Thing 21

FREE FOR ALL!!

I looked through all the pages of apps I have on my Touch and realized that I have already blogged on most of the apps I use the most (mostly I blogged in the Games Thing).  But, I found a couple worth mentioning for this blog.

App 1:  Buzzfeed.  I don't watch TMZ, I don't read the gossip magazines, I have given up on trying to maintain a "competent front" of current social, style, and celebrity trends.  HOWEVER, I really, really like looking at the Buzzfeed app.  The app works similar to a "magazine app" like Flipboard except it chooses the content it shows you.  I am unsure if it uses an algorithm that shows the most popular posts or the most recent, or a combination of the two.  If you refresh the app as you use it, the thumbnails will change.  Although a large part of the content is devoted to celebrities, quizzes, and generally ridiculous but funny "blogs", vines or videos, Buzzfeed does report on serious news and covers long form journalism.  Every week there is a post about "Stories we are reading this week".  I learned a lot about what was happening early in Ukraine from this app; also with Edward Snowden.  I saw the story about the runaway bouncy house AT LEAST a full day before it showed up in my Facebook feed from another news organization.  I feel it gives a good balance of the absurd and the important in one place.

App 2:  DisBoards.  This app probably might not apply to this discussion of apps to use for libraries and librarians.  BUT the directions were to talk about apps you use/love and this is an app I use heavily.
DisBoards is a chat site/discussion board for all things Disney - mostly Disney World, but Disney Land, Royal Caribbean, Universal, and other topics are discussed on the site/app.  It is also a website, but I feel the website to be too cumbersome and frenetic for me to use for any length of time.
Personally, I use the app for reading up on rumors or changes, restaurant reviews, resort reviews, general planning, and a little bit of drama - all discussion boards have a little bit of drama :).  I found DisBoards because my first trip to Disney World was with my "entire family", parents, sister's family, us.  I felt like the trip was kind of a "let down" because there was some planning miscommunication and I felt like I didn't know what I thought I needed to know to get the most out of my trip.  The next trip, I did research.  And research.  And more research.  And found this app.
I "might" recommend this app to others as a planning tool.  As with all sites of this type, the mood has shifted from helpful to more critical.  BUT the site is archived and there is solid, tested information about Disney properties as well as other travel "entities" for those looking for "real" information with varied viewpoints.  Think of it as a really opinionated, real time, breathing guidebook app for Disney.