Review of Mystery Society, by Steve Niles & Fiona Staples

This was an impulse buy. The spine somehow caught my eye as I was wandering through a local discount comic book store, and as soon as I saw Fiona Staples' name, it was off the shelf and in my hands.

And the art does not let down, at all. I loved the chance to see some pre-Saga work of Staples. The style in Mystery Society is more "sketchy" and the colors more muted, but it has all her signature imaginative flair which is what a story like Mystery Society needs.

But the story...I will say much the same as others have said in their reviews before me. It lacks tension and depth. It's fun, but it lacks that something to make it great. Perhaps it is the lack of focus that keeps this novel from really "clicking". The characters (at least those in the Society) are fantastic. Nick and Ana are a wonderful couple, the twins are adorable, Secret Skull is badass, and Verne is...interesting. But the story splits into the main plot, a lackluster conspiracy theory with Nick, Ana, and the girls, and into the subplot of Skull and Verne retrieving Poe's stolen skull. The villians in both are weak in personality and motive, and the subplot doesn't get the attention it deserves to have with characters like Skull and Verne. Nor does it tie in to the main plot, which I wouldn't have minded if there was simply more of Mystery Society. But as it's a limited five-issue series, it can't really get away with having a "filler" plot-line. (Although the 2013 special included in this volume shows that there is potential for this group of oddball characters to keep having adventures.)

I would recommend Mystery Society for the art, and for the wonderful main characters, even if the story does hinder their potential from being fully realized.

Interactive & Gaming Tech

Gaming has been one of hobbies & passions for years. I honestly can not remember a time when I didn't enjoy it. So I have a wealth of experience in MUVE (or MUGEs, as they were called at one point) and interactive games. In fact, my thesis was on how anonymous individuals slowly build personal relationships in MMORPGs, specifically focusing on World of Warcraft. I played WoW for a couple years in college, and not only was it a fun game, it had a very supportive community surrounding it. With the advent of audio tools like Vent and social media sites, players were able to bond outside the fantasy world and get to know each other. And personally, I was surprised at the sheer variety of people I met. I don't know why I was so surprised--at the time I was playing, the game boasted over 11 million subscribers. (Now, it's down to 7.6 million.) Of course there were mothers playing along with their teen children, grandparents raiding until the weekend when they would see their grandkids. All genders, nationalities, sexualities seemed to be represented. And yes, even though we were able to hear each other's voices and know there was a "real" person on the other side of the keyboard, it still felt like a protected environment for everyone to just be themselves. That's important--public libraries like where I work should provide service for everyone, including those who feel disenfranchised. MUVEs could be very effective in teen programming, especially in racially diverse communities and ones that need help with their support of LGBTQ teens.

Interactive gaming also has the opportunity to be educational, while "tricking" kids into having fun at the same time. This would be great for children's programming. At the library I work for, there are a large number of interactive games meant to teach young kids everything from shapes and colors, to spelling. Those computers are always a favorite with our little patrons.

Professional Potential

Some social networks, such as LinkedIn, have more obvious professional potential. The entire point of LinkedIn is to network with others in your career field. It's a more controlled form of network, as in you aren't encouraged to share personal, everyday information the way you would on Facebook. You can keep in touch with former co-workers, rate your current colleagues and have them return the favor, and connect with others who may help you out in the future. Some on my network use it to share articles on latest breaks in the field or how to improve your leadership. So in that capacity I could see it being a great help in sharing ideas among librarians, such as for programming. It was also great to be part of the Library-professional community on LinkedIn after I graduated. I worked a job that wasn't in the field and had that listed on my profile, but since I listed my industry as "libraries", I would receive weekly emails informing me of new job openings.

Even though I listed LinkedIn's professional approach as advantageous compared to Facebook's social approach, Facebook definitely has its pros. Facebook is ubiquitous these days. Everyone, from your aunt to massive restaurant chains, has a Facebook. It is one of the best ways to get word out about a product or an organization. Librarians may use the site to keep in informal touch with each other, and such an informal approach may strengthen a connection. (Although it can weaken that connection or even drive away the contact, depending how personal your postings are on Facebook!) For organizations, such as ALA or the IUPUI School of Informatics & Computing, it is a low-cost way (as opposed to say, mailers) to spread their news to members and other interested persons. Were I on campus, the Facebook posting's of the School of Informatics would be awesome--many postings are to spread awareness of events, such as showings of films done by alumni, Halloween parties thrown by the student council, and (of particular interest to my gamer self) an Extra Life charity drive. But the School also uses it to provide links to helpful tools and articles. A recent posting linked to a Forbes article that would help students improve their LinkedIn profile. So the two social media sites can work together...no need to have just one or the other!

How IUPUI's School of Informatics & Computing Embraces Social Networking

Social Networks

I have a lot of experience in using social networks. From MySpace's hey-day to Instagram's new popularity, I've always been curious enough to try out accounts on social websites to see what they're about.

Currently, Facebook is of course the big one. It's a good way for me to keep in touch with friends and family that don't live in the area. I've also found it a good way to get to know new co-workers more quickly. And yes, I use it to play little games and post in-jokes among my friends. Facebook's also a good way to keep up with my interests, whether it's yesterday's match results for Arsenal FC or sales at my favorite stores. Facebook also provides a cheap, easy way to show support. I can keep up with the latest news from the pet rescue where I adopted my puppy from (currently undergoing a suit against a land developer who is trying to push them out) or spread "word of mouth" about my friend's photography start-up.

I also have a Twitter account, although I will often forget about it. It's a great way to send out a quick thought or joke to a friend, but I prefer Facebook's more personal approach. Really, what Twitter is great for is news. I can follow the accounts of various organizations, or persons, and be kept up-to-date. Although my timeline gets so cluttered that many a time I don't feel like scrolling all the way through it. There is the lists feature that would allow me to categorize those I follow--athletes, game developers, book reviewers--but I have only a very little experience using it. At this point, I follow so many accounts it seems more hassle than its worth.

Tumblr is fun, and a great way to connect with people who have the same interests I do. Many people use it as a more personal platform, but I find it a way to relax and joke about pop culture. It's also used by many social interest/justice groups to promote awareness of their communities. More and more professional organizations are creating Tumblr accounts because of its flexibility as a micro-blog. As such, it's particularly good for photographers.

Instagram is a fun little account that I mainly keep to do quick touch-ups to photos on my phone. It also makes it incredibly to post an image to my Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr all in one tap. I haven't fully embraced the social side of this social network, but I see my younger cousins using it like crazy. Several youth services forums that I read up on have pointed out that Instagram is the most popular social network for the young teen/young adult crowd and urge YA librarians to capitalize on that.

I also have a LinkedIn account. I unfortunately don't have too much experience with this network yet, but I see the potential it has in helping me build a professional network. I didn't have much working experience (at least worth bragging about online) until the last year and a half, but when I left my first "grown-up" job, it was great to see support roll in from co-workers and former clients on that platform. Many employers and organizations check on a potential employee's digital footprint nowadays, so it's nice to have these endorsements in an easy format through LinkedIn.

Introduction

My name is Janelle and I'm a grad student studying Information & Library Science at IUPUI. I currently work at a branch library in small-town Indiana, where I do a little bit of everything but focus on our teen services.

I started this blog specifically to discuss social media and participatory technology for S401. I created a Voki to help introduce the blog, but Blogger doesn't seem to want to accept its HTML into its own. Which is a shame, because now you can't hear its phonetic voice-over, or watch the little cat pop out from behind the pumpkin. But I can at least show you what it looked like:

If you're not one of my classmates or the professor, that's weird and I am sure I don't know how you stumbled across this.