SOCIAL MEDIA, SO WHAT? THE VALUE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ACADEMICS

AND PRACTITIONERS

Gordon B. Schmidt M. A.Michigan State University

Friday April 23rd 2010Organizational Psychology Brownbag

OUTLINE What is social media and why is it important? How are these sites used to share scholarly

knowledge? Does online social networking matter? What are the benefits? What is the potential downside?

WHY IS SOCIAL MEDIA IMPORTANT?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc For this discussion we will focus primarily on

social networking sites Social Networking Sites Definition (Boyd & Ellison,

2008) web-based services that allow people to:1. Construct a public of semi-public profile in bounded

network2. Have a list of other users connected to3. View those connections and those of connected others

SOME GENERAL STATS Unique visitors worldwide per month Data from doubleclick ad planner for Feb.

2010

Facebook: 490 million MySpace : 80 million Twitter: 80 million Linkedin: 41 million Blogger: 41 million

PURPOSES OF ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Lots of standard ones can be thought of Connect with friends and colleagues Find and make new friends Build networks Share pictures and websites with others Coordinate events Find out about recent news Find out what Ashton Kutcher had for breakfast

SOUNDS GREAT, BUT WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH MY PROFESSIONAL

LIFE? While technology was developed more for

personal life applications, medium has value to professional life as well

Tools for interacting with friends and others have applications to researchers and practitioners Help to make and maintain professional relationships Help to find within social network colleagues with

similar interests Help to find people with needed KSAOs Means for sharing research Medium for easy discussion with others Education possibilities of greater student interaction

GROWING COMMUNITIES IN SOCIAL MEDIA The potential benefits of social media in

professional lives have been recognized by some early adopters

Communities of researchers and practitioners are growing in online social networking sites

Social media sites and groups are being used as means of organizing online communities around interests and affiliations

Social media sites are also being used as mediums for sharing knowledge and perspectives

EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITIES IN SOCIAL MEDIA I will discuss some research and

organizational related communities that have arisen through social media sites

Many examples exist across the myriad of social media platforms available

I will focus on several I have experience with: Twitter Linkedin Independent site communities (Happier.com,

Employee Engagement Network, AOM Connect)

TWITTER

Founded in 2006, currently fast growing 140-character limit messages that go to all

“followers” Connect with people you don’t know and those

that you doCan “follow” anyone you wantGain access to their tweet stream This can include celebrities, reporters, bloggers

Not just log of “what Ashton had for breakfast”Sharing of links to sites and blogs of interestDiscussions of news and eventsReal time responses to events

Ex. Iran Revolution events, Fort Hood, Tiger

TWITTER DEMONSTRATION Follow people of

interest Get to see what they

are reading/thinking about

Can discuss articles Can share with your

followers as well

TWITTER ADVANTAGES FOR RESEARCHERS AND PRACTITIONERS

140 Characters only the start Means for offering links to articles, blogs, and

websites Real time stream of news and articles

Users you follow are giving you links to content you might have otherwise missed

Allows for easy connections between people Easy venue to ask a short question and get a

response Can follow major thinkers and trend-setters and

be privy to what interests them Educational value

Get students more engaged in class

TWITTER RESEARCH APPLICATIONS Share quick updates on work with colleagues

Easy means of communication of work and relevant blogs/articles online

Interdisciplinary Can interact with people in I/O, other parts of

psychology, management, OB, HR, and many more Learn about relevant research that may have been

outside your discipline perspective Speak across Science-Practitioner Divide

Can share work with people in industry, making potential collaboration connections

Can direction those in industry to research important to problems they are trying to solve

TWITTER PRACTITIONER APPLICATIONS Easy means to keep up with research

Links to blogs and articles that talk about research and its applications

Medium for asking questions relevant to job needs Can ask followers for links to needed info Can connection with researchers in the area and ask

quick questions Builds a network

It can build a network for future knowledge needs Builds connection to potential future employees,

collaborators, and even employers

TWITTER EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS Potential source for educational information

from other educations “How do you teach X?” Resources for asking questions and materials

Can be used in classes as communication medium for students to professor or TAs Easy way to express opinion or ask a question http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WPVWDkF7U

8&feature=PlayList&p=1A708A9D842F5EE7&playnext_from=PL&playnext=3&index=2

Means of creating discussion between members of a class

LINKEDIN

Founded in 2003 Connect with business associates Professional networking focus Means for presenting professional picture of self

Can include recommendations from others Increases ability of using professional network to

find jobs/opportunities http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4nD6y-PnUY Also contains groups to join and message boards Pages for many organizations (including SIOP)

LINKEDIN DEMONSTRATION Groups for orgs and

interests Discussion of related

issues People asking for

help on projects Ex. Discussion on

SIOP name change vote, meet up during SIOP Conference

LINKEDIN ADVANTAGES FOR RESEARCHERS AND PRACTITIONERS

Ability to create a public professional face Can create profile that colleagues and potential

colleagues can look Can make professional network more salient/

accessible Can see who you are connected Can see what they are doing/posting

Can help to realize social network ties that you have through people you know Look at connections others have and build your

knowledge network Can join groups for affiliations and interests

Network with people that share such ties

LINKEDIN ADVANTAGES FOR RESEARCHERS

Public presentation of research interests People can see these interests and contact you

for collaboration or other connections Avenue for connections with organizations

Orgs can see your expertise and you can connect with organizational members as well

Connection with other researchers in interest groups Talk about your research with others who study it

LINKEDIN ADVANTAGES FOR PRACTITIONERS

Join groups to get in contact with researchers and others that could help with org problems Build network of distributed knowledge to draw on

Deepen connections with other employees and organizations worked with Exchange Linkedin connection for new business

relationship Selection and Recruitment Possibilities

Use connections to recruit people that fit jobs Can use contacts to get information on applicant

(although law is still a hazy frontier) Find your next job!

Use connections to find out about opportunities

INDEPENDENT SITE COMMUNITIES Twitters and Linkedin are open communities

Can be used to create field related sub-communities but sites not designed specifically for that purpose

Potential for signal to noise ratio issues A number of fields and interest groups have

created their own online communities Such sites focus on one issue or field and draw

on for members relevant individuals Decreases potential audience size and some

level of interdisciplinary potential but offers more focused perspective

Many exist, here are a few examples

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT NETWORK

Site for practitioners and researchers interested in employee engagement

Can share and post about engagement research and experiences

Community e-books of engagement advice

HAPPIER.COM

Created by positive psychologists Share videos about area on YouTube Free to join but can be a paid member to get

empirical supported plans to make you “happier”

AOM CONNECT

AOM member only social networking site Connect with Academy members of similar

interests Still really getting off the ground, finding role

ADVANTAGES FOR RESEARCHERS AND PRACTITIONERS

Focus placed on field or interest shared by all members that is personally salient More likely to share common goals or vision

Allow for greater gating of community and control Founders can control better how community grows,

what is included, and who is allowed to join Ex. AOM Connect only AOM members Ex. Employee Engagement Networking founder

guides vision and activities of group

SO WE’VE TALKED ABOUT ADVANTAGES, WHAT IS THE

POTENTIAL DOWNSIDE? Who is an expert?

Social media sites are open to all, so the credentials of an “expert” can differ.

Quantity over quality Some users likely to talk or post more That doesn’t necessarily make them the “best”

thinkers Learning Curve

Need to invest time and effort in learning the lingo Each site has its own quirks

Legal/Future Privacy Concerns What you tweet could get you in trouble Tweet today and it still will exist in 20 years

IN SUMMATION Online social networking sites represent an

opportunity to build communities that span between divides such as science/practice, discipline, and location

Allow for better leveraging of existing social networks and easier expansion

The actual sites and the means of communication may change, but social media looks to be an area that will only become more vital to both our personal and professional lives in the future