Thing 11-Social Media

There is an aspect of social media that reminds me of reading the National Enquirer or Time magazine in the checkout line of the grocery store. I know it is actually very different...I did watch the the Common Craft video. Once again, I realize that even though I spend most of my day every day in front of a computer, I am not an internet junkie. I think it's because I don't want to spend so much time sitting. I like to and have to be moving after I leave work. Some things, such as podcasts, allow you to move while using a technology, but reading is not one of them.
So I checked out Mixx and read the headlines under "News" and "Popular." I also read the paper this morning and read some of the same info, but the "News" link on Mixx has a more international flavor than our local newspaper. I also looked at Digg and I noticed that both sites have a similar organization to them. They let the reader know how recent the news post is, how popular it is (by number of hits) and they have categories that you can click onto to sort your news by your preference.
This would definitely be a handy tool for those interested in pop culture and the uncensored nature of it is interesting.
I can see using this at the reference desk if I get a question about latest news about something, but it would still be a lot of reading to sort and find what I'm looking for. Social Media are interesting tools and I'll have to think longer on how I can use this in my work or personal life. I guess now I don't have to go to the grocery store to read the cover of National Enquirer, I can find it under the "Popular" tab on a social media site.