Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Even Something Completely Del.icio.us Needs a Backup Plan

If you have taken a Web 2.0 course on the Eighth Floor, then you know how extraordinary I think social bookmarking is and how much I depend on my Delicious account. For nearly three years I have been building a repository of internet resources for our consortium members - and me, of course. Hundreds (plural) of sites on anything from elementary lesson plans to Podcasting tools to YouTube videos that explain skills better than I can. I have been collecting all those resources on my Delicious account. Many of you were part of my Delicious network. We had a great network!

Last week the unthinkable happened. I deleted my account. In the process of deleting a few dummy accounts, I committed a slip of the mouse and deleted my REAL account. I'm sure you all heard my tragic wail of "Nnnoooooooo!" all across the land.

I learned several things from this experience. One, clicking on the back button 50 times, even 1/10th of a second later, won't reverse the action. Two, the people at Delicious can not be suckered into reviving your account by the promise of "a lot of money." And three, I should have backed up my account. The third lesson is the one that really slaps me in the face. Hello! Don’t we all know to back "things" up? Don't we all know to save, save, save, and save even when we haven't done anything worth saving?

So here's the moral of the story, kids. Back it up! Most every Web 2.0 tool can be saved or backed up one way or another. Just do it.

I am beginning the slow and painful process of personal healing and rebuilding my account. If you were part of my network before, I invite you to add me again. I’m still "
lamorris". Yes, I jumped right back on and reclaimed my logon. If you aren't sure what social bookmarking is, watch this video and get out there and create your own account.




Now, if you want to know how to make your new Delicious account dance, come take the Social Bookmarking class on the Eighth Floor.

Happy tagging!

Lee Anne