Social media: a good thing for professional development?

During the CPD23 course, I've been introduced and been involved in more web 2.0 and professional, online social networking than I've probably ever been before. Before the course, the most I generally contributed to online discussions was through JISCmail lists, which I do find really useful, and also to our Newcastle Libraries blog. I taught on how to use twitter, but ironically I didn't really use it myself. So how has my perspective changed, I hear you ask....

I really enjoy learning about new things and CPD23 has certainly introduced me to either services I didn't know about, such as Evernote, or to others that I'd heard about but not really investigated (e.g. Linkedin). I've certainly connected with different people who I wouldn't normally have met in my work circle and the benefits of that I'm sure will become more obvious over time, such as insights into different library fields and a wider professional circle. However, I still feel like I'm teetering on the edge of many of these social networking sites while I discover what works best for me. I do think social networking is brilliant at connecting you and keeping you up to date in the fast paced, every changing information world that we live in, but I also find that it can become overwhelming in terms of the amount of information and different sites to look at and keep updated with. I know RSS feeds etc do help you with this, but it still takes time to look through, digest and contribute to online debates; time which you don't often get at work and therefore keeping up to date often spills over to your home life. And I do find it a difficult balance to stay up to date and connected with both work colleagues, professional online networks and then with your personal and family circle as well. And it's this balance of walking along this tightrope that I'm looking forward to discovering more about before the end of the course, so that in October, I will be more confident of what's out there, but equally confident at what is useful for me at the stage I'm at.

So what do I make of social media vs face to face contact? There is without doubt a place for both, but balance and juggling both effectively through knowing what works for you is definitely the key!

Image by Padraic Woods under Creative Comms Licence