Joining INF506 Social networking for Information Professionals was not an undisputable decision for me. On one hand, I was interested in learning more about evolving digital technologies, on the other hand, I did not use social networks in my personal life and I felt a bit anxious to start. Being honest, I used to use social networks in the past. Although I did not post much content, I used to follow my friends and classmates to see what was happening in their lives. However, three years ago I deleted all my social network accounts as I found it a waste of time scrolling through news threads of people I did not get in touch with in real life. This subject changed my perspective on social networking in general by showing new opportunities of professional growth. As Gruzd et al. (2017) mention, social media is very representative and can provide information specialists with valuable data about their users. They also stated that nowadays online communication is incorporated into our physical spaces reinforcing our reach of users and helping us provide better services. However, as Mon (2015) suggested, it is easy to start using social networks in the library, but it is hard to integrate it into the library life. Thinking of the right way of using social platforms in organisations and inspired by Laura Cole’s (2016) TED Talk, I looked into how the National Library of Kazakhstan embraced the Library 2.0 ethos, and reflected on their strong performance as well as areas for improvement (Kaigotodova, 2023, Dec 11). 

It was interesting to see how my understanding of social networking evolved over this subject. At first, I believed social networking was only about using social media websites like Facebook or Instagram, but then I was introduced to a variety of social networking tools, such as blogs, wiki platforms, social news sites and  virtual reality. I did not expect Google Docs to be a form of social networking. It made me think about how to implement these tools in my school library. I got particularly interested in blogging opportunities using WordPress. I am planning to start a blog and I even made a list of topics I would cover in my blogs, such as library statistics, reading lists and book promos, reinforcement of our Digital Citizenship and Information Literacy programs through infographics and short videos. I would also share information about my professional development and participation in conferences and workshops. 

Another thing I got curious about is how our individual learning can supplement each other’s understanding of a certain topic. For example, when writing my blog post about key skills that define information professionals in the digital era, I mostly focused on skills that differentiate humans from machines and help them stay demanded (Kaigorodova, 2023, Dec 20), however the blog post written by Ryan Doble (Doble, 2024, Jan 21) showed me another perspective of adopting new technologies and showing positive reaction to embracing new tools. 

An insightful activity, for me, was thinking of the components to be included into the Social Media Policy for OLJ Task 16 (Kaigorogova, 2024, Jan 18).  Juneström’s suggestion of the proactive approach to risk management (2019) made me think of potential threats that social media usage might cause in school libraries. Such as student access to inappropriate information,  exceeded screen time, misinformation and bias, copyright issues, and lack of balance between professional and personal social media usage. I found that Khristina (2024, Jan 17) also mentioned a proactive approach in her blog post. 

The biggest challenge for me in this subject was creating my own professional social media site for Assessment 1. I found it easier to work on the theoretical part of the assignment, identifying client needs and thinking of the right platform to choose, but when it came to the practical creation of a trial site, I did not know where to start from. At that time, I felt anxious and confused. On one hand, I had clear ideas in terms of the type of content I would like to share. On the other hand, I lacked experience of posting any content on Instagram.  Reflecting on the challenges I faced, I realised that it took me a lot of time to create a simple post. I had to do a little research on how to use instagram features properly. I watched a YouTube video “Social Media How To for Libraries” to grasp some ideas (Southeast Kansas Library System SEKLS, 2020). I also had to learn about hashtags and the way they are used, as well as the different types of Instagram post options. Such as boomerang, carousel, reels and stories. Looking back at that experience, I think I should have started using social media earlier to be aware of all the features and opportunities before I started working on the assessment, so it would take much less time and I could spend that time generating creative ideas for posts instead of studying the theory of manipulations to be made. Overall, I learned I need to work on my time management skills to make sure I stay on track dedicating each part of the assessment a necessary amount of time. Creating an Instagram page seemed easy for me, so I did not allocate sufficient time and ended up having less time for proofreading and checking references. In the future, I will be more proactive by starting my assessment tasks earlier. 

All in all, I found this subject relevant for my current job as a Primary Teacher Librarian. I followed Instagram accounts of other libraries to be informed about what is happening there and get some insights about library related events. I also discovered Pinterset as a great resource of ideas for library displays, games and activities. I used some ideas from Pinterest when organising our Book Week event. Such as the “Tournament of books”, which was a blast in terms of the student engagement.

Figure 1. The Tournament of Books

Personally, I enjoyed this subject and look forward to engaging with social networking more in the future. 

Resources:

Cole, L. (2016). BiblioTech as the re-imagined public library: Where will it find you? [Video file]. YouTube.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnYDl66YfQ0

Gruzd, A., Jacobson, J., Wellman, B., & Mai, P. H. (2017). Social media and society: Introduction to the special issue. American Behavioral Scientist, 61(7), 647-652. doi:10.1177/0002764217717567 

Juneström, A. (2019). Emerging practices for managing user misconduct in online news media comments sections. Journal of Documentation, 75(4), 694-708. doi:10.1108/JD-09-2018-0143

L., Mon. (2015).  Social media and library services. Springer International Publishing.

Southeast Kansas Library System SEKLS. (2020). Social media how to for libraries: Instagram [Video file]. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZwSH0jXST8