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 

Information profession has been transformed over the last twenty years following new trends with a drastic shift in the ways people receive and communicate information. It brought new insights together with some issues that information professionals try to overcome. One of such issues is misinformation in social media. 

What is misinformation 

Zeng and Babwah Brennen (2023) conducted a literature review looking at the definition of misinformations. Despite a variety of definitions, many scholars agree about its falsity and inaccuracy when defining misinformation as well as the lack of intention in spreading false information. This means that people who spread misinformation do not have an intent to impact someone’s views in a negative way or change someone else’s attitudes towards something. 

Research into misinformation attracted huge attention with the spread of Internet technologies and online communication. Omoregie and Ryall (2023) shared a concern that online content can be created and consumed in real time without much control since the web was originally intended to be an open platform. However, it is claimed that certain features of social media platforms facilitate misinformation (Zeng & Babwah Brennen, 2023). For example “like” and “share” features that create engagement and promote spreading of information further. This brings another concern about social media, such as its ability to affect behaviour of users and their attitudes by forming misleading beliefs, which might be harmful for their well being (Southwell et al., 2018). 

How people consume and share information online 

Discussing social media and misinformation, Alfred Hermida (2019) points out that when using social media, people pursue the purpose of expressing their identity and showing who they are. The majority of discussions made by people on social media are based on their self identity and what they care about. People share information to build good social connections by entertaining others. When they post something, they do not check whether the information is true or false, they think of what impression this information will make on other people. When identifying information as true or false, people rely largely on their lived experiences. Emotions and empathy are the other two components that contribute to the perception of information people encounter online. People will believe something that they can connect to in what they read and what they feel about it based on their own experience regardless of the evidence proving the information to be fake. Another thing that increases the spread of misinformation is that gossip, in general, is identified as a driver of social interactions (Anggraeni, 2019). Gossiping helps people create closer and more intimate connections as it creates a feeling of thrust between the participants. 

Del Vicario et al.(2016) investigated users’ behaviour online and models of spreading misinformation and concluded that users usually gather in communities  based on their interests which leads to confirmation bias and reinforcement of fake information.  

According to Griefender et al. (2020), people take it for granted that those who share information have a goal of informing others, thus they consider this information truthful and unbiased by default, so people believe everything they read online unless they have a clear reason to be suspicious. 

Impact of misinformation

According to a survey conducted by Statista (2024) in terms of the evolution of digital public spaces in the future, the majority of experts (70%) agreed that digital spaces are developing in ways that are positive and negative at the same time. On the positive side, we get more opportunities to collaborate with other people and learn new things, on the negative side there is misinformation in social media (Ahmadi, 2022). 

Looking at the impact of misinformation on various aspects of our lives, we can highlight such fields as politics, education and healthcare. One vivid example of such an impact was the “fake news crisis” of 2016, when the amount of fake news in Facebook was higher than truthful news regarding the elections of the US president of that year (Rogers, 2023). Looking at the examples from the healthcare sector, the topic with the heist range of misinformation posted online was Caronavirus in 2020 (Statista, 2024), which created a lot of stress and anxiety. 

Finally, in regards to education, the new information environment has changed the way people learn, while having access to endless streams of information and being able to interact with it in social media (Parker et al. 2023). 

Implications to Teacher Librarians through Social Media Information Literacy – 200

With the spread of digital information, teacher librarians focus a lot on information literacy and digital citizenship to make sure students know how to behave online, protect their personal information, search for valuable resources and cite them properly. Now, when we look at statistics on the most popular online activities (Statista, 2021), it becomes clear that using social media outweighs working or studying. Thus, teacher librarians should focus on developing social media literacy as well. In my opinion, the biggest problem is not the number of people who create misinformation at the first instance, but the number of users who repost and share misinformation without checking it. People need to develop skills to critically evaluate the information they face in social media. 

Shu et al. studied how the awareness of the three main features of fake news help people identify misinformation online. They also provided a list of abilities internet users need to obtain in order to become social media information literate: 

Figure 1. Definition of social media information literacy (Shu et al. 2020). 

Figure 1 shows interesting connections between the abilities and reinforces the need to evaluate and re-evaluate information. The researchers concluded that users who are able to differentiate news headlines with the text can also identify elements that are faked, including satirical elements.  

Future developments hold a lot of new possibilities as well as challenges, thus, information professionals need to constantly learn about new technologies to stay up to date and become the leaders of positive change. 

References: 

Ahmadi, E. (2022). Opportunities and threats analysis caused by social media. In M. Ebrahimi (Ed.), Information manipulation and its impact across all industries (pp. 46-64). IGI Global. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.4018/978-1-7998-8235-0.ch003 

Anggraeni, A. (2019). Factors Influencing gossiping behaviour in social chatting platforms. In I. Chiluwa & S. Samoilenko (Eds.), Handbook of research on deception, fake news, and misinformation online (pp. 33-44). IGI Global. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.4018/978-1-5225-8535-0.ch003

Definition of social media information literacy. Reprinted from Disinformation, misinformation, and fake news in social media: Emerging research challenges and opportunities (p. 217), by Shu, K., Wang, S., Lee, D., & Liu, H. (Eds.). 2020. Springer International Publishing. 

Del Vicario, M., Bessi, A., Zollo, F., Petroni, F., Scala, A., Caldarelli, G., Stanley, H. E., & Quattrociocchi, W. (2016). The spreading of misinformation online. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – PNAS, 113(3), 554–559. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1517441113 

Greifeneder, R., Jaffe, M., Newman, E., & Schwarz, N. (Eds.). (2020). The psychology of fake news: Accepting, sharing, and correcting misinformation (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.4324/9780429295379 

Hermida, A. (Academic). (2019). Alfred Hermida discusses social networks and misinformation [Video]. Sage Research Methods. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526492210

Omoregie, U., & Ryall, K. (2023). Misinformation matters : Online content and quality analysis (1st edition). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003308348

Parker, L., Liu, H., Smith, K. (2023). Pedagogical implications of the new information environment. In L. Parker (eds),  Education in the age of misinformation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Rogers, R. (2023). The propagation of misinformation in social media: A cross-platform analysis. Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.5117/9789463720762

Shu, K., Wang, S., Lee, D., & Liu, H. (Eds.). (2020). Disinformation, misinformation, and fake news in social media emerging research: Challenges and opportunities (1st ed.). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42699-6

Southwell, B. G., Thorson, E. A., & Sheble, L. (Eds.). (2018). Misinformation and mass audiences. University of Texas Press.

Statista. (2024). Industry leader opinion on the evolution of digital public spaces leading to a positive or negative future for society worldwide as of August 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1280076/global-future-use-of-digital-spaces-public-good/   

Statista. (2024).  Most popular online activities of adult internet users in the United States as of November 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/183910/internet-activities-of-us-users/ 

Statista. (2024). Share of recommended Instagram misinformation posts between September and November 2020, by content. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293258/instagram-recommended-misinformation-by-content/ 

Zeng, J., & Babwah Brennen, S. (2023). Misinformation. Internet Policy Review, 12(Issue 4). https://doi.org/10.14763/2023.4.1725

Rapid evolution of technology and digital resources brings a lot of opportunities as well as challenges for information professionals. Ayinde and Kirkwood, (2020), argue that the 4th Industrial Revolution will lead to the replacement of some professionals by machines. However, they state that certain skills involving high order cognitive abilities and social-emotional value cannot be replaced. 

Thinking of the essential skills that information professionals must possess in order to stay highly-demanded, I identified ICT skills, soft skills, teaching inquiry skills and social-emotional skills. 

ICT Skills

Nowadays vast amounts of information are produced daily, thus information professionals must be able to navigate digital resources. On top of that, information professionals must be aware of the emerging technologies that become popular among users (Zhang and Chen, 2023). ICT skills will enable librarians to provide high quality services. 

Since technology has become wide-spread at schools, ICT skills will be even more important for school librarians to help integrate new technologies into the learning process in a meaningful way (Bukhardt, 2022).

Teaching Inquiry Skills

Building on the growth of digital resources and free access to the information online, it becomes very important for information professionals to teach information literacy to users. Inquiry skills will enable library users to evaluate resources, choose reliable authors, and filter fake news and misinformation (Hutchinson, 2023). 

Soft Skills

The research conducted by Branch-Müller et al. (2023) among information professionals, identified key soft skills necessary for the information field. They argued that such skills as time management, collaboration, leadership and management skills, and understanding power structures will remain valued in the future. As many information companies are complex organizations, it is important for information professionals to know the culture of the organization they represent. 

Social-Emotional Skills

Despite the advancement of technology, library users still rely on information professionals to help them find necessary information. Communication is the key to building good relationships with users and colleagues. It is important to be an active listener and show empathy when communicating with clients. In this respect, information professionals should be able to read body language and assess their clients’ mood in order to provide high quality service. 

References:

Ayinde, L., & Kirkwood, H. (2020). Rethinking the roles and skills of information professionals in the 4th Industrial Revolution. Business Information Review, 37(4), 142-153. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1177/0266382120968057

Zhang, J., & Chen, J. (2023). Skill analysis of library and information science professionals. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 0(0). https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1177/09610006231207656

Burkhardt, J. M. (2022). Media smart : Lessons, tips and strategies for librarians, classroom instructors and other information professionals. Facet Publishing.

Hutchinson, E. (2023). The Opportunities that AI Presents for School Librarians. The School Librarian, 71(3), 26. https://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/opportunities-that-ai-presents-school-librarians/docview/2868448995/se-2

Branch-Müller, J., Stang, C. A., & Rathi, D. (2023). “I needed to learn this in my first year as a faculty member”: Soft Skills for School Library Faculty Members. School Libraries Worldwide, 28(1), 18-33. https://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/i-needed-learn-this-my-first-year-as-faculty/docview/2826427519/se-2