa: In fact on FB, texting and via email I mostly interact with individuals, different people use email or FB or Twitter in a conversational way, but it varies hugely
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I have a smartphone but leave it off most of the time. It is for me to read the news and to call. not for people to call me,
Maggie Larimore: 🙂 Elli!
Tori Landau Herbit (tori.landau): Pick n’ mix °͜° Remember Woolies well!
Fauve Aeon: he updates his LinkedIn because co-workers look at it but that’s it, and then the odd #caturday photo on his instagram 😀
Elli Pinion: 🙂
Marly (marly.milena): I am quite amazed and surprised at the extent and differences of the responses. I put a picture of my great granddaughter on FB a few days ago and it got dozens of responses but I also post creative, meaningful responses I have found re social problems like homelessness, climate change, and only a handful of people respond
Sheila Yoshikawa: I have an old nokia phone that has scarcely any smartness, but I have an ipad i use quite a lot now
Fauve Aeon: I never have been one to answer the phone, I return calls, PM’s etc on my own schedule
Stranger Nightfire: I love my smartphone for a lot of things but i seldom answer it
Elli Pinion: oh yes, Linked In, Academia.com….really just have an account.
Maggie Larimore: back in the 1960s when visiting a close friend in Edinburgh I saw my first Woolies with an escalator and bought my first pair of Scholl’s, trying jumping off a tram with those on! LOL
Elli Pinion: Me, too, Stranger.
Fauve Aeon: we had answering machine since I was hmm, probably 6th grade
Stranger Nightfire: they are great for keeping notes for one thing
Sheila Yoshikawa: lol maggie
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I post article links on LinkedIn — I would use it extensive if I were looking for a job
Marly (marly.milena): Does anyone else notice differences in what people respond to depending on the medium?
Elli Pinion: lol @ Maggie
Stranger Nightfire: and sharing them between the phone and the PC, with something like Evernote
Elli Pinion: Exactly, Thinkerer
Sheila Yoshikawa: As regards FB and Twitter, some people I know have real conversations, and also emotional engagement with others on those platforms and others (including me) just don’t
Maggie Larimore: that’s how I got it, Selby, back when I was looking for work, now I just check it when I have to and when my uni is doing something wonderful and I know they’re spreading the word so I go in and share their posts a lot
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I view LinkedIn as for professionals — Most of my contacts there are professionals
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Selby, as regards LinkedIn, we encourage all our library and information students to put profiles on LinkedIn, surveys of recruitment agencies and employers show how they are routinely using social media to screen applicants for jobs
Elli Pinion: “We” have a private political support group on FB. Very honest on it. Otherwise, FB is just lightly connecting.
Maggie Larimore: I keep up with my family, but I’m really looking forward to 2020 because my husband and I are planning on moving back to my hometown or in the county around it where the crowd is. I want to meet all these new wives and husbands and babies in person!
Stranger Nightfire: it is disturbing that all of the social media are attempting to silence alternative viewpoints
Elli Pinion: That’s very cool, Maggie. And a nice story at how you can stay connected when afar
Sheila Yoshikawa: Oh I did a video/lecture on using social media professionally I could post some of the sources I used in case of interest
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I promote articles in LinkedIn if they are relevant to educators.
Maggie Larimore: I wouldn’t know all the significant others without it
Elli Pinion: Very interested, Sheila
Sheila Yoshikawa: Marly asked “Does anyone else notice differences in what people respond to depending on the medium?” and I think – yes
Maggie Larimore: I’ve never met my favorite nephew-in-law in person!
Elli Pinion: I do think it helps keep families informed.
Maggie Larimore: and I haven’t seen his wife, my favorite niece, since she was 14, which was 15 years and marriage and 5 babies ago! (for her, not old- aging me …)
Elli Pinion: I do interact differently with each media
Maggie Larimore: 🙂
Maggie Larimore: me too Elli
Marly (marly.milena): Without Skype, I would not be able to witness the growth of my great granddaughter since they live across the country. Still difficult to not be able to hug her…
Elli Pinion: lol…it is true, they age, we don’t.
Maggie Larimore: right! Marly I can imagine
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): Marly — I see big differences between conversations in FB and in LinkedIn — to be expected. Most of Facebook is kid stuff
Elli Pinion: Very true, Marly. It’s inspiring to hear of grandparents reading books to kiddos across country.
Josain Zsun: Or inflammatory, if you follow me on FB
Marly (marly.milena): Selby, I have still not figured out good ways to use LInkedIn and maybe I don’t belong there since most of what I do is in virtual. I notice that you have a pretty continual stream of announcements; Do people respond?
Maggie Larimore: for me it’s a lot of different conversations on FB, my family, my field, my MOOCs, my teaching networks through Nellie, and LinkedIn is basically check in, look for somebody, heart what Northcentral University is up to and gone, but when I was looking for a job I was active in a bunch of groups
Fauve Aeon: you can see who comes to your LInkedIn and how many searches you pop in, that’s all I know.
Maggie Larimore: Lots of online teaching and virtual world/virtual education/edupreneurial support groups on LinkedIn I find
Maggie Larimore: I just don’t interact as much as I used to
Fauve Aeon: those are good points and a good reason not to get too free on the socials *grins*
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): Marly — I get a few responses in LinkedIn, not many. — But I am posting articles from elsewhere, so little reason to respond.
Sheila Yoshikawa: just getting the references/links
-CareerBuilder. (2018, August 9). More than half of employers have found content on social media that caused them not to hire a candidate, according to recent CareerBuilder survey. http://press.careerbuilder.com/2018-08-09-More-Than-Half-of-Employers-Have-Found-Content-on-Social-Media-That-Caused-Them-NOT-to-Hire-a-Candidate-According-to-Recent-CareerBuilder-Survey
-Hall, H. (2018, March 5). When life imitates article: (Everything is going to be alright) [blog post]. Retrieved from https://hazelhall.org/2018/03/05/when-life-imitates-article-everything-is-going-to-be-alright/
-van Iddekinge, C., Lanivich, S.E., Roth, P.L. & Junco, E. (2016). Social Media for Selection? Validity and Adverse Impact Potential of a Facebook-Based Assessment. Journal of Management, 42(7), 1811–1835. DOI: 10.1177/0149206313515524
-Izenstark , A. (2014). Look good when you’re googled: creating and optimizing your digital identity. Library Hi Tech News, 31 (9), 14-16
-JISC. (2014). Developing digital literacies. Retrieved from http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/page/46421608/Developing digital literacies
-O’Regan, A., Smithson, W. & Spain, E. (2018) Social media and professional identity: Pitfalls and potential. Medical Teacher, 40(2), 112-116. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2017.1396308 [guidelines for healthcare practitioners, who have to be particularly concerned about ethical issues.]
-Pullen, J.P. (2016, July 13). 6 things recruiters look for in your LinkedIn profile [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://time.com/4403286/linkedin-tips/
-Ryan, F., Cruickshank, P., Hall, H. & Lawson, A. (2018). Blurred reputations: managing professional and private information online. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000618769977
-Ryan, L. (2018, January 18). Ten things recruiters look for in your Linkedin profile [Web llog post]. http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2018/01/18/ten-things-recruiters-look-for-in-your-linkedin-profile/
-Seiter, C. (2015, March 12). 61 key social media metrics, defined [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-metrics
-Stoller, E. (2012, September 12). Digital identity development. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/student-affairs-and-technology/digital-identity-development
-Wichita State University, University Libraries. (2016). Managing your digital identity. Retrieved from http://libresources.wichita.edu/c.php?g=119836&p=782470
Sheila Yoshikawa: sorry for the spam, but in case they are interesting to anyone. I didn’t give the url for “Look good when you’re googled: creating and optimizing your digital identity” I think because my students would find the full text copy via our library system
Tori Landau Herbit (tori.landau): Thank you very much Sheila
Fauve Aeon: they definitely are, thank you
Elli Pinion: Very, ty!
Maggie Larimore: wow thanks Sheila, some of these I can maybe pick up for the Chilbo Public Library second floor (all articles intended for up there)
Sheila Yoshikawa: as regards LinkedIn, it does email you with job opportunities which are of no interest to me personally, but for those earlier in the job market, they say they ARE useful
Maggie Larimore: I get a few on Facebook when I’m marketing, and new followers on Twitter when I’m marketing
Sheila Yoshikawa: and also when researching e.g. future employers (so before a job interview or after meeting someone at a conference)
Sheila Yoshikawa: but LinkedIn is not somewhere i have discussions!
Maggie Larimore: I do that for my husband and one of our clients, but not much of a comment load to go back and respond to
Stranger Nightfire: again it is good to remember with every word you type online anywhere that Big Brother IS watching you, including here in SL
Maggie Larimore: the online groups there are good, just don’t interact anymore, I struggle to get to everything teaching wise here and on YouTube
Josain Zsun: and it is their IP, not yours
Elli Pinion: True
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): LinkedIn emails me about job opportunities. I have no interest, but i do encourage some of my working friends to post in LinkedIn.
Marly (marly.milena): I think it is difficult for mavericks like me who have combined career skills and don’t easily fit into a professional identity to use some of these social media. My program manager here posts my workshops on SL Facebook pages but I don’t think anyone has ever come to a program from seeing a posting on FB
Maggie Larimore: I’ve gotten students from Facebook, and I know my friend Nellie Deutsch has, but not as much from her own networks on her Moodles and on YouTube and elsewhere
Elli Pinion: So are you concerned about Google+ going away?
Josain Zsun: I am
Maggie Larimore: I’m going to miss Josain’s posts; I used to start my mornings going through them
Elli Pinion: They have shared a nice way to save your site (which speaks to Stanger’s comment)
Marly (marly.milena): Elli, I just dealt with the archiving today but, honestly, from that long list they sent, I really don’t know what I had in Google + and what were empty files
Fauve Aeon: I am not…after the photobucket then the flickr fiascos, if people are not relying on their own websites, it’s really going to be an impact every time one of these services changes or goes away, and they all do eventually.
Sheila Yoshikawa: I have read a few of the blog posts on LinkedIn but don’t tend to comment – I suppose if I interact with anything it tends to be light chat on FB with friends, or something professional via Twitter because its useful though not fun. I avoid friending my students on FB, deliberately, but I encourage them to connect with me on LinkedIn
Elli Pinion: What are you moving TO?
Beth Ghostraven: I have so much stuff on G+ that I’ve kind of given up on archiving any of it
Josain Zsun: I cross post to FB. I have two accounts there as well as Twitter. One my Ss knew about and the other to satisfy my family.
Fauve Aeon: if you are not paying for a service, then you are mostly the commodity being marketed to, I guess.
Marly (marly.milena): LOL Beth
Elli Pinion: (We have a couple of Google+ communities and no one is that worried, but are pointing them to FB)
Maggie Larimore: but I don’t post myself much any more, and I have so many old social media accounts I don’t update much anymore like Slideshare, Tumblr and ScoopIt. Researchgate is one I use fairly often
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I am not — I am losing a lot of contacts, but I will rebuild elsewhere. I was too dependent on G+, so I am glad to be forced into what I should have been doing before
Marly (marly.milena): If I really want various persons to read something I wrote, I will send it to them individually!
Maggie Larimore: after the others, like every month or so (and before LinkedIn and Academia in terms of being there)
Maggie Larimore: Josain are you moving elsewhere?
Sheila Yoshikawa: With Google+ – the main way I use that is with students, which we will still do in the short/medium term, as Google+ is remaining for enterprise customers like Uni of Sheffield. But we are looking for good alternatives where we also feel comfortable in more or less requiring students to participate – Google+ can be used with their university accounts
Elli Pinion: That’s interesting, Marly. I actually don’t know all the people that are in groups I’m in on Social Media.
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Marly yes, contacting people individually via their preferred route is the best way if you really want their attention!
Elli Pinion: Exactly, Sheila. I’m not that excited about moving students to FB, I must admit.
Josain Zsun: I have registered with MeWe, Reddit, and a couple others. The jury is still out as none satisfy me as has G+. Guess I’ll wait for Mueller’s report.
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Maggie I use academia.edu and thought I had managed to remove myself from researchgate, but it automatically has created a profile for me without me knowing (I discovered last month)
Maggie Larimore: my husband has a big network for his blog, he doesn’t do any social media beyond that, he dictates comments to me on Facebook sometimes, like thanking people who wished him happy birthday a couple of weeks ago. My brother has a blog too that is a wide network but he lives on Reddit otherwise
Elli Pinion: Yikes, Sheila.
Beth Ghostraven: Elli, I agree–most of what I saw on G+ was virtual worlds related, and what I see on FB is personal stuff, even from professional contacts
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Selby you said “I was too dependent on G+, so I am glad to be forced into what I should have been doing before” – good point! I should see it in that positive light too….
Maggie Larimore: whoa Sheila! Wow! I’ll have to see if they’ve done that for my husband, most of the papers I publish are with him
Josain Zsun: They depend on what you subscribe within them
Marly (marly.milena): I save stuff and share files in Dropbox
Elli Pinion: I guess my only positive for FB is how much fun it is on your birthday. lol\
Maggie Larimore: Eugenia Calderon and Wilson Voight, both language school owners, do a lot with Facebook
Sheila Yoshikawa: I am a blogger, but i don’t use it socially, it is more informational (and it does get a lot of hits)
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Elli yes I get so few paper birthday cards now I am pathetically grateful for all the greetings on FB lol
Maggie Larimore: Sheila is your blog related to your disciplinar or to virtual worlds?
Elli Pinion: pathetic is a great word, Sheila. I relate.
Maggie Larimore: lol Elli, I think I envy you too
Sheila Yoshikawa: my discipline it’s https://information-literacy.blogspot.com/
Fauve Aeon: seeing TMI on the personal front with colleagues and even people I am only loosely socially connected with, I really do not like that so relieved to be minimizing FB
Maggie Larimore: Thanks Sheila!
Maggie Larimore: I should have a blog list in the Chilbo Library too, I’m thinking
Sheila Yoshikawa: my blog tweets and interaction is more around the tweets, though teh blog itself gets more hits
Marly (marly.milena): What do you think all this social media stuff will evolve into in the next 10 years? Does anyone recognize a trajectory?
Fauve Aeon: devolve into smaller groups and do like Myspace, oldbies are on fb, hehe, kids Discord
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I embed my Twitter stream in my Thursday blog article
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Marly, it’s a puzzle, it could all disintegrate, there is so much pressure now on the social media platforms to police what they are doing, and organisations and people getting better at poisoning and manipulating social media that the platforms might give up, or people get fed up and move more into smaller closed communities
Marly (marly.milena): A lot of people would have nervous breakdowns if social media disappeared. It does have aspects of addiction, for sure
Josain Zsun: As in ballistics, Marly?
Maggie Larimore: I thought MySpace was dead, but saw an article the other day that they lost everything before 2016
Elli Pinion: …oh, have a Discord account. Never use it. Use to be that MySpace was for the kids.
Fauve Aeon: people are commodifying their lifestyles so much, I see it blowing up and the backlash being simpler, smaller groups that say ‘nope, too much’
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Fauve, just seen what you were saying while I was still typing, agree
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I use Discord to communicate with friends.
Maggie Larimore: there are days I wish I could get off FB but it’s super useful for my client, my courses etc and keeping up with family and friends
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Maggie -meaning – all the pre-2016 information disappeared?
Elli Pinion: Well then it is for the young ones!
Marly (marly.milena): In everything is the seed of its apparent opposite. I hope we (and especially the kids) get back to face to face interactions!
Josain Zsun: I just got a Discord account today…for Amateur radio activities.
Stranger Nightfire: yeah, that was amazing right after Josain’s talk someone just wipes out 13 years worth of uploads
Maggie Larimore: right, that’s what the article said, but I didn’t read past the first couple of sentences because I thought it had died out a decade ago; not very observant, me …
Sheila Yoshikawa: actually after this discussion it would be fascinating to map all the different channels we are using and teh different ways we are using it, as I think Marly said, even more diverse than I might have thought
Josain Zsun: Agreed
Elli Pinion: It would.
Marly (marly.milena): The kids, with total access to electronic communication, are becoming more depressed, suicidal
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I live with old people– I am not interested in what they are interested in
Fauve Aeon: ditto Selby, my friends are all younger than I am almost to a person
Elli Pinion: I saw a movie the other day (older movie) and people were walking down the sidewalk without phones and it looked strange.
Sheila Yoshikawa: yes it is a boon to connect with people who share interests, if you are isolated, at whatever age
Fauve Aeon: I think I am friends with maybe 6 people over 50, haha
Maggie Larimore: I know the trends say that, but one of my nephews and his fiancee have lost a lot of family members and friends over the years and the outpouring of love that I see, I think really helps them
Maggie Larimore: I think my age group goes from teens (children of cousins and friends) to way over the age of 50, on FB and Pinterest and Instagram especially
Stranger Nightfire: I know what you mean Thinkerer, people my age are such old fogies
Josain Zsun: Move to my town Selby. All the adults here watch FAUX entertainment and have post retirement mindsets.
Marly (marly.milena): @Maggie, nobody is teaching them how to be judicious in the way they use media
Sheila Yoshikawa: yes, and also a friend who has been working through mental health issues, with a lot of support from many old friends on Facebook
Elli Pinion: Like all technologies (telegraph, etc) there is good and bad
Maggie Larimore: I just found out through Facebook that a friend of mine I thought had probably passed was not only alive and kicking but still driving at 94!
Beth Ghostraven: oh! before we end, I want to give a shout-out to Scot Jung, who’s been helping with VWER transcripts–I’ve gotten a bunch more posted in the last couple of weeks at http://vwer.info
Fauve Aeon: well it’s also a matter of degrees, how much info is good, how much is TMI?
Marly (marly.milena): Has anyone heard of a class in an educational institution that helps kids make wise choices re this stuff?
Elli Pinion: Awesome, Maggie!
Elli Pinion: Good point, Fauve.
Maggie Larimore: yes, many
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I keep trying to find people here who can talk about web pages — The few I have found so far want me to help them with their email
Elli Pinion: We have taught digital literacy for years….but I’m out of K-12 now, so don’t know
Beth Ghostraven: Marly, schools in our state are required to teach students about Internet safety, so yes
Sheila Yoshikawa: On tuesday I was at a media literacy conference in Brussels, and i got a round of applause for making a comment how people should stop only talking about older people and social media with patronising anecdotes about how illiterate they are on social media, whereas young people are only praised (in the context of conferences like that)
Josain Zsun: I used to teach critical thinking and online care to my Ss.
Marly (marly.milena): And, tell the truth, how many of us go back to look at VWER transcripts?
Sheila Yoshikawa: @Selby ;-((
Maggie Larimore: Nellie Deutsch has a lot of grade school teachers around the world in her ESL networks and the topic is often new efforts to teach digital citizenship and safety online
Fauve Aeon: sometimes I wonder how many people should be in helpful therapy instead of venting on social networks, or getting the amateur feedback of ‘me too’ from friends
Sheila Yoshikawa: OK – I realised it is 1pm!
Beth Ghostraven: Marly, I thought you’d be happy–you’re always asking when they’re going to be updated
Sheila Yoshikawa: So time to stop
Fauve Aeon: yes, my click is making musical reminder
Elli Pinion: I believe there are great efforts out there….
Fauve Aeon: *clock
Sheila Yoshikawa: thanks everyone for making this a good place to gather and discuss again!
Elli Pinion: @Sheila – a standing ovation I’ll bet!
Marly (marly.milena): Beth, I think it’s great that there’s a record. I am just curious about how those transcripts get used or referred to.
Maggie Larimore: yay Sheila!
Fauve Aeon: thanks everyone
Maggie Larimore: see you soon
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): bye all — good discussion
Sheila Yoshikawa: another research project idea @Marly!
Sheila Yoshikawa: 😉
Beth Ghostraven: thanks for moderating, Sheila–great session!
Elli Pinion: Great to see everyone and hear your experiences!
Sheila Yoshikawa: next week it will be a VWBPE preview
Sheila Yoshikawa: I won’t be able to attend
Tori Landau Herbit (tori.landau): I was unable to attend VWER a lot over the past year so transcripts are a great way to catch up and thank you Beth!
Josain Zsun: I just published a transcript of my first Talk.
Sheila Yoshikawa: so Beth will be your host
VWER Meeting Transcripts by Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://vwer.info.
VWER - Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable 