Thing 12 provides an opportunity to reflect on social media. As I never really had an online presence before taking part in cpd23 I thought this would be a good opportunity to access how things are going so far.
The positives
Meeting people - there's a LISNPN meet up planned for later in August which will give me a chance to meet people who I wouldn't have come across if it weren't for LISNPN. My intro post on LISNPN also lead someone who works in the same sector as me to get in contact.
More in the loop - thanks to Twitter I now feel I have a better understanding of what's going on elsewhere in the library profession. LinkedIn has also alerted me to some useful resources. I've spent time this week adding more blogs to my Blogger reading list which has proved to be time well spent.
Blogging - whilst my posts aren't really of interest to others, thanks to cpd23 I am getting into the habit of posting regularly which will help when I get going with Chartership.
The negatives
I feel like a stalker - especially with Twitter. Whilst I'm finding some of the conversations interesting I don't feel I've much to add and I'm fed up of eves dropping. I'm slowing coming to the realisation that I just haven't found the right people to follow. Next week's task will therefore be to find some new Tweeters to get into conversation with.
Time - I noted in one of my earlier posts that you only get out what you put in, to build your online reputation you need to tweet, respond and comment. At the moment I'm struggling to find time to do this effectively. I'm wondering whether the solution is to take a more structured approach to when I check into different sites?
Will I continue using social networking sites?
Definitely. Working in a commercial library in the South West makes it more challenging to network face-to-face. Whilst I don't feel what I'm currently doing constitutes online networking I can already see the benefits. It doesn't replace face-to-face networking but is helpful.
Does social media foster a sense of community?
This was the final question thing 12 posed. I think it's a bit early for me to answer this with any authority. I can see that the prolific tweeters of the library world have a strong online network which is both encouraging and a bit daunting for a newbie. Whether I'll ever find the time to truly feel I belong to this particular community I'm not sure.
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