Reflection...

In finishing the semester of Electronic Communications class, I am more aware of the electronic communication tools that are available, their uses, their popularity, their audiences, prevalence, and the chances of becoming addicted to, each one possesses.

To be honest, the class was nothing of my expectations, but was actually better. It was a great experience because it focused on technology used by those of my age group but also, extended to those who aren’t in college and are professionals. Knowing the flexibility of the uses of each social networking site just made the class all the more interesting.
Aside from the audiences these networks attract, I was able to learn about how they are used and the purpose behind them. Seeing their uses outside of the social realm was new to me. I enjoyed the chance to see this.

What I appreciated most of all was learning of my position in the use of CMC in general. It was second nature until I was asked to observe my usage of CMC. The week we went without CMC was tough because I rely on it so much. I call home to check on the family. I text my friends during the week to make sure they are okay. Facebook holds all of this together, weird to say.
It was hearing the statistics and knowing I was a part of that made everything click. The saying, “there’s always someone who is worse,” felt relevant. If I use CMC this much, I’m sure someone is doing the same x2!

I enjoyed the class and did take interest in it. I feel that I’ll actually apply some of the concepts learned even as the class is finished.

For all you scribblers out there!

So I have this friend, CANDACE OKELLO, oops… I just exposed her, who loves to write bogus notes on the whiteboard that hangs on my door. Just for the record, if you ever happen to see one of these obnoxious notes, know that they are full of false facts and have nothing to do with me! On a more serious note, though I act as if I don’t enjoy the notes, I actually do. They usually make me chuckle when times are hard and in realizing this, I went on to surf the internet for a place online with similar capabilities. I found a site that is pretty close to the whiteboard that hangs on my door but obviously, is online. It is ScribLink.

According to the Website, Scriblink is “a free digital whiteboard that users can share online in real-time. Sorta like pen and paper, minus the dead trees, plastic, and the inconvenience of being at the same place at the same time.” Scriblink doesn’t require registration and provides you with a whiteboard as soon as you enter the site. It was introduced in 2006 and has many features that users would enjoy for fun along with features that are used for more practical things such as layout planning, concept diagramming, or tutoring your friends in math, for example.

I found Scriblink to be a cool and clever idea. Of course it is appealing and useful for entertainment purposes but as for its uses in the professional realm, it is still as helpful. Scriblink allows for messages and ideas to be shared in real-time, which is ideal for professionals, and also has voice conference, file transfer, and image upload functions.

Though Scriblink has been up and running for about two years now, it is still in its beginning stages and a work in progress toward the ideal information sharing Website. I recommend people to check it out, especially us college students who have better things to do but would rather scribble randomly on our neighbors’ whiteboard! Soon enough, all scribblers will be linked together! (Corny I know, but that’s their goal hence the name ScribLink!) :)