When I was four, I got to visit the south rim of the Grand Canyon. I can still remember looking over the edge of the railing and being totally overwhelmed at how huge that hole was and how teeny I was in comparison. Activity 17 gave me the same sensation. The internet is HUGE. I can't even begin to get my brain around it. The fact that people (way smarter than I) have found ways to organize it and help people narrow the massiveness into useable chunks astounds me. I actually felt a bit anxious as I tried to get my mind around its vastness. How are my child and my grandchildren going to be able to deal with the explosion of knowledge? I just can't even let my mind go there.
Now that I used my voice to share the fact that I feel like a speck, I'll carry on to complete the activity:
At first, I thought it was quirky that there were actual websites and programs that help you develop your tagging language...but by the time I finished the activity, I could see why. There's so much out there, that having some "universal verbage" is critical, if you want the searches we set out on, to be effective and useful. as I nosed around and played with key word to compare the blogs, directory searches, etc. I found that I had more appropriate hits for my inquiry when I could use more specific words to "label" my topic. Vague tags lead more to general information and then I'd have to narrow my word choice, to get closer to what I was really looking for.
When I looked at what I'll call "Buzz Words" within the blogging world, it appeared to be top heavy with what I identify with business and economic terminology. It was interesting to look over, but not somewhere I'd spend any great amount of time....unless I was a marketing major at a university. Then I might be more inclined to hang out on that list. I just didn't see any practical use for it, at the moment. I was open to the experience for the sake of exposure, but it wasn't anything that popped a light bulb on, over my head.
As for the usefulness of Tagging, I can see how it will be helpful for me. I generally do little with my personal digital pictures, beyond uploading them to my computer and slapping them in a folder labelled with a generic name and date. I will one day go through and organize and tag my photos so that they will be more easily retrieved.
As for using tagging with things that are "open for the world's eyes", I'm a little more conservative. I'm not sure I'm ready to just throw my life out there like an open book...for anyone at anytime to see. I have quite a bit of pondering to do as I learn to set some healthy boundaries for myself and my daughter as she embraces this ever-changing, brave new world.
I am very appreciative that many of the sites do provide for making your information private. I hope that is not just a facade, but a reality in that your information and portions of your "internet being" can be protected and shielded at the Creators will.
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