Huge Tide
This was a tremendous experience for me as a student seeking to become an information professional. I came into the subject with little knowledge of Social Media and information professionals, and soon discovered the audience for social media is huge, with 1.79 billion active monthly Facebook users globally, 1.66 being mobile users (Ng & Zimmerman, 2017, para. 35). Furthermore, there were over 2.7 million blog posts published daily, 300 million tweets and 5 billion hours of YouTube watched by users each month in 2016 (Ng & Zimmerman, 2017, para. 4). These figures are astonishing. It makes sense, then, as an information professional, to take advantage of this, and utilise everything we have learnt in this subject to connect better with future audiences.
The Modules: their effect on my study, personal life and me as an IP
So, what did I learn, and what impact did it have on my study habits, personal life, and development as an information professional? We started with an introduction to informational professionals and social media, learning about social networks, social networking sites, social software and social computing (Liu, 2018, Module 1). We also discovered popular social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram (Liu, 2018, Module 1).
This introduction helped me feel comfortable about the course. It also gave me a chance to try social media in real life, and think about how I might implement them as a professional.
Secondly, we studied the history of social media, as well as the influence of technology on our society. Here, concepts including technological influence, the social life of information and clients experiences were covered (Liu, 2018, Module 2). These topics gave me more awareness of both where we have been technologically, and where we are going. This knowledge will shape my practice as an information professional, as it will allow me to predict trends, and prepare for more technological advancements with social media (SM).
In module 3, we discussed how to make this new technological world of social media work in our library, and its purpose (Liu, 2018, Module 3). This allowed me to think critically about why I would spend time to use, learn about, and engage with SM. It alerted me of the benefits of SM as a human, friend, family member and professional. The module also discussed the impact of mobile technologies on information professionals, and how to utilise this to draw more customers.
Module 4 broke down some key concepts of social media, such as its trajectory, and features such as blogs and microblogs (Liu, 2018, Module 4). As an information professional, it is vital I know the benefits of each main social media channel, and to use them efficiently to build the library. Not only that, but knowledge in this area will also help my personal life and passions. In fact, I have already started a Youtube Channel for my writing career, and a blog.
Module 5 introduced me to the interesting concepts of privacy, inclusiveness and diversity and ethics (Liu, 2018, Module 5). Who would have thought these would have played a role in SM? It was imperative I learnt about these areas, for I would hate if I got my organisation, or even myself in trouble for breaking privacy regulations regarding personal content, or excluding by not giving equal access, or not accomodating for various users.
Finally, Module 6 looked at the future of social media and information professionals (Liu, 2018, Module 6). This made me excited to be an information professional in this day and age. What a world we live in, where we can tweet new books to our community, or look forward to a day when AI will assist, or even co-exist with us librarians. I learnt that human traits such as emotions, ethics, intuition and creativity will be vital for me as a professional, in my studies, and in my personal life (Liu, 2018, Module 6).
One of the benefits of the subject was the way we got to interact on Facebook and on other blogs. I contributed to many Facebook discussions, giving information and thoughts on areas such as managing my online identity, which was vital to achieving success personally and professionally, especially regarding reputation. I contributed thoughts on VR and AR technologies, and how they will influence the future for us at work and at home. Live events were discussed, and I contributed how I thought these were beneficial and exciting. Finally, I contributed thoughts on librarian blogs, how to build trust with SM channels, favourite professional development tools, Instagram for children and the client experience (O’Connor, 2021).
Completing these activities was fun and engaging because it took commenting in a traditional forum and spruced it up with the gadgets and colourful SM icons. We could more easily see others’ responses, and, as most of us use Facebook already, we were efficient at responding, liking, etc. It showed me how valuable Facebook is as a tool to be used as a professional, and even personally.
A Blog for You, a Blog for Me
Finally, commenting on other blogs was useful for my professional development, as it gave me ideas on my peers’ thoughts. Collegial collaboration is fundamental to an organisation’s success. In Tess’s blog (Schembri, 2021, para.1-3), I commented on her desire to use SM as a professional, and how SM such as Instagram would assist her professionally and personally. In Archana’s blog, I commented that the future of Web 4.0 was exciting and that I was optimistic we would always need human resources to function robotics, thus our jobs were safe. However, the blog post did make me contemplate where I would be professionally in the future, and if I were skilled enough to handle changes. I also wondered if I needed to make changes to my personal life to accommodate these happenings (Datt, 2021, para. 1-2). Finally, I commented on Caitlin’s blog (Queripel, 2021, para. 1-3), and discussed privacy issues of blogs and social media, as well as how to create a trusting brand on social media. Who would have thought trust was such a big issue? How do I build more trust in my personal endeavours online? Creating personable branding was one answer I got from this post. How can this inform my professional life? Perhaps by creating library logos and designs that reach audiences on an emotional level.
Final Thoughts
This subject has increased my knowledge of an area I knew little about prior to commencement. It has inspired me to start blogs and a Youtube channel, to comment on web pages and advertise via SM. It has given me ideas on how to promote a library and also helped me engaged with fellow peers via Facebook and Instagram and get to know a little about my peers.
References
Datt, A. [Archdatt] (2021, May 22). Module 6: OLJ Task 18: Thoughts for the future. Archana’s Reflective Blog. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/archanareflections/2021/05/22/module-6-olj-task-18-thoughts-for-the-future/comment-page-1/?unapproved=11&moderation-hash=5a5efa67ba3bab068d071a9b300e23ae#comment-11
Heggde, G. &. Shainesh, G. (2018). Social media marketing emerging concepts and applications. Palgrave Macmillan
INF506 202130 [Sean O’Connor] (2021, May 24). Facebook Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107816619683997
Liu, Y.H., O’Connell, J., & Wallis, J. (2018). Information and society [Module 2]. INF506, Interact2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_54940_1&content_id=_4192559_1&mode=reset
Liu, Y.H., O’Connell, J., & Wallis, J. (2018). Introduction to the subject [Module 1]. INF506, Interact2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_54940_1&content_id=_4192558_1&mode=reset
Liu, Y.H., O’Connell, J., & Wallis, J. (2018). On to the future, [Module 6]. INF506, Interact2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_54940_1&content_id=_4192563_1&mode=reset
Liu, Y.H., O’Connell, J., & Wallis, J. (2018). Social media in your organisation [Module 3]. INF506, Interact2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_54940_1&content_id=_4192561_1&mode=reset
Liu, Y.H., O’Connell, J., & Wallis, J. (2018). Social media tools and platforms [Module 4]. INF506. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_54940_1&content_id=_4192560_1&mode=reset
Liu, Y.H., O’Connell, J., & Wallis, J. (2018). The role of social media policies [Module 5]. INF506, Interact2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_54940_1&content_id=_4192562_1&mode=reset
Ng, D., & Zimmerman, J. (2017). Social media marketing all-in-one. John Wiley & Sons.
O’Connor, S. (2021). INF506 202130. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1107816619683997
Queripel, C. [caitlin.queripel1] (2021, April 26). OLJ Task 15: Managing your digital identity. Caitlin’s INF506 OLJ. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/oljcaitlinqueripel/2021/04/26/olj-task-15-managing-your-digital-identity/comment-page-1/?unapproved=4&moderation-hash=6c260e709cf4360c420793e275822a73#comment-4
Schembri, T. [Tess.Schembri] (2021, May 21). Reflection – INF506 OLJ. Another Budding Bookworm: The Reflective Journal of a Librarian Student. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/tess15/2021/05/21/reflection-inf506-olj/
