Innovations in social media

So here are a couple of interesting social media sites I stumbled across in recent days.

I’ve been reading a truckload of nominations lately for IT Journo’s annual Lizzie Awards Best New Journalist category (tech industry awards given out by Media Connect). And as a quick aside, it’s really encouraging to read the work of new IT journalists who’ve dived into the industry fresh from Uni or made the career switch. There’s a whole bunch of really talented people out there, but I digress.

The first site I came across while reading these nominationed was Laurel Papworth’s Bloggerati.  Don’t ask me how I’ve managed to miss this site to date, but it’s worth a look, and worth supporting. Think of it as an Aussie version of Digg.

The second is more controversial. RateMyTeachers is a global site that, as the name suggests, lets students rate the performance of their teachers. Follow the links to your country (Australia is included), select your state, enter the name of your local school and bingo! - there’s a good chance you’ll find some candid feedback from anonymous students or parents on individual teachers.

Personally, if I was a teacher this would freak me right out. I can understand why people in the US are trying to get it wiped off the Internet.  But if you’re a good teacher and love your work, then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. The only problem I have with the site is that it doesn’t seem to give teachers an official right of reply, or a way of appealing your rating without simply writing a comment in response.

But the bottom line is that’s its a really innovative approach. As a Dad who’s faced with choosing a school for our daughter next year, all of a sudden services like this have an immediate appeal.

Gotta love social media that breaks the mould.