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First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge that this post departs from the previous content here at Amy’s Inkwell.  This is a post about posting; a meta-post, if you will.  It is the first in a new series of posts that I will tentatively curate under the category of “Working”.  If you don’t lose patience, you’ll find out why in a moment.

To connect this to previous posts, however loosely, I follow a few Twitter feeds from Oxford University, including its Learning Technologies Group and the inimitable Bodleian Library.  These feed by interest in my profession (technology) and my passion (books), respectively.  Imagine my excitement when they announced a free, self-guided course in using social media!

23 Things for Research “is a self-directed course that aims to expose you to a range of digital tools that could help you in your personal and professional development as a researcher, academic, student or in another role.”

I signed up.  Lord knows I could be more social media savvy, in both my personal and professional lives.

Social Media in my Personal Life

Confession time: I have a love/hate relationship with it.  I’m an introvert, and there are few personal things that I feel comfortable sending into cyberspace.  I do use social media, but haphazardly and without clear purpose:

  • Blog – Yes, I have Amy’s Inkwell.  However, if you’ve been here more than once, you know it lacks focus.  I post whatever I happen to be thinking about: books I’ve read, pictures I’ve taken, places I’ve been.  Amy’s Inkwell isn’t curated to hold anyone’s attention or to attract repeat visitors by consistent, directed content.  How could I focus my blog for reader retention, if I chose to do so?  
  • Twitter – Who knew you could say so much in 140 characters?  I have enjoyed following my friends and making new ones through succinct statements, as well as the occasional short, snarky sentence.  Should I really tweet at my friends instead of having a private conversation that is actually private?
  • Instagram – The app that proves that a picture is worth a thousand words stole my heart.  I’ve enjoyed hashtag projects led by Susannah Conway and the Shutter Sisters, sharing images and experiencing how others see the world.  Pictures are a window into my life; should I care that so many strangers have their noses pressed up against the glass? 
  • Facebook – I’m on Facebook, but only because my yoga instructor has a community page for her students.  I don’t post much, because there simply isn’t anything that I want that wide audience of people to know about it.  When did Friend become a verb?  And why have I been Friended by so many people who don’t deserve the noun? (We can discuss the psychology of being OK with being followed by complete strangers on Twitter and Instagram later, if we must.)

Social Media in my Professional Life

The debate about social media in the workplace once centered around whether or not to block employees from accessing Facebook, and later Twitter, through the corporate network to prevent the inevitable productivity drain that these distractions can cause.  These days, the dialog focuses on how to leverage social media for internal collaboration.  I work in our company’s IT division, where we are keenly interested in how to best use the new tools and paradigms available to us.

  • LinkedIn – I have a LinkedIn profile that lists employers and dates, but little else.  I receive Connection requests from people I’ve never met, which I ignore.  What information is desirable to have on a public forum such as LinkedIn?  What are the pros and cons of connecting with complete strangers?
  • Yammer – I accepted an invitation to my company’s network and have given this site a wide berth.  What is this about, and why should I ever go to this site?

Enter stage left the Gen Y Focus Group, of which I am a member.  (Let us not here digress into my qualifications as a millennial, which so many of long-standing colleagues have questioned.  Suffice it to say that I call myself “the elder statesperson of the Gen Y Focus Group, and you may draw your own conclusions from there.)

The Gen Y Focus Group was convened to contemplate the needs of the “future mobile worker”: what next generation co-workers would need; how we could enable work from flexible locations; and how we could facilitate consultation and collaboration amongst geographically-dispersed teams.

It’s clear that networking and knowledge sharing, two key foundational principles of social media, can enable an effective, productive future workplace.  I’m interested in learning:

  • What tools are available to facilitate networking and knowledge sharing? 
  • How do individuals most effectively network through social media? 
  • What techniques do effective individuals and institutions use to share knowledge in the social media space, in near-time and in real-time?

I’m also looking forward to new perspectives that show me what I don’t know.  What other social media paradigms haven’t I considered that can be revolutionary in our workplace?

Beyond the content of the course itself, I was intrigued by its intended audience.  23 Things for Research is available to students, researchers and faculty at Oxford, not to mention the members of the community such as myself who are not affiliated with the university.  The creators of the curriculum therefore must take into account all age groups, from students coming to university for the first time who were weaned in the digital age to long-tenured dons who have perhaps been teaching since computers filled rooms instead of fit into one’s pocket.

Management saddled the Gen Y Focus Group with an “elder statesperson” because although we are an IT division aiming to be cutting-edge, young people are in the minority.  Our workforce has an average tenure with the company measured in decades.  Any social media-based collaboration that we propose will need to be rolled out to division largely peopled with Gen X-ers and baby boomers.  How do you engage a multi-generational audience in an emerging technology?

The siren song of the ancient manuscripts first drew me to the Bodleian Library.  On a tour last spring, I was in awe of the magnificent store of knowledge stretching back into the mists of history.  23 Things for Research proves that the Bodleian Library is so much more than tomes from centuries past – it is an evolving institution showing us how to create and share knowledge today to pass on to students in centuries yet to come.

I am thrilled that 23 Things for Research is open to the community of the engaged beyond the university.  You have inspired me to approach social media reflectively, as a student rather than an analyst, seeking to learn and understand as the necessary first step to implementation.  For that, I can only say thank you.