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So You Want to Network?

It is an undeniable fact that the Internet is a vastly growing sensation. New websites are constantly being created, more content is being produced, and ultimately new businesses are being established and are thriving. The Internet is essentially an interminable world of opportunities with many great websites to take advantage of. One of the main platforms that has been used widely by both professionals and students alike is LinkedIn. Similar to other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it is a platform that allows for networking between companies and people. However, LinkedIn is special in the sense that it enforces this networking through a professional manner (again, making it ideal for businesses to use). The layout of this site is very similar to Facebook in that you create a profile with your statistics inputted. You then have the option to incorporate your connections from your email onto the site or you can choose to find your connections based on your statistics. These connections can vary from old colleagues at previous jobs, previous classmates who have entered various positions in the workforce, or even future employers. Essentially, LinkedIn acts as the perfect site to host your online resume. Again, the purpose behind this website is to connect you with your intended business and professional colleagues, companies, etc.






Because the focus of LinkedIn is primarily for the business world, many other professional fields have adopted a similar platform for their own specific field. For example, one of the apps that is downloadable to your phone that is specifically catered to physicians is called Doximity. This app is part of my App Smackdown #1 presentation. I chose this app specifically because it is relevant to my field of interest, which is medicine. What's unique about Doximity is that it allows physicians and other healthcare related professionals to converse and network, but with the assurance that all of their inputs are secured by HIPAA regulations. It essentially operates the same way LinkedIn does, allowing physicians to network and discuss health related topics to colleagues in various hospitals across the world. Doximity is currently being used by over 1 million healthcare professionals in the United States. 





In the book Untangling the Web by Steve Dembo and Adam Bellow, Chapter 1 introduces various curation tools. These curation tools are helpful in organizing thoughts, research sources, and other lifestyle aspects that are utilized in both professional and personal life. One of the websites that is mentioned is symbalooEDU. This website acts as a way to combine a convenient space for all of your favorite websites. According to the book, "The interface within Symbaloo is called a webmix". This webmix is essentially a layout of numerous tiles that can be used to host your desired website. All you would have to do is populate the tile with your website and when you want to explore it, just simply click on it. You also have the opportunity to rearrange the squares according to your liking. Symbaloo is very appealing because of its visual organization and easiness. Essentially, through the use of this website, all of your favorite sites are all compiled into one accessible platform. People, educators in particular, really enjoy using this website simply because of its convenience.







The next website is one that I briefly mentioned in my previous blog post. This one is called Diigo. This website is what the authors labeled as a site of "social bookmarking". Relevant to Twitter specifically, this website practically saves all "liked" or otherwise bookmarked content. For example, if you are scrolling through Twitter, chances are the Tweets you like contain something that you want to refer back to in the future, whether it'd be an article or something related. Over time, you may get lost if you have an affinity for liking Tweets on the go, and this may result in losing some earlier liked content to a long browsing history. To solve this issue, Diigo was created. However, Diigo is not only limited to Twitter. It can actually be installed in your browser and you are able to save desired content from various websites through the click of a button. Diigo then organizes the saved content by your selected tag keywords.




One last great website that was mentioned is eduClipper. This website is specifically catered to educators and students in grades K-12. eduClipper is beneficial to the educational community because it serves as a way for students and teachers to search and share related content that is being shared in the classroom. One perk that eduClipper has is its ability to let "...users export the resources they have saved to other sites so that users' content is not locked down to one particular platform". Because it is catered to students in grades K-12, the teachers who oversee the movements made by students is helpful in protecting their privacy and whereabouts. The content that can be explored via eduClipper is quite endless, but it is all moderated by the teacher. This also allows the student to gain a sense of researching sources, a skill that will be valuable as they progress in their education. From a visual standpoint, it is highly effective at organizing resources because of its easy layout (this is thanks to the website creator who is a visual learner). EduClipper was designed to be an enriching environment for both students and teachers, and with its various options students' learning abilities can be enhanced.





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