I feel that this thing might be better placed at the very end of the programme, as a review of everything we've learnt. However, here it is, and we are asked to 'consider the role of social media in building up networks and a sense of community'.
We're asked to consider disadvantages. The chief ones seem to me the much-discussed and well-known ways in which online communication can sometimes lack the subtlety of face-to-face conversation, and the difficulties of compressing complex arguments into 140 characters. The major one seems to me that, because of the volume and speed of communication through social media, it's easy to be seduced into the belief that nothing else exists or is important.
There are also some practical considerations; in organisations with a more cautious view of social media, sites may be blocked, or their use deemed frivolous. Not every member of the library and information profession, never mind everyone we serve, has the same level of access.
I have a wide network of contacts on Twitter, Facebook and through the blog. I have added new ones through CPD23, though not everyone, which would have been unmanageable. I've tried to concentrate on people in similar areas of the profession to me. I certainly did use social media before CPD23 came along: I joined Twitter, for example, in November 2006, but I use such tools for a wide range of interests, not just professional development. I will certainly continue to use them after CPD23 is over.
