Oops. Looks like I jumped the gun on discussing LinkedIn on the last Thing. So HERE we are with professional networking. Different from social networking. I was actually trying to address the separation of personal and professional in the last Thing, and I ended up conflating discussion into one entry. I find this often happens in the world of online networking anyway, however, so we will let this one slide. Some overlap is inherent and inevitable, especially if a user is extremely active through both (or multiple) networks.
I am excited about this task, because, as I mentioned in Thing 6, I was actively working on my LinkedIn profile already. I just sent out an inquiry to someone who once offered to review resumes. While my employment status is currently active, I have had many changes in the past year-- pursuit of a Master's, internships, volunteer work, contractual employment in a historical society, additional professional memberships, etc., etc. In order to make a complete profile, I have been recently engaged in updating my resume as well-- a tall task in itself. This Thing, LinkedIn, is one to be carefully crafted and thoughtfully tended. Especially for those of us transitioning, or soon to be in transition, professional networking is an absolute must.
I have kicked off the account, but also have taken a lot of extra time crafting. The picture, surprisingly, was a bit of a project. I ended up taking one with my laptop at home and uploading it. In unrelated news, LinkedIn has an import option, which extracts data from an uploaded resume. I tried this also, but found that I really had to do more tweaking than it was worth to just hand-type. You know, formatting woes across platforms, always and forever.
LinkedIn wonderfully provides a venue for professional connectivity. However, as I am sure is the case with most everyone else as well, my friends started seeking me out for connections as soon as I created a profile. This melding of the personal and the professional leads to an interesting question: where do we draw that line? In an expose (accent on the "e"), of immaculate timing, there is, currently, a conversation going on through the ALA LinkedIn group on this exact topic. It's called, not shockingly, Personal/Professional Networking; is there a line between?, and it was started by user "Leif". You have to be a member to view it I believe, but why not join. We're all in the libraryish field, are we not? The group is open to join as long as you are able to state your purpose to the admin.
Most responses on this chain agree that accounts should be kept separate. It can be a challenge, though, especially when one ends up creating 14 accounts so that he or she can enjoy the connectivity of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, SlideShare, and others, for both personal and professional networking. I was recently invited by a colleague to join "Google Plus" too, and to be perfectly honest, I have not even looked at what it is yet. I suppose I have to decide the nature of these accounts first, no? It seems overwhelming though, and it's definitely a bit of a philosophical battle as well-- be left behind, or be overwhelmed? Invisibility is death for a business, or library, or an archives, and perhaps it is so for a person as well (socially and professionally?). But, then, of course, time and resources must necessarily be expended to maintain all of the information sharing. I, for one, am going to take a deep breath and continue the expedition. If anyone has any Information Overload repellent packed in his Blog, do share.
Happy hunting, archivists!
Showing posts with label LinkedIn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LinkedIn. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Thing 6: Social Networking
Social Networking: the explosive communication forum.
I made some comments in the Thing 2 entry about Facebook still having a strong tendency toward the personal. I came from a small, prominent, Massachusetts undergraduate program that was not one of the earliest connective nodes on the Facebook network, but was right behind on Wave Two. I have been on Facebook for over seven years (eeek... normally, here, I would tell myself to get a life, except for that that is the purpose of social networking, is it not?), and know the site pretty well. Although, since its change from the .edu connection to the international juggernaut of social networking, much has changed. Information that once seemed unlikely to leak out now much be carefully weighed, guarded, and tagged for public, private, or semi-private viewing.
For me, Facebook still has those collegiate undertones, and I intend to keep my Facebok account personal. In light of this, I have been working on establishing a profile on LinkedIn, which, if you are unfamiliar, is a popular professional networking site. Also in light of my wanting to keep my Facebook account for personal connections, I investigated some of the other social networking options presented by Kathryn Otto in Thing 6. I took a hop over to Gather, which advertises itself as "Social Networking with Substance". Despite its claims, however, I was greeted at the homepage by a news article entitled "US Airways Lets Man in Women's Underwear Fly". Yes...very substantive, Gather. I thought three things: 1) Oh, the irony--this coming from the "Substantive" Social Network, 2) Would not this be more of a story if US Airways prohibited this gentleman from flying? 3) I must get out of here before I get sucked into actually reading this. So, friends, my startling experience on the Gather homepage frightened me away enough to consider sticking with LinkedIn for professional development.
I am but a person, however. What of a library or archives? It makes sense to have a Facebook page for visibility, but, also, to not expect a lot from it. Personally, I am hesitant to "Like" things on Facebook, because sometimes it can end up exposing your interests and making you an advertising target. Identifiable personal information is usually kept private, but I can see how the thought tracking bots might make some uncomfortable. But, then again, bots are tracking Google searches, and visited sites, and cookies, downloads, and everything else. So, there that is. If I were marketing a facility or institution, I might opt to make a personal profile for the institution, as opposed to a page (or at least in addition to a page). There is likely to be much more interaction this way. Friends > Likes, I say.
I bopped around Big Tent for a bit. It seems like a worthwhile service, for sure. However, on the connectivity scale, there is likely to be little advantage gained from opting for BigTent at this time, due to its comparitive size. In a couple of years, it could explode. Who knows. You can connect Big Tent to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, though, which definitely gives this site some real growth and usability potential. It seems like a useful tool for connecting people within a group (forums, calendars, file sharing, alert/notification options). I wonder what potential it has for pulling in (new) outside users or connecting users across different groups.
I am interested in creating a Facebook presence for the small historical society at which I work part-time, but I need some approval before this occurs. I may seek it next week. Until then, I'm a one-woman show on Facebook and one of two administrators behind a rugby team's social networking presence.
The question of the line between personal and professional in social networking is a challenging one. In fact, there is a discussion currently occurring within the ALA group on LinkedIn about keeping these genres separated. It seems to be the general consensus that an account should be used for professional or personal use, not both. This can be tricky when your professional organization goes up on Facebook, for example. Then-- refer back to my hesitation about "Liking" things on Facebook--you might find folks that like your organization in real life, and don't like it ("Like" it) on Facebook because they want their Facebook accounts kept personal.
One last point: whatever the medium for your social networking escapades, be sure to check the privacy policies, and adjust the settings to suit your preferences. Facebook, notoriously, changed the defaults on privacy settings without notifying users a couple of years ago. It created an angry mob of folks, sitting quietly in their respective computer chairs. That was a joke. But seriously, you can end up with a Google search-able profile, openly available, with all of your content exposed, if you don't pay attention. There are even settings for programs that your "Friends" use accessing your information, unless you reset them! No one with a Facebook account for personal use wants that. So just be careful! After we create new accounts, let's make sure to check the privacy settings. Facebook's explanation of theirs is here .
Happy networking!
Bee
I made some comments in the Thing 2 entry about Facebook still having a strong tendency toward the personal. I came from a small, prominent, Massachusetts undergraduate program that was not one of the earliest connective nodes on the Facebook network, but was right behind on Wave Two. I have been on Facebook for over seven years (eeek... normally, here, I would tell myself to get a life, except for that that is the purpose of social networking, is it not?), and know the site pretty well. Although, since its change from the .edu connection to the international juggernaut of social networking, much has changed. Information that once seemed unlikely to leak out now much be carefully weighed, guarded, and tagged for public, private, or semi-private viewing.
For me, Facebook still has those collegiate undertones, and I intend to keep my Facebok account personal. In light of this, I have been working on establishing a profile on LinkedIn, which, if you are unfamiliar, is a popular professional networking site. Also in light of my wanting to keep my Facebook account for personal connections, I investigated some of the other social networking options presented by Kathryn Otto in Thing 6. I took a hop over to Gather, which advertises itself as "Social Networking with Substance". Despite its claims, however, I was greeted at the homepage by a news article entitled "US Airways Lets Man in Women's Underwear Fly". Yes...very substantive, Gather. I thought three things: 1) Oh, the irony--this coming from the "Substantive" Social Network, 2) Would not this be more of a story if US Airways prohibited this gentleman from flying? 3) I must get out of here before I get sucked into actually reading this. So, friends, my startling experience on the Gather homepage frightened me away enough to consider sticking with LinkedIn for professional development.
I am but a person, however. What of a library or archives? It makes sense to have a Facebook page for visibility, but, also, to not expect a lot from it. Personally, I am hesitant to "Like" things on Facebook, because sometimes it can end up exposing your interests and making you an advertising target. Identifiable personal information is usually kept private, but I can see how the thought tracking bots might make some uncomfortable. But, then again, bots are tracking Google searches, and visited sites, and cookies, downloads, and everything else. So, there that is. If I were marketing a facility or institution, I might opt to make a personal profile for the institution, as opposed to a page (or at least in addition to a page). There is likely to be much more interaction this way. Friends > Likes, I say.
I bopped around Big Tent for a bit. It seems like a worthwhile service, for sure. However, on the connectivity scale, there is likely to be little advantage gained from opting for BigTent at this time, due to its comparitive size. In a couple of years, it could explode. Who knows. You can connect Big Tent to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, though, which definitely gives this site some real growth and usability potential. It seems like a useful tool for connecting people within a group (forums, calendars, file sharing, alert/notification options). I wonder what potential it has for pulling in (new) outside users or connecting users across different groups.
I am interested in creating a Facebook presence for the small historical society at which I work part-time, but I need some approval before this occurs. I may seek it next week. Until then, I'm a one-woman show on Facebook and one of two administrators behind a rugby team's social networking presence.
The question of the line between personal and professional in social networking is a challenging one. In fact, there is a discussion currently occurring within the ALA group on LinkedIn about keeping these genres separated. It seems to be the general consensus that an account should be used for professional or personal use, not both. This can be tricky when your professional organization goes up on Facebook, for example. Then-- refer back to my hesitation about "Liking" things on Facebook--you might find folks that like your organization in real life, and don't like it ("Like" it) on Facebook because they want their Facebook accounts kept personal.
One last point: whatever the medium for your social networking escapades, be sure to check the privacy policies, and adjust the settings to suit your preferences. Facebook, notoriously, changed the defaults on privacy settings without notifying users a couple of years ago. It created an angry mob of folks, sitting quietly in their respective computer chairs. That was a joke. But seriously, you can end up with a Google search-able profile, openly available, with all of your content exposed, if you don't pay attention. There are even settings for programs that your "Friends" use accessing your information, unless you reset them! No one with a Facebook account for personal use wants that. So just be careful! After we create new accounts, let's make sure to check the privacy settings. Facebook's explanation of theirs is here .
Happy networking!
Bee
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