A Review of Social Media Apps

I like to think of myself as a pretty savvy guy, an up-to-the-minute librarian and an all-around social media guru. Well, maybe not a guru, but a guru-in-training. Before I was a librarian, I worked in online marketing for a social network before it was cool. And now I do training for library staff and library users on everything from Facebook & Twitter for Beginners to Social Media Marketing 101.

So when it was suggested that I join the ALIA Biennial Social Media Committee, I thought, piece of cake. I know my way around Facebook and Twitter, inside and out, backwards and forwards, blindfolded. 

But the SM Committee blew me away. They didn't talk so much about the SM standards (like Facebook and Twitter--although they knew their way around an FB admin page and a hashtag), they talked about the new kids on the block. Archivist. Storify. Diigo. Paper.li. SpringPad.

These were social media applications I’d never heard of. Then there were the apps I had heard of but never really gave a chance: Pinterest. Tumblr. Librarything. Good Reads.

So, in the spirit of ALIA Biennial 2012, I plan to take the theme of DISCOVERY to heart and explore every social media app I’ve never used or use very rarely. I expect that I’m not that only one who has never heard of some of these (or never used them), so I would like to share what I discover with other ALIA delegates and LIS colleagues. While other SM Committee members will provide in-depth details of how they are using these apps, I want to provide you with a quick snapshot of those social media apps that are new to me and ones that I am just discovering. Likewise, if we have a ALIA Biennial blog post with more in-depth info, I'll add the link as well.

So have a look at some of the newest social media apps as well as some you may have not given a chance. Maybe one of them will be a social media life saver!

Likewise, what are some of the apps that I missed but you love? Is there an app out there that you couldn't survive with out? Is there an app that is just plain fun, a guilty pleasure?

ALIA Biennial blog post?	App	Type	How it's used	Follow me
	Pinterest	Social image/video organiser	Use it to organise and share photos and videos	My Pinterest
	Tumblr	Social web organiser/blog	Use it to organise and share text, photos, quotes, links, music and videos in a blog format	My Tumblr
	Archivist	Twitter archiver	Create an archive of Tweets that you can later analyse, export and share (limits: it cannot go back in time and it uses the Search API, not the "firehose")	My Archive
	LibraryThing	Social book catalogue/network	Create a "library-quality" catalogue, list what you've read, & create a book-based social network. Great for creating a personal catalogue.	My LibraryThing
	goodreads	Social book catalogue/network	Social bookshelves with reviews and ratings--a great way to find book recommendations based on what you've read and what you want to read.	My goodreads
	Storify	Social web organiser/blogish	Pull together elements from different social networks & add your text to create a story	My Storify

(cross posted on the ALIA Biennial blog)

-Jeff Cruz

@jncruz on Twitter

User Education Librarian

City of Sydney Library