Facebook and Google and Twitter--OH MY!

It's looking as if this blog will be updated every Friday (unless my schedule changes once I arrive in Argentina) and I think I like it that way.  Not that it's last minute, as that's definitely not my style, but that it gives me an opportunity to have an entire week's worth of activities to pull from in posting.

For those of you that want more of a "here's my daily life and happenings within it" blog you can find that in my personal blog here.  I'd love people to follow and share their thoughts, insights, and anything else that comes to mind!  (Disclaimer-as of this very second in writing there is nothing posted in the aforementioned blog, but that should change as soon as this one is done!).

Back on topic (dear readers, you'll learn that I think very parenthetically and therefore blog the same way so I apologize for it in advance!).  It's very ironic that the topic for this week is online communities and collaboration. As my five months abroad inch closer and closer (19 days-eek!) I have been somewhat frantically working on ways to stay as actively involved as possible in the lives of my friends and family, as well as with the organizations and groups that I am passionate about.  The clear solution in how to handle this separation of distance, time, and wireless networks (Verizon's international plan believes that charging $4.99 a minute to use one's Global Blackberry in Argentina is completely reasonable--however much my bank account disagrees!) has become remedied by taking advantage of online communities and collaborative media.

Facebook, of course, has provided me a location to network and keep track of my friends across the United States and world.  It has also proven to be a great location to promote organizations that I am passionate about and events involving them.  It's also an easy way to share pictures with people who don't (or won't!) take the time to read my blog or look at my picassa website (to be here for those interested--like the other blog it exists but isn't quite in use yet!).

Twitter as well is becoming a wonderful online community that I had previously refused to join.  It's an easy one-stop location for me to follow news events and the goings-on of some of my friends.  As my internet time will potentially be limited in Argentina, I've found that this community will help me very quickly keep up with life in the United States.

Finally, Google is becoming yet another social medium to use.  With the existence of calendar event sharing, it's easy to set up Skype dates (or online calling for those of you not in the know--especially if you're abroad and haven't heard of it...check Skype out here--it's easy and somewhat free!).  Google documents is allowing me to stay involved in my creative inquiry (which is undergraduate research at Clemson--this particular one is on women's leadership).  We can all edit and add to our outlines and research whenever is convenient for our schedules.  Google wave is also appearing to be a different type of online community, though I am just learning how to use it.

In short, I'm becoming more and more dependent on online networking and media sharing locations.  At times it worries me because I know our generation is moving somewhat away from traditional face-to-face interaction and relationship building, however I am also extremely excited about the many doors it opens for us in this rapidly shrinking world.