Welcome to Erin 2.0!

Below I have compiled a list of all the websites/applications that I currently have a profile/account on that might fall under a loose definition of Web 2.0 (interactive, social, collaborative, sharing, login). It was interesting to put together, and I didn’t realize that I had this many user-names and passwords that I (on occasion) remember correctly.

• Flickr – Photo sharing
  • I have photos listed as private as well as public.
• Facebook – Social networking
  • I have a profile accessible to friends only.
• Blogger – Blogging
  • I have a private blog available to friends and family and two public blogs: one that was created for a Syracuse University course and one that was created to describe my SUNYLA Conference experience.
• WordPress – Blogging
  • I have a public blog (the one you are reading!).
• Livejournal – Blogging/journal
  • In high school I had a private Livejournal account, which I have since deleted. For a current Syracuse University course I was required to make a new account in order to contribute to a class blog.
• LinkedIn - Social networking
  • I have a private profile (defeating the purpose?).
• Second Life – Virtual world
  • I have an avatar and am exploring Second Life.
• AOL Instant Messenger – Messaging system
  • I have had various AIM screen names (SN) since I was at least 14. I currently use my AIM SN to chat with friends only (and do not typically disseminate my SN to colleagues).
• MSN Messenger - Messaging system
  • I have a public MSN SN used for internal work communications.
• Pidgin – Messaging system
  • I use Pidgin to log into my work SN and my AIM SN at the same time, allowing me to talk with friends and peers simultaneously.
• Inbox – Email
  • I use inbox.com for my email account. It’s free, has lots of cool features (notes, multiple calendars, on-line storage space), and is very good with spam and advertisements (very unobtrusive).
• eSnips – Web storage
  • I heard about eSnips at the 2007 NYLA Conference in Buffalo, NY. It’s a free, web-based storage site where you can upload and save documents and other important items. I use it to store papers for class that I can then access from home and work without having to email them to myself every time!
• Google Reader - RSS feed reader
  • I use Google Reader to stay abreast of many blog updates.
• Roc Wiki - Wiki
  • I am a member of, but have yet to substantially contribute to this community wiki. However, I visit it all the time, mostly to find out restaurant information.
• Wetpaint – Wiki
  • I am a member of the Syracuse Library Camp wiki.
• Webshots – Photo sharing
  • I used Webshots in college to organize digital photos. Because most of them involved rather unprofessional behavior, they are now located in private albums unavailable to the public.
• LibraryThing – Book cataloging
  • I have a LibraryThing account to share my reading lists with friends as well as keep track of what books I currently own in my personal collection. I recently reached the limit for a free account and am thinking about purchasing a life membership for US $25.00. I also receive occasional free books as an Early Reviewer, which is totally sweet.
• Del.icio.us – Social bookmarking
  • I have a del.icio.us account with public and private bookmarks saved.

The items in this list (below) are applications/websites where I used to have a profile/account and for one reason or another, no longer do.

• Ning – Social networking
  • I was introduced to Ning during a summer course at Syracuse University. However, after we used it for class, I deleted my account because I just didn’t like it. It doesn’t seem as intuitive or user-friendly as other social networking sites, and I found myself not logging in for weeks at a time.
• MySpace – Social networking
  • I used to have a MySpace page, but deleted it because it seemed rather pointless to have both a MySpace and a Facebook account with virtually identical friends. More of my friends are on Facebook anyway, so I just deleted my MySpace account. I also find that Facebook has more options available for privacy settings (compared to the all or nothing of MySpace).

Hopefully this can give readers a glimpse at what one 23 year old is using on a day to day basis to accomplish her personal, professional, and educational goals. I am using 18 different services, mostly .coms. Boy, would I be lost if the net went down! Eventually, widespread OpenID may let me log into many of them using the same user-name and password, a novel thought!

How many of these applications/websites do you use? What other services do you use? Which services can libraries utilize? What are your thoughts on Web 2.0?