CPD 23: Thing 12

Ok, so thing 12 is 'putting the social into social media'. I'm going to approach this by addressing the questions on the CPD 23 website.

1. are there any advantages to social networking in the context of professional development that have not already been mentioned: not at the moment: not really, although there may be scope for chartership discussions within social networking (apologies if this has already been done and I have missed it), so may be a Facebook page or Twitter feed specifically for chartership, revalidation and fellowship and people can post their queries/ concerns and get a response.

2. Can you think of any disadvantages: the obvious disadvantages would be privacy settings and how much information you share online, Laura Woods has written about why she has cancelled her Google + account here and this prompted Laura Wilkinson to do the same.   I guess this is the main disadvantage that I see. Also, if there is some information about you that you are prepared for your line managers to see and some that you are not, then you need to find a way to manage this, which tends to be by having Facebook as a personal network and then finding something else for work purposes.

3. Has CPD 23 helped you to make contact with others that you would not make contact with normally: yes, I am pleased that I have participated in CPD 23, not only has it made me finally start a blog but I have also started following a lot more other people and been aware of other blogs.

4. Did you already use Social Media for your career development before starting CPD23 ? Will you keep using it after the programme has finished: yes I definetly used Social Media before I started CPD 23, I had a Facebook and Twitter page as well as helping to start ones for work also. Some of the tools I have used whilst doing CPD 23, I don't think I will use again as I just don't see how I am going to need it but I can see their relevance to other librarians, so I guess that is the main thing.

5. In your opinion does Social Networking help foster a sense of community: I guess I'm going to say yes and no to this, I am of the opinion that there is a place for face to face networks, which I have to say as I am in a CILIP sub-branch, and the fact that there were CPD 23 meetups arranged a few weeks ago just proves this point. However, I think there is a place for Social Media to be used for professional development particularly in the case of lone workers or workplaces which are in rural areas (my favourite example of this is the Orkney Library twitter page).