I set up NetVibes at the start of term to try and stay on top of the blog postings for LIBR559M. I ran into a couple of difficulties:
- I was frustrated at how long it took me to input everyone’s blog.
- I accidentally deleted it and then had to enter everyone’s blogs again.
- I didn’t check it during the Reading Period and got logged out and couldn’t remember my password.
- I was never able to make it public and share it with the class (this one is on me and not the system).
That being said- once I got it operational, it has actually been pretty useful. It does sort of force me to read everyone’s posts and comments. Will I continue to use it after the class is over? Probably not. I just don’t follow enough blogs at this point to really find it helpful.
I started wondering if maybe there is an aggregator out there for me. So I did a little self-assessment. First, I primarily check my social media through my iPad mini. Second, I’m really only use Facebook, Instagram (yeah I have an Instagram now), and Pinterest. Third, I really would like to follow the news more.
So here is the challenge I’m issuing myself. I’m going to test 3 apps by the end of this week and provide you all with my ratings. Does anyone have any suggestions before I start this process? Because I just typed in social media to the app store and became severely overwhelmed.I’m going to try to be as subjective as possible.
Here is the 10 point checklist I’ve developed:
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Is it Free? Yes or No
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Are there Ads? Yes or No
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Does it crash my system? Yes or No
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What social media platforms does it aggregate?
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Is it Intuitive? Yes or No
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Visual Appeal? 1-5
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Usability? 1-5
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Is there a newsfeed? Yes or No
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Would you use this in your everyday life?
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Would you use this in your professional life?
I had similar problems with using Hootsuite as an aggregator. I have used it for Twitter mostly though I had my Facebook and LinkedIn loaded as well. I couldn’t get my head around how Hootsuite works as an aggregator of blogs. So I’m glad Dean made his feed public so I could follow classmates’ blogs that way.
As for recommendations, feedly is on my list. I’m interested in seeing what 3 you review.