The INF506 Social Networking For Information Professionals course has helped me develop my skills and knowledge as a social networker not only professionally but personally. My friends and family would laugh at the thought of me calling myself a social networker, as I have hardly embraced or participated in online platforms in the past, besides through necessity. Through this course I have come to appreciate the importance of digital connections and engaging on social media platforms. This blog post will demonstrate my growth and ability to engage with my peers by highlighting some of the topics explored during my study of the INF506 Social Networking For Information Professionals course.
From the beginning I came face to face with the complex web of social networking in the Information and society module. I explored the information landscape, web 2.0 technologies, including social media and its impact on organisations, users experiences and societal interactions. Did you know that as of October 2023, over 65% of the world’s population were internet users (Statista, 2023)? Also, according to the We Are Social report findings for Australia (Kemp, 2021):
- 89% of the Australian population are internet users.
- 9% of the population are active social media users.
- 6% of 16- to 64-year-olds own mobile devices.
With statistics such as these, I understand why one of my fellow peers, Cassidy, described technology as the backbone of modern society in her blog post. It was here when I began to realise the complex relationship between society and technology as evident in my comment.
As I continued to work through the content, I explored Social media In Your Organisation, where I learnt about the Library 2.0 movement which emerged in 2005, due to the evolving information landscape. It brought to light the core principles including collaboration, conversation and content creation and the shift to a culture of individuals participating more in information organisations (Truong, 2023a). It was here when I explored the essential knowledge, skills and attributes of an information professional in the digital era, as evident in my OLJ task 8 blog post and was pleased to see several of my peers agreed with my response.
Next on the agenda, was Social Media Tools and Platforms where I explored social networking sites including, blogs and micro blogs, wiki based sites, social news sites, community media sites and virtual and augmented reality (Truong, 2023b). I was able to apply my knowledge and confidently create a mock Instagram page, something I had never achieved previously, and created a social media proposal. I found this task beneficial as I learnt skills I could apply to real life situation both personally and professionally.
I explored the Role of Social Media focusing on the areas of concern, including privacy, ethical issues and digital identity. In my OLJ task 15 blog post I emphasised the complexity of managing personal identities online, discussing the balancing act between privacy and sharing (Adjei et al., 2020), the impact of social media on professional identity, and the need for vigilance in protecting personal data. This led me to acknowledge the challenges including the evolving interactions in the digital landscape, promoting transparency, education, and awareness, especially concerning cybersecurity (Feher, 2019). I extended my understandings as evident on Wendy McDonald’s blog on online identity, as I commented on the issue of associating with people that you trust as it is not always possible to know who you are communicating with. This discussion led me to greater understandings on the importance of social media policies in reducing the possibility of issues arising.
Not only is it vital to understand that social media policies assist in minimising the risk of issues arising, but it is also imperative to ensure information organisations have a thorough policy in place. My blog post for OLJ Task 16 demonstrates my understandings of the importance of developing a comprehensive social media policy for information organisations. It addresses a number of key points including:
- Clear communication of social media objectives.
- Proactive adherence to policy guidelines and risk management.
- Awareness of platform-specific protocols.
- Addressing privacy and security concerns.
- Ensuring employee responsibility in moderating content to align with organisational values and conduct.
Since writing the blog post I have completed further research and have found some critical details that should be included in a social media policy. One of these details is to include a clear outline of who is responsible for the social media strategy (Hursh, 2021). It is important for information organisations to have a social media strategy to effectively engage with their audience, grow followers and create meaningful content (Roach et al., 2021 and Clampitt, 2018).
The last section of this journey encouraged us to question ‘what comes next?’. Blog posts, such as Mariana’s, encouraged me to explore and the future of the technological landscape and the impact this may have on the information profession, such as the pros and cons of virtual and augmented realities. As per my comment on Mariana’s blog post, one of the cons that comes with new technology is the cost involved and the difficulty libraries have with managing budgets and acquiring the tools required for this. Virtual and augmented realities is just the tip of the iceberg for what is to come, so how do we ensure we stay on top of what comes next? It is important to stay up to date with latest trends and never stop learning in this ever-evolving information landscape (King, 2018).
I have always been a person who would prefer to communicate verbally rather than via text or social media, both personally and professionally, but after completing the course this has changed. I see the benefit of communicating through social media as it allows for flexibility and provides a platform where like-minded people can share thoughts and ideas. It is a powerful platform that allows for instant and widespread communication and it allows information to be shared to diverse audiences.
References
Adjei, J. K., Adams, S., Mensah, I. K., Tobbin, P. E., & Odei-Appiah, S. (2020). Digital identity management on social media: Exploring the factors that influence personal information disclosure on social media. Sustainability, 12(23), 9994. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/9994
Clampitt, P. G. (2018). Social media strategy : tools for professionals and organizations. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Feher, K. (2019). Digital identity and the online self: Footprint strategies – An exploratory and comparative research study. Journal of Information Science, 47(2), 192-205. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551519879702
Hursh, A. (2021, February, 8). How To Create a Library Social Media Policy for Your Staff and Your Community That Encourages Interaction and Keeps Everyone Safe. Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion. https://superlibrarymarketing.com/2021/02/08/socialmediapolicy/
Kemp, S. (2021, January 27). Digital 2021 global overview report. We Are Social. https://wearesocial.com/uk/blog/2021/01/digital-2021-uk/
King, D. L. (2018). Futureproofing Your Library: Stay on track with tech. American Libraries, 49(5), 55.
Roach, A., Rahe, M., & Reijmer, N. (2021). Harnessing social media to build your business. https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g6229
Statista (2023). Number of internet and social media users worldwide as of October 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/
Truong, V. (2023a). Module 3- Social Media in your organisation [Lecture notes]. INF506, Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_68716_1&content_id=_6156668_1&mode=reset
Truong, V. (2023b). Module 4 – Social Media tools and platforms [Lecture notes]. INF506, https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_68716_1&content_id=_6156669_1&mode=reset
Social Media & Cultural Diversity In Information Organisations
This blog post brings to light the complex nature of cultural diversity in the realm of social media in an organisational setting. Join me as I explore the benefits and pitfall of this complex web and offer suggestions of how to successfully navigate this dynamic landscape.
We learn cultural messages through social learning. This process, known as “cultural learning,” involves the social learning capacities that enable cumulative cultural evolution (Zhong, 2022). To understand how we adapt to technology, like social media, we need to explore the cultural learning process that influences our usage and behaviour (Zhong, 2022). Cultural learning allows individuals to quickly adapt to cultural settings within technological domains (Zhong, 2022). Relying on cultural learning helps people adjust more swiftly to evolving technological contexts than if they were solely relying on their individual learning experiences and existing knowledge. This concept would be highly beneficial when using social media in an information organisation when your target audience comes from diverse cultural backgrounds. For example, using technology and social media effectively helps individuals enhance their awareness and understanding of multicultural citizenship education (Kumi-Yeboah & Smith, 2016).
According to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2009), electronic resources and multilingual/multicultural access are crucial in the digital age, allowing multicultural communities to engage with their own languages and access diverse content, fostering cultural preservation and exchange. Libraries, embracing Web 2.0 technologies, enable users to create and share content, participate in social networking, and utilise tools like blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking to tailor information to specific cultural needs. IFLA (2009) list other online communication tools, such as SMS and VoIP, to enhance interactions making information accessible and comprehensible for linguistically diverse communities, ultimately promoting cultural diversity and inclusivity in the digital realm. The tools listed above are quite old in the world of the information landscape and today we have countless resources to further enhance cultural diversity and inclusivity. Social media is a great example of this, with platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. All these platforms allow for sharing of diverse cultural content in innovative ways. NSW Department of Education (2022) agrees with IFLA’s beliefs that social media allows users to learn about themselves and diverse groups of people. This is important for people to feel a sense of belonging and develop an appreciation for different perspectives.
Unfortunately, with the good also comes the bad. There is a dark side to social media and cultural diversity. Social media is a platform where hate speech and negativity can be a common occurrence. Kennedy’s (2020) study on the negative impact of social media on indigenous people highlighted some disturbing facts including:
- 80% of participants witnessed hate speech at least once a week.
- Digital media, including social media, is seen as a new platform for the exercise of colonial violence, contributing to intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities.
- Negative content that poses the most significant concerns from an Indigenous perspective includes direct threats of violence, racism, white supremacy, and challenges to Indigenous identity.
- Negativity on social media is reported as a daily occurrence for most participants, indicating a pervasive issue.
These finding are alarming and information organisations must be aware of the potential risks of such negative behaviour occurring on their social media platforms. Luckily, there are a number of strategies information organisations can follow to minimise the risk of such adverse behaviours occurring on their social media platforms. There are a number of guides available for information organisations to follow to avoid such catastrophes. Here are a few of the main steps organisations can take according to Hursh (2021):
- Create a social media policy for staff:
- Emphasise transparency and personal responsibility in online identity and opinions
- Specifies authorised staff for official library accounts and outlines account management procedures.
- Designates responsibility for social media strategy development and implementation.
- Prohibits inappropriate content and safeguards patron privacy.
- Defines moderation roles, scenarios for customer service responses, and criteria for post/comment removal.
2. Create a social media policy for your community:
- Library welcomes participation on all social media platforms.
- Users are encouraged to keep postings and comments appropriate for all audiences.
- Library reserves the right to remove inappropriate content. Inappropriate content includes obscene material, hate speech, personal attacks, threats, private information, potentially defamatory statements, plagiarised material, and unrelated commercial, political, or religious messages.
- Library reserves the right to ban or block users violating the policy.
- The library is not responsible for content posted by others on its social media platforms.
We must be aware of the different ways individual cultures communicate and interact with social media platforms. Different cultures have diverse cultural norms that impact communication styles. Libraries must recognise these differences in order to develop an effective communication strategy in the social media space (Mon, 2015). A study by Sheldon et al. (2017) demonstrated different behaviours of students from two separate cultural groups, Croatian and American, when using Instagram. Although motivation for using Instagram did not vary between the two cultural groups the way they used the platform did. Croatian students lean towards collective behaviour on Instagram, emphasising social interaction. In contrast, American students tend to focus on individualistic trends, prioritising self-promotion and documentation. Young & Rossmann (2017) asked a great question, “who is your community?” Young & Rossmann (2017) believe that it is much easier to communicate with someone you know rather than a stranger. This can be related to interactions with diverse cultures on social media as it is important to know how different cultures communicate and their motivations for specific behaviours on social media sites. Once you know the behavioural differences between cultures you can target dialogue that appeals to specific groups of people.
I have covered a number of areas including the benefits and pitfalls of cultural diversity in social media including its ability to bring communities together or tear them apart. It is important to remember information organisations have the power to safeguard against the negative aspects by creating thorough social media policies to reduce the risk of unsavoury outcomes. Information professionals have the power to pave the way for a more inclusive and respectful digital community.
References
Hursh, A. (2021, February 8). How To Create a Library Social Media Policy for Your Staff and Your Community That Encourages Interaction and Keeps Everyone Safe. Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion. https://superlibrarymarketing.com/2021/02/08/socialmediapolicy/
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2009). Multicultural Communities: Guidelines for Library Services 3rd ed, 2009. https://repository.ifla.org/bitstream/123456789/462/1/multicultural-communities-en.pdf
Kennedy, T. (2020, November). Indigenous Peoples’ Experiences of Harmful Content on Social Media. Macquarie University. https://research-management.mq.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/135775224/MQU_HarmfulContentonSocialMedia_report_201202.pdf
Kumi-Yeboah, A., & Smith, P. (2016). Critical Multicultural Citizenship Education among Black Immigrant Youth: Factors and Challenges. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 18(1), 158–182. https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v18i1.1079
Mon, L. (2015). Social Media and Library Services (1st ed.). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-02292-0
NSW Department of Education (2022). What are the benefits of social media? Digital Citizenship. https://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/articles/what-are-the-benefits-of-social-media
Sheldon, P., Rauschnabel, P. A., Antony, M. G., & Car, S. (2017). A cross-cultural comparison of Croatian and American social network sites: Exploring cultural differences in motives for Instagram use. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, 643–651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.06.009
Young, S. W. H., & Rossmann, D. (Eds.). (2017). Using social media to build library communities : a LITA guide. Rowman & Littlefield.
Zhong, B. (2022). Social media communication: trends and theories. John Wiley & Sons, Inc
