Social Media

The readings and discussions this week have helped me to really think about the role of social media in my professional life and its role in business and education.

As a course developer and trainer in technology, I have evolved to using these tools as teaching devices - the back end coding of wikis, blogs, guest books, etc., as well as use them as intended – to communicate and collaborate with co-workers.

When I first experienced Twitter, and tracked an engineering colleague, I read entries like – “having a cup of coffee now”, “going to the supermarket”, and I thought – what a ridiculous, narcissistic tool. Then, last year, I watched a coaching friend of mine hold a 24-hour global marathon session on her Dream – Obstacle technique, and both watched and participated for hours as we helped people from numerous countries pursue their dreams. This kind of instant collaboration could only have happened with a tool like Twitter, and it was a great example of the power of this media.

Within the field of education, I see constant references to new media tools in the lectures, books, and articles that fill the pages of ASTD, Training magazine, Chief Learning Officer, etc. These are the "hot new thing" to use. But, as much as I love playing and adopting technology, I find history should teach us that adoption goes through 3 phases (just as when one adjusts to living in a new culture):

first, the "honeymoon" phase, when everything about it is wonderful and new; next, the "disappointment" phase, when all the flaws are exposed; and finally, the "adjustment" phase when homeostasis is reached - what is good is appreciated, what is bad is accepted. So, I see my industry in the honeymoon phase, and it will be interesting to track how it moves through this cycle.

I think it is important to realize that new tools emerge to fit a need, perceived or real, and when we start to extend their utility to fit other needs, we need to think critically about whether this is a good idea. As I said in an earlier blog, just because you can doesn't mean you should. Wikis definitely have their role in communication and sharing/planning, but they do not share the same functionality as a RoboHelp or Documentum, and I think what you will find is that enamored folks who "twist" them to make them work in ways far from their original purpose (phase 1), will get discouraged when they don’t meet the need as over-anticipated (phase 2), and finally utilize wikis as appropriate.

I don’t mean to sound negative, as I fully embrace these tools for what needs they meet now, and the promise of what they can fulfill in the future. I just wish people took the time to think first, act later – as with classic research design, you need to think about the problem, formulate theories (or potential uses in this case), work out the methodology, and only then move forward with the actual experiment. When many industries adopt technology, the go in almost the opposite direction.Well, that’s my reflection for the week.


I really enjoyed the readings this week. The Common Craft videos were really well done – I loved the clear, simple descriptions of the technologies presented in a kind of “Sham Wow” approach.

Richardson provided a body of good information and thinking points. As I worked in Hawaii as both a High School teacher and a consultant for fostering adoption of technology by teachers, many of his points rang true. I experienced the variety of emotions teachers exhibited – the fear and the excitement – as we examined how to adopt and adapt software and hardware into their daily tasks.

He has a rather dark view of the ability of K-12 education to adapt to the emerging technologies, as it will require a paradigm shift in how we look at education. Having worked with teachers, I am not as negative. I think that there is a generation or two within the current system who are unwilling and unable to make the leap (I worked with folks who used the same lesson plans year after year), but I think with the proper guidance, they rest will embrace a new approach. The issue as I see it, and perhaps this was what he meant, is that the heads of these K-12 schools, and school districts, are part of the “older” generation and so it will take visionaries to move in for K-12 to make the required leap.

Richardson states that “educators will need to co-learn with their students – enable them to learn according to their passions”. I agree with the sentiment, but would tweak this a little:

The body of knowledge available today is so vast that it pushes us beyond the books we can obtain through a library – teachers need to become guides in how people acquire and use their knowledge, and critical thinking will play a key role here.

Millenial Makeover provided valuable statistics and insight into this generation, and confirms what I have personally observed of some of its members – a dedication to advancing their community, volunteerism, politics, global awareness.

Finally, Shirky’s lecture was really thought-provoking.


Clearly, we are witnessing a significant revolution in communication – according to him, the fifth phase.

His concept that 2-way communication tools don’t actually create groups, and vice-versa, is a provocative, insightful, and important idea.

The Internet is clearly natively good at creating groups, but his insight that “freedom of speech, press, and assembly” are all the same freedom on the Internet was an “a-ha” moment for me.

I loved the bit about the “myth of man-months” and how adding resources, if done late, could actually be counterproductive, because of the required communication channels. It is so interesting to think about project management as being a function of the ability to communicate versus resource management. This is more of an “hmm” – have to think about it – moment.

He states, “When the technology becomes boring, the social aspects become interesting”. Again, a thinking point. I can see his point, using WebEx as an example I am well familiar with. At first, the technology of remote desktop sharing was so new that just using the tool provoked the fireworks response. Once the technology became familiar, then its uses became the focus.

“May you live in interesting times” 
is not always a curse.

As a post-note, I have now subscribed to 8 sites on the Web 2.0 site, and plan to visit it often, as RL allows…