come out, come out wherever you are

"Computer Nance" is getting some schooling in social media including: blogging, flickr, youtube, facebook etc, as I am now a student of Burlington Public Library's Betty Blogger - an 8 week program exploring Web 2.0.

After the gasillionth time listening to me whine about my inability to understand aspects of the web, witnessing me in the throws of blogger/computer angst (not a pretty picture, I assure you) and being thwarted in her attempts to explain how stuff works, (on a scale of 1 - 10 my understanding of all things Web 2.0 and its applications is about a 4; I know the names of things, even have a Twitter account, but I don't know what the hell to do with it), my friend said calmly, "You should take the Betty Blogger course. Really!"

"Betty Blogger? Ah, I don't know." I said. Revealing my child of the 60's perspective and feminist leanings I continued, "sounds like Betty Crocker and makes me think of the whole post WWII effort to entice Rosie the Riveter types (women had been encouraged to do their part in the war effort by working outside the home filling jobs vacated when men went to war) back into the kitchen when their men returned."

"No, it's fantastic... Think of it this way, Betty Blogger, Betty Crocker. It's as easy to use Web 2.0 as it is to bake a cake," she said, pleased with the analogy.

"Umm, you do know who you're talking to, don't you?" We met when we were in public school and she knows that I'm a bit of a feminist type and definitely no domestic goddess.

Cutting to the bare bones facts she emphatically stated the obvious, "You'll get help with your blog."

"Oh, there are classes?" This is starting to get me excited.

"Well, not exactly. You get your assignments through e-mail correspondence and it's done online."

"I need to talk to real people, to get hands on help sometimes when I need it." (I'm such a "baby la-la"  [aka whiner], as my friend Kathy would say).

"You can drop in at set times and get help from the Library Lady and from fellow classmates as one of the goals of the program is to encourage networking and collaboration. Even the staff at the library can assist you as we've all taken the course." I forgot to mention that she works at the library.

"OK then; sounds good. I'm in. So, you could help me then?"

...

"Uh...No, I'll be working where you can't find me."

Can't say I blame her.