Thing 12: Putting the social into social media

As I’ve said before, I love Twitter and am a bit of a social media fan. However as I’m a bit behind I’m just going to try and answer the questions we were asked to consider. 

Are there any other advantages to social networking in the context of professional development than those already outlined above? 

Personally, since starting CPD23 I feel more like I’m part of a community, though I’m still more of a lurker and haven’t contributed much yet.  It’s reassuring to know that there are people out there all doing the same thing, many who like me are newly qualified. Also, Twitter is a quick and easy way of keeping up to date; I’ll always check Twitter first for news and information.

Can you think of any disadvantages?

Of course there are downsides to social media: it can be extremely addictive and time-consuming if you’re not careful!

Has CPD23 helped you to make contact with others that you would not have had contact with normally?

Until CPD23, I didn’t realise how much it could be used professionally. However, now I follow more library people, including fellow CPD23-ers who I wouldn’t usually have any contact with. All I need to do now it to try and participate more!

Did you already use social media for your career development before starting CPD23? Will you keep using it after the programme has finished?

I used Twitter while doing my dissertation, basically tweeting about what I was up to. In addition, studying by distance learning meant little contact with other students so Facebook was a good way of staying in touch.

Although I’ve dabbled with other networks such as Google+ and Linkedin I haven’t fallen in love with them, so for now I’m just going to stick with Twitter.

In your opinion does social networking really help to foster a sense of community?

Definitely. I think since beginning CPD23 I have felt that I’m a little more engaged with the Library world. For instance, when I’ve asked questions other twitterers have been quick to help. So I agree that it’s a good place to ask questions and share ideas. 

Thing 6: Online networks

Facebook used to be my social network of choice; although I still use it, I spend much more time on Twitter these days. However, this programme is inspiring me to explore alternatives, so here are my thoughts…

  

Linkedin

I signed up to this a while ago, but to be honest I’ve not used it and hadn’t added much to my profile. So last week I took another look and added some more information. However, I’m not sure how useful it will be: it seems to be primarily a self-promotion tool, and as I’m not looking for a job I can’t see its relevance.  Also, as I’m newly qualified, I don’t feel I have much in the way of specialities to add. Hopefully this will change… I have joined a couple of groups, and keep receiving lots of emails so I’m wondering if this will result in my having even more information that I can’t keep up to date with. As with so many of these social networks, I think I need time to gauge its usefulness, so for now I think I’ll reserve my judgement.

Facebook

I’ve used Facebook for a while.  In my opinion, it’s a more personal, social space and I don’t use it for professional networking. I use it to stay in touch with friends and share photos. However, I did find it helpful to stay in touch with other students while doing my MA.  As I studied by distance learning, it was a good way to see how everyone was doing.

LISNPN

I joined LISNPN earlier this year. I have found some of the resources useful, such as advice on interviews. Although I haven’t used it at all for networking, this is something I can see myself using much more in the future.

Librarians as Teachers network

I don’t teach in my job, so at the moment this isn’t really relevant to me.  However I may revisit it in the future.

CILIP communities

Although I’m a member of CILIP, I have to admit I didn’t know this existed! I haven’t had time to explore it fully yet, so I may go back to it at some point. 

Google+

I’ve recently joined, but I think for me it’s still early days.  It seems to be popular with librarians, so I think I’ll definitely keep my eye on this one.

I’ve come to the conclusion that there are too many networks out there and it’s impossible to keep up with them all. So I think for now I’m going to stick with Twitter and hope I’m not missing out on anything…