Thing 3: (Not really a Thing either)

This, again, is another filler Thing - don't worry my next one will have a proper theme. For this Thing we were encouraged to read some of the other blogs resulting from the 23Things programme. Well, I have, and if I'm honest, I really enjoyed it. Each blog is like a story that's building up week by week, and each theme is different; since I'm a few Things behind I get to see everyone else's take on some of the aspects I'm yet to cover here - its really interesting to see what each person makes out of the tasks.

Any way, that's enough of a filler. Or maybe this is...

Image from ToolStation

Thing 2: (Not really a Thing)

This thing isn't a thing one can really write a thing about; this thing involves registering my 23Things to a University of Surrey thing called the 'Researcher Development Programme' - the only thing is, if  I don't write a blog post for this Thing, then my things will just jump from 1 to 4, so expect another thing between now and then.

(Image from MCArtwork - originally by Dr Seuss.) 

Really, Thing 1 and 2 ought to have been the same blog post...

Thing 1: My first attempt at blogging

So. This is blogging? Pretty new to me, but I've got to start somewhere!

In this post I'm covering social media and my hopes for the 23 Things course. I'll start with private social media.

I'm becoming rather disillusioned with most private social media; admitadley I don't polish my facebook page like I could, nor give instagram every interesting photo I've taken - but I'd rather I invest in close friendships than sparingly sow into seemingly virtual ones; and sharing printed photos with those closest to me is much more rewarding. Mum usually prints a book with our holiday photos in - I've got two on my shelf at home - looking through these, holding the photos in your hands, just makes it seem more real?

Any way, onto professional social media...

My first exposure to professional social media was LinkedIn. For a university module we were asked to create a page for our prospective employers. I was against doing it at first, I'm much prefer face to face interaction, and would rather those interviewing me had their first impression when they met me - of course that assumes I'd get the interview with a well drafted cover letter and finley polished CV (which I guess is pretty much what LinkedIn is...).

Since attending a few job interviews over the past couple of years, I have learnt the value of being able to briefly research someones professional background. It's certainly help to prepare for meeting them and creating topical conversation such as 'Your work with so and so looked really interesting' or 'my [insert family member or friend] went to the same university'.

Now, 'bout that 23 Things thing...

I'm not entirely sure what to expect from an adventure into the professional digital world available to researchers like my self, however I am open to learning about ways to promote research for later in my career and learning about tools to better engage with the wider world (not that I really want to - my office is big enough, I still don't know what everyone actually does...)

Well, that concludes the first blog post on 'Jacobs23Things' - thanks for reading. As a reward, I've included a cool picture of a sea slug my Dad took while scuba diving - enjoy!

                                                Picture by Mark Richardson (c)