gordon schmidt msu organizational psychology brownbag on social media 042310
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Presentation given at MSU Organizational Psychology Brown bag series on April 23rd, 2010TRANSCRIPT
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)
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
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