A few thoughts on Social Media in an English Village by Daniel Miller

Social Media in an English Village by Daniel Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is part of an series of books using ethnography to explore social media use and attitudes towards it in different communities around the world. It very interesting both for the descriptions of ethnographic practices and the specific results in each location. The results are different in each place.

This volume showed interesting examples of how different people and organisations in the community were using social media. One of the most interesting areas was the use by people with terminal illnesses as part of their experiences of dying.

This was a very interesting book to read.

View all my reviews

ice cream and social media

I liked the way this ice cream company provided their social media information on site.  It was easy to see, and they were making it easy to share photographs and to follow them. This is more helpful than 'find us on [insert name of social media]'.
   
There were other signs too,  to provide more information about the fruit being used.  I like the way this open air storage had fruit names included.  The ice cream was great too.
 

back for #blogjune in 2017

I missed #blogjune last year.  It was my first year back at part time study while working full time, and I could not manage it, but...this year I am going to try.

I will probably look at games, readers' advisory work, local studies and whatever else takes my fancy.

That is where this photograph fits in.  I took it while the police car was parked, and I think that this is the reason for the social media promotion - to be read while the car is parked.  If you were reading it while driving along, you would be too close, and would have to be the passenger and not the driver.

So, think about how you let people know your library is on social media.  Do you make it possible to find out about this when library vehicles are out and about - or do you expect people to guess?

Happy #blogjune.  I look forward to reading what other people are writing this month.

How does your organisation encourage feedback and interaction?

The Tramsheds at Harold Park have a sign near the entrance (and near the old tram) encouraging feedback, and showing how to connect with them on social media.

Does your library make it this easy?

A few thoughts about How the world changed social media by by Daniel Miller, Elisabetta Costa, Nell Haynes, Tom McDonald, Razvan Nicolescu, Jolynna Sinanan, Juliano Spyer, Shriram Venkatraman , and Xinyuan Wang

How the World Changed Social Media by Daniel Miller, Elisabetta Costa, Nell Haynes, Tom McDonald, Razvan Nicolescu, Jolynna Sinanan, Juliano Spyer, Shriram Venkatraman , Xinyuan Wang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a very interesting read. It is part of an eleven book series which describe comparative, qualitative, anthropological field work in nine sites around the world. It was done by different anthropologists, who worked together, and did their research at the same time (except for one researcher) so information was comparative. The researchers spent time together for planning and part way through their field work, but researched in different areas around the world.

This volume brings together a summary of the different sites which are described in their separate volumes. This is really interesting because it looks at poly media (people using multiple social medias) and brings in the idea of scalable sociability. It is really interesting for the big picture trends, and differences between the sites. While I may not read all the titles in the series, I am going to read some of other books. The titles are available as free PDFs so that those who participated in the research would be able to read the findings. This is important in reporting back to those who were part of the research. The books are also available as ebooks and in print.

I think this would be interesting reading for people interested in social media or ethnography as a research methodology.



View all my reviews

How does your library collect current event?

Inspired by the posts I saw through my Instagram account for #eyf2016 (Edinburgh yarn festival) I had a look at how it was being reported, and did a brief Storify.

This looks an amazing event, because of the large number of images being shared on Instagram, and the high volume of tweets.  I was wondering if Edinbugh Public Library ever captured this kind of material for local studies. This is not to single out one library, but rather, continuing to look for libraries who are collecting social media.  I am interested both in those collecting for access (like on Storify) and collecting for preservation (like the work being done in North Carolina).