Task: Your personal reflection will document your development and understanding as a social networker as a result of studying INF506, and the implications for your study, your personal life, and your ongoing development as an information professional.
The completion of INF506, Social Networking for Information Professionals, has significantly contributed to my practice as a social networker within the Library and Information Studies (LIS) sector, and has had implications for the way I learn, the development of my Personal Learning Network (PLN), and my ongoing practice as a future information professional. Traditionally, I have been a reluctant participator in social media, preferring to silently consume content created by others rather than create content myself or engage with other users via comments and likes. However, this subject required me to become more engaged within this community of practice and contribute to the “participatory and community-centric” environment that allows a community of practice to be successful (Kitzie, et al., 2020). There are several ways this was achieved, including through using the Facebook site, commenting on Online Learning Journal blog posts, and researching for the Assessment 1 trial site. These experiences are examined below.
The use of the Facebook site acted as a constant reminder for me to engage with other students and their blogs, particularly as a number of students, including myself, would post a link to their latest blog post. I almost exclusively used these links to access other student blogs, rather than the blogroll spreadsheet available on Interact 2, as those who were posting their blogs appeared to be more actively engaging with the group. This page also encouraged me to keep up with the regularity of blog posts required for this topic, instead of simply completing the requirements for Assessment 2 after the completion of Assessment 1, which is what I typically do during the semester. I found this incredibly helpful as due to the pressures of my personal life and career, there were a few weeks that I did not access Interact 2 over the Christmas break. However, I did access Facebook for other reasons, and was reminded to keep up with engagement and progress on my assessments because of posts made by other students, and the clear, positive attitude towards knowledge sharing and development (Pi, et al., 2013, p. 1976). This reflects the importance of engaging with one’s Personal Learning Network (PLN) regularly, as these communities are only as valuable as the individuals that participate in them, and the greater the participation, the greater the benefit for all members (Nielsen, 2008).
The requirement to engage with other student blog posts significantly increased the level of engagement that I would typically undertake during the semester with my fellow students. As stated previously, I am typically quiet and reluctant to engage, but the requirement to comment on the Online Learning Journal posts improved my understanding of the module content, alternate perspectives, and the different experiences of information professionals. For example, in reading and commenting on Chloe Ho’s (2023) post Task 1: Social Media and Society: Journal Article Analysis, I was driven to consider the alternate experience of Chinese (Mainland) users of social media sites in relation to self-esteem, and that the specific cultural requirements for social media in China, including the limited sites available, would affect the external validity of the research paper analysed by Ho. This drew my attention to other posts centred outside of Australia, such as Janice Jim Ka Yan’s (2024) post OLJ Task 12: Virtual and augmented reality in Hong Kong Public Library, as their experience of social media and the LIS sector is different from my Australian-centric perspective. The exposure to perspectives from different cultures, and the requirement to engage with these ideas through a ‘student centred learning’ approach that values the differences of cultures (Wong, 2021, p. 95), both expanded my knowledge development by driving me to consider the lived experience of those outside of my cultural setting, and also helped me identify similarities with theories that I have learnt in a Western paradigm. In the case of this blog post, the similarities I identified were how the concept of ‘digital immigrants’ transcends cultural boundaries (Wang, et al., 2013). I also engaged with other students’ blogs, including Kathy Gee’s (2024) post OLJ Task 5: The Client Experience, wherein through reading my fellow students’ analysis I was able to draw back to theories I had utilised in Assessment 1, specifically how an online presence can be used to establish the ‘organisation-as-self’ (Mon, 2015, pp. 5-6). This enabled me to expand my learning by linking these theories with another real-life example and application, which strengthened my understanding of the subject content.
Another component of this subject that significantly contributed to my development as a social networker in my personal life was the research that I conducted in preparation for creating a trial site for Assessment 1. For this assessment, I chose to use Instagram and created a trial site for a public library. In order to understand the expectations of a public library Instagram page, and find some best practice examples, I increased my engagement with library-centric accounts on Instagram, and expanded my network to include a variety of individual library accounts, such as @MilwaukeePublicLibrary and @CityofMarionLibraries, as well as library hashtags such as #librariansofinstagram and #librariesofinstagram. Prior to this assessment, I had not realised the personal benefit I would gain from engaging more deeply as a social networker with library Instagram accounts, and how it would expand my Personal Learning Network to include a variety of global connections and influences from which I can learn a variety of perspectives (Morrison & McCutheon, 2019, p. 2).
Overall, the focus of INF506 on engaging with social media has improved my level of comfort with becoming a social networker within the LIS sector, and engaging with my fellow students to establish a wider Personal Learning Network. This has not only benefited my study, by strengthening my ability to apply theory across a variety of contexts and topics, but my personal life and ongoing development as an information professional, by widening my sphere of engagement on social media platforms. I aim to continue this level of engagement so that I can continue to develop my Personal Learning Network and strengthen my knowledge in future subjects for the Master of Information Studies.
(1015 words)
References
Gee, K. (2024, January 10). OLJ task 5: The client experience. Mrs Gee’s Learning Journey. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/geeslearningjourney/2024/01/10/olj-task-5-the-client-experience/
Ho, C. (2023, November 19). Task 1: Social media and society: Journal article analysis. Teacher Librarianship – CHo. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/teacherlibrarianship1cho/2023/11/19/task-1-social-media-and-society-journal-article-analysis/
Kitzie, V. L., Pettigrew, J., Wagnera, T. L., & Vera, A. N. (2020). Using the world café methodology to support community-centric research and practice in library and information science. Information & Library Science Research, 42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2020.101050
Little, G. F. (n.d.). [Image of person with a lightbulb]. Centre for Professional Education of Teachers. https://cpet.tc.columbia.edu/news-press/core-principles-critical-reflection
Mon, L. (2015). Social media and library services. Springer International Publishing AG.
Morrison, D., & McCutheon, J. (2019). Empowering older adults’ informal, self-directed learning: harnessing the potential of online personal learning networks. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 14(10), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41039-019-0104-5
Nielsen, L. (2008, October 12). 5 things you can do to begin developing your personal learning network. The Innovative Educator. https://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2008/04/5-things-you-can-do-to-begin-developing.html
Pi, S. M., Chou, C. H., & Liao, H. L. (2013). A study of Facebook groups members’ knowledge sharing. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 1971-1979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.04.019
Wang, Q., Myers, M., & Sundaram, D. (2013). Digital natives and digital immigrants: Towards a model of digital fluency. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 6, 409-419. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11576-013-0390-2
Wong, K. M. (2021). “A design framework for enhancing engagement in student‑centered learning: own it, learn it, and share it” by Lee and Hannafn (2016): an international perspective. Education Tech Research Dev, 69, 93-96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09842-w
Yan, J. J. K. (2024, January 10). OLJ task 12: Virtual and augmented reality. Social Media and Librarianship_Jim. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kjim02/2024/01/10/olj-task-12-virtual-and-augmented-reality/