How have your views on social networking changed, and why?
The study of INF206 social networking for information professions has changed my perspective on social media and its use in the library information profession role. I had a sceptic lens when approaching the subject, as I have yet to have a pleasant experience with social media myself and limit my usage where possible. This is evident from the OLJs I have written. It was not until working through them all and reading the literature and blogs from another student who works in the library profession that I realised the positive benefits of social media and the remediations to overcome the associated concerns and issues. These positives highlight the benefits of incorporating new technologies that libraries are experimenting with, such as virtual reality, drones, and robots, which have been exciting and eye-openers for new initiatives. Social media has undoubtedly evolved and continues to do so; no one knew its true potential and how it has become so intertwined with our lives and work. It is still changing; while technology advances, it affects society’s social and economic dynamics and introduces emerging concerns and issues, highlighting the skills the profession needs to use to remediate.
Researching and writing my OLJ 6 demonstrated that the pandemic has only accelerated the production of information and increased our dependency on social networking tools to engage and interact in a 24/7 economy, which has introduced new services to the libraries and reached out to those whom the traditional library service model once disadvantaged (Skatssoon, 2020). It has made us reflect on those non-technical aspects of what we deliver to a community as an information professional. It highlighted that knowledge emerged from our interactions and engagements with one another, and librarians were the social actors that facilitated the construction of discussions and new ideas, from their home delivery service visits and maker spaces to community book club meetings.
Other students have written and circulated exciting articles and blogs that have brought up concerns, benefits, and different points of view that were not part of my thinking process at the time of writing. Some were later in the course and have given me more exposure to the librarian profession, as I was unfamiliar with that sector initially and probably throughout the session. I can understand how the tool has changed how we source information, plays a vital role in our decision-making, and can be an essential tool for the library sector and government sector, in general, to promote their services. In saying that, the concerns and issues highlight the movement that has significantly impacted the professions’ role and created new meaning in the context of being educators for people to navigate this new landscape of information.
Which tools and platforms have you engaged with over the session, and their relevance to you as an information professional?
During the session, I engaged with the social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Discourse, and Twitter during this session. I increased my engagement with my LinkedIn account and found it particularly relevant towards professional development, following blogs from industry professionals and RIMPA.
I want to explore the LinkedIn page further, understanding how I can curate a professional profile, but also, more frequently, use the tool as an engagement to become more aware of industry trends and connect with those who are progressive in the industry. Another tool within LinkedIn I would like to explore and allocate time between work and study is LinkedIn e-learning.
I just realised the range of platforms they use in the library sphere, such as YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and Flickr. I started following my local libraries on Facebook to obtain an understanding of the content circulated. Interestingly, libraries are using it to showcase historical archives and offer AUSLAN videos to children with disabilities, as I discovered in my research for assessment one.
I have actively participated in the dedicated Facebook page created throughout the subject session. I enjoyed exploring the social media pages of the example libraries to understand the content they produced and how it related to the community’s interests.
Your understanding of issues in the online social environment.
Some interesting topics and questions have been brought up on the Facebook page, highlighting the issues of misinformation, data privacy, and the psychological impact of social media. The first OLJs, 1 and 2, demonstrated how we can be so influential with information on social media. What is particularly fascinating is how these social networking sites, such as Twitter (X), Facebook, eCommerce sites, and Amazon sites, are ever-changing the discourse of social norms and values within society. For example, Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter to enable the right to free speech sparked a debate on the censorship of information. The challenge of censorship is tension between the regulation of the content and what can be published based on “morals” values and the trends towards censorship (Griffiths, 2002) – it’s a dynamic shifting concept. The pandemic and US political elections are prime examples of the viral “fake news” that spiralled and impacted individual and societal views. Misinformation can be circulated purposefully or unknowingly to pursue and influence the opinions of others and can pose a detrimental risk to individual health and societal well-being. One benefit of the pandemic is that it accelerated the adoption of technology, which has created a connective world with niche virtual communities but exacerbated the situation of misinformation as social media became the source of truth for many. In saying that, we create a cognitive bias and are likely to doubt or verify information. If we are experiencing repeated exposure to false information, we may start to believe it’s true. At one of the INF209 sessions, Vi described that people might fall into a futile bubble of misinformation exposure, changing their views and opinions of a particular matter. I can see why our beliefs and perceptions of the world are what information we take in. And it’s so quickly done when social media tools use algorithms to dictate what is circulated on your channel feed, which may be set to the sites you have visited or the content your friends and family are circulating. I think it is essential for individuals and organisations to learn to be critical of what they are exposed to and start questioning the content to determine whether to accept it, as it can contribute negatively to our mental health and play a significant role in the actions we take within society.
Another issue is that our social media usage has increased, and we tend to exchange information online with others or organisations to obtain something in return. Working in the information and records industry for some time, data privacy and GDPR have always been an ever-ending discussion. I enjoyed writing my OLJ 5, “Managing your digital identity”, particularly the content available in the resources. The curation of how we project information can shape our digital identity and reputation. It is probably because I think twice when posting now; before the publish button, you tend to think of the ramifications that a message can send. The content materials were very valuable, and I thought the Tactical Tech’s Me and My Shadow project was a great website to portray the message and offered third-party links to useful information, especially to those who fall into the digital divide group.
The process of constructing and contributing to your OLJ and engaging with the other class blog.
I have never blogged or kept a journal, so writing an online blog was new and challenging. It has been confronting to gain the confidence to circulate blogs weekly to a virtual community and not knowing who has read them but recognise those who have acknowledged the blog through leaving comments or an emoji reaction. I wrote and broadcast my blog weekly to ensure my interactions were consistent throughout the entire subject. This allowed me to stimulate discussions earlier in the session so the other students could respond and provide feedback or ideas to reconfirm the concepts and theories and address the learning gaps from my initial thought process. I have gone back and rewritten a few, not changing the concepts. I have not done any reflective writing before. I did not realise how informal I needed to write or give a deep insight into my feelings and thoughts, which are difficult to reveal. I feel that I was limited, as I do not work in the library profession but in information and archives. In saying that, I searched the Internet. I used the CSU library to find additional and related articles and read other students’ blogs to broaden my understanding within the library sector. I recognise the regular members who actively engaged with the content by liking and providing commentary. In some cases, those who liked or loved were an acknowledgement that they read my blog post. There was a selection of OLJ tasks in the modules, so I chose articles not commonly chosen by others to broaden my learning.
The experience of conducting research and completing assessment one and how that task contributed to your understanding of working in a social environment.
The experience of conducting research and completing Assessment 1 was interesting, and I discovered how libraries use social media as a platform for education and awareness to their users. I have never developed a social media proposal, so understanding where to start and how to approach it was a difficult challenge. I started with the library’s purpose for its community and described how a user would engage in the library’s social media page. This led me to discover the use and gratification theory to underpin that reasoning and relate it to the platforms used by the two examples of rural, regional libraries. What was highlighted in the report is that the power dynamics of communication and engagement have changed. Rather than top-down communication, non-profit organisations’ content creation is geared towards the users’ interests and is predictive based on their gratifications and uses for that content. The challenge I would assume for the information profession would be that due to the rapidly changing environment, social media is based on interactions and circulating information relevant to the user and current events. Planning and creating content on social media platforms takes time and continuous effort to retain consistent interaction on the page. What I found interesting were the regional libraries that I chose as my examples to learn the creative engagement content strategies used. In particular, how they are utilising the different social media platforms as an alternative method of engagement and education to the communities.
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References:
Griffith, G. (2002, March). Censorship in Australia: Regulating the Internet and other recent developments. Parliament of New South Wales. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Pages/censorship-in-australia-regulating-the-internet-.aspx
Skatssoon, J. (2023, March). Council to operate 24/7 library. Government News. https://www.governmentnews.com.au/council-to-operate-24-7-library/