Still kicking

0Darren • 20th Apr 2010 • Social Networking

More than a year ago I posted an article on my first exploits into iPhone apps, Social Networking and a general update on what I was working on.

How time flies and changes. Since then I’m now the proud owner of an iPhone 3GS so my iPod touch has been passed onto my son. Like many iPhone users my first port of call in the morning is to check my Twitter and Facebook, funnily I find I get more contact via my social networking sites than email. Is this a growing trend I wonder?

Me 2.1

Last year I had just opened my Facebook account and was using Flickr. I’ve continued to use Facebook on a regular basis and having caught up with old friends find it’s a great way of keeping in touch with people. However, what I do enjoy a lot of Facebook is interaction with my local Police – PSNI Ards. The officers responsible for maintaining their Facebook page really are on the ball and it’s been a real education discovering just how much good work they carry out that I never get to hear about, until now. With almost 500 fans in a short space of time the response has been amazing and support from other users is very positive. I’ve yet to see a better adoption of social media by a public sector organisation.

Biting big time

I’m no longer one of those people who don’t get Twitter and now find myself something of an addict. Twitter is a fantastic tool for sharing information, keeping up to date and having discussions with selective users. An ever bigger thrill for me has been to receive tweets from celebs that I’m a fan of. Jason Manford, John Bishop and Matt Goss have all sent me personal messages.

What’s next?

Last January I was talking about the launch of nidirect which went live in March 2009. Having recently celebrated its first birthday a redesign of the site is in progress while I work closely with other Departments on the rationalisation of citizen facing content onto nidirect. I’m still managing to keep my hand in doing some development work and am currently working on new sites for DENI and ETI. What lies ahead is anyones guess as demands for our services include transactional services to iPhone apps!