71 Monell Avenue
Islip, NY 11751

T: 631-581-5933

F: 631.277.8429

71 Monell Avenue
Islip, NY 11751
T: 631-581-5933
F: 631-581-8429

71 Monell Avenue
Islip, NY 11751
T: 631-581-5933 

F: 631-581-8429

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Category Archives for Social Media

Social Media: What You Need To Know

There are many good reasons to be involved with social media. We can be connected to endless possibilities to learn, share, discover, and interact that weren’t possible in the past, but there are some downsides as well.

Here are some questions to ask yourself about social media and the effect it has on you:
  • Does it seem like social media is taking over your life, your job, your grades, your friendships?
  • Are you spending more time connecting online than interacting in person?
  • Are you seeing online bullying?
  • Are you a victim of online bullying?

There is a seemingly never-ending flood of emerging technologies, apps, and devices! Below are some links to explore. They may be helpful in learning how people of all ages are affected by social media. Check them out and tell us what you think!

NY Times Article Review: “Addicted to Distraction”

I recently read an article in the N.Y. Times, titled “Addicted to Distraction”, written by Tony Schwartz. Fascinating reading!  He shares that reading books has been “a deep and consistent source of pleasure, learning and solace” all his life, and how, to his horror and surprise, he had found himself recently unable to focus sufficiently to actually finish a book! He attributes this lack of focus to an increasing need to check his email and to surf online.

Mr. Schwartz cites some interesting research:

“The brain’s craving for novelty, constant stimulation and immediate gratification creates something called a ‘compulsion loop.’ Like lab rats and drug addicts, we need more and more to get the same effect. Endless access to new information also easily overloads our working memory. When we reach cognitive overload, our ability to transfer learning to long-term memory significantly deteriorates.”

Like Mr. Schwartz, I find that the Internet and its seemingly endless and myriad offerings can be the ultimate distraction machine! I too have been a voracious reader all my life and am always, and have always been, in the midst of reading at least one book. Like the author, I had found lately that the pull of email, Facebook, texts, and just plain surfing was beginning to feel like an addiction that was seriously cutting into my reading time! I realized that I had to do something, and fast. The technology that had pulled me in so recently and effectively was my new smart phone. I had been a late adopter of this technology, and its hold on me totally took me by surprise! I decided to take action and promptly eliminated several shortcuts from the phone meaning that if I really want to check something online I am more apt to do it an actual computer, which is obviously not something I walk around with. What a welcome relief!

In the month since I have taken action, I have finished two books. Ahhh. I’m back to my old self and calmer too.

So if you really want to relax, visit the Library, check out a (real) book – put the phone down, step away from the computer, and just READ!

September Facebook Article

Are you looking for free infant, toddler and preschool-age activities? Do you want to meet other moms in the community?

The Islip Public Library has something for everyone. Borrow an iPad and show your child how to use it in the library or a Kid’s Kindle to take home for 7 days. The Kid’s Kindle features age appropriate books, movies, and games that are being updated regularly as per our subscription.

Show your child how to use a computer mouse and play games on one of our 8 PCs. 3 have preloaded games. Tumblebooks is a link found on the library’s homepage and includes stories, videos, music, puzzle and games and language learning. Enjoy the read-aloud feature. Exercise your imagination in our firehouse tent. Read aloud a board book, picture book, magazine, easy reader or non-fiction book and help your child read 1000 books before kindergarten!

If you check out the books on your child’s card and activate your account, it will track all the books that you are reading together! Color a picture using our crayons and seasonal coloring pages. Borrow a multi-themed book bundle, tied up with a red ribbon and ready to grab and check out - dinosaurs, princesses, sharks, trucks.

Check out our multi-themed backpacks that include books, dvds, and props that your child will love – feelings, fire trucks, trains, bugs and more. Learn a second language with a book that includes a second language cd. Your child can listen to our books with accompanying CD in the car while you run your errands. Listen to lullabies, karaoke, classical or movie-themed music from our tremendous cd collection.

Our preschool dvd collection includes Sesame Street, Baby Mozart, Baby Einstein, Veggie Tales and more. Draw on our chalk board to help develop fine motor skills. Help your child learn to read using our beginning reading books featured on a display just for this purpose. Connect train tracks on our train table for a unique configuration and then operate our many unusual trains. Assist your child in putting together our puzzles or borrow a puzzle from our vast puzzle collection.

We offer a sign language class every other month, multiple musical programs – PlayHooray, Miss Heather and Musical Playground, and an open playtime with our educational toys. Park in our stroller corral and meet new friends. Click here to register. Get an Islip Library card for your child today. Oh, did I mention, everything is FREE!!!

Social Media: Is It Really Free?

By Greg Klein

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, etc... is a part of our everyday lives. Many of us use it to communicate with family and friends, discover news, share pictures, videos and more.

However, when you create an account on one of these social media sites, it’s not uncommon for them to require you to provide biographical information about yourself. Information such as your name, e-mail address, phone number, and so on.

I’m no psychic but, I don’t think you want to publish this information to the entire world. If you feel this way, you’re not alone. The majority of us want to use these services while maintaining our privacy.

To protect your privacy, take some time and go onto your social media accounts and get into the privacy settings. Review each option carefully and set the setting to the appropriate level of security you are comfortable with to keep your biographical information, status updates, shared items, pictures, etc… as private or as public as you want.

Secondly, never provide account information, Social Security numbers, bank information or other sensitive financial information on a social media website.

Thirdly, when choosing friends or contacts on a social media site, think about why you use the website and be picky about whom you choose to be friends with. Decide if it is appropriate to accept the friend request or not. Remember a friend will be able to see the information you allow, while some information on your profile will be blocked from non-friends. Before adding a friend, make sure you know the person and you're comfortable letting them see your profile.

Lastly, be careful with the information you provide on social media. The social media companies keep records of all the information you provide on their service. Even if you delete a post or remove some biographical information, the social media company is going to have that information saved in their records. However, they can only find out what we share about ourselves. If you don’t want them to know, then don’t share.

We all agreed to a massive privacy terms and conditions policy when we created the account. Few of us actually read the policy but, once we share, its fair game...

...That’s the price of free accounts. For further information, I highly recommend you check out: Terms of Service by Jacob Silverman and film Terms and Conditions May Apply, both titles are available at the Library.

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