From the individual blog to a shared platform, Anne Bartlett-Bragg extols the virtues of social software.

When writing an article about social media in a publication for media professionals, I could be expected to address the dynamics and participatory nature of the changing web environment. Alternatively, I could raise the issues of authentic voices and argue for or against mass amateurisation of the profession. Or the democratisation of citizen journalists self-publishing on blogs and sites such as YouTube. Or the social affordances of empowered voices to be heard over official reports from oppressive regimes.

Perhaps I could even extend to a provocation on social networking, the perils of Facebook and the race for “friends”. This could be followed by a debate on identity theft or loss of productivity in organisations, which could lead to the argument: ban it or embrace it.

Alternatively, there’s a great angle about the digital identities of organisations and the shift in power dimensions, with the customers or consumers now occupying the role of key influencers through the use of social media.

And that’s before we start on the political use of social media.

Having said all that, I’m an adult educator, an academic, and a professional learning and development practitioner, consequently I’m going to present my perspectives and use of social media. Have you ever considered that social media is more than simply a publishing and broadcasting tool?

        Social software applications – yes, they’re the same applications without the media focus – are providing both the individual and the organisation with one of the most powerful professional development and learning opportunities since the introduction of the printing press. Huge claims? Perhaps, but not unsubstantiated. 

It is irrefutable that technology has had a profound impact on workplace activities and organisational learning landscapes over the past decade. While early e-learning initiatives are criticised for having poorly structured content and a lack of learner engagement, social software applications are facilitating the development of personal knowledge publishing, collaborative projects, communities of practice and social networks. These new additions are enabling people to share, collaborate, develop knowledge and network by shifting the relationship with knowledge from one of passive consumption presented by static web pages to active engagement with content and social interactions with colleagues.

The shift away from knowledge that is strictly organised into disciplines, courses and subjects is enabling an arrangement that allows the individual to personalise and restructure knowledge into areas that are significant to their context, available at different times, and with the flexibility to re-examine and update when relevant.

In my practice, I have been designing learning environments with social software since 2000. Initially with simple blogs as learning journals, but now including the sophisticated use of blogs as personal information management platforms; collaborative group wiki projects; learning communities to support specific subjects or organisational projects; social networks for informal sharing and collaboration; user-generated rich media artefacts as evidence of authentic assessment items; and mentoring for young women entrepreneurs on a mashed-up wiki platform where business plans are collaboratively developed and feedback is incorporated into synchronous webinar sessions with experts. The results? Phenomenal!

So, how can you create a participatory professional development platform?

Many components of social software applications can be combined to support the requirements of the individual or group. Determining an underpinning purpose can provide a starting point for selecting these components. Are you establishing your personal portfolio? Or are you building a professional development network with a group of colleagues?

For an individual, creating a personalised portfolio with a blog will enable you to publish and distribute your work, where conversations can be generated across a network of participation, embedded with sources of rich media, and establish a hub where the information in itself is not as important as the relationship to other people with shared interests.

For the groups, the collaborative power of the wiki provides a platform where dialogue occurs within a shared space. Straightforward functionality embedded in the wiki augments action-oriented participatory processes. At an enterprise level, wikis have the ability to integrate many of the social software components into space, streamlining the experience for the users further.

To achieve effective management of information, an aggregator facilitates the collation of resources into a single web-based location. Subscriptions from news sites, journals, blogs, and social sharing sites can be presented to an individual or group, available for review as notifications of updates are received, or at a time convenient to the user.

At another level, the social sharing and social networking sites further encourage the characteristics of open communication, authenticity and transparency of participation. Combining the features of one or all of these options establishes a platform to communicate, collaborate, and contribute!

Social software, as a professional development platform, is not simply about broadcasting or distributing your message in a variety of rich media formats. It is about an architecture of participation – an eco-system of information flows powered by social sharing, self-publishing, tagging systems and social networks; subscribing to feeds from selected, trusted resources; to action-oriented collaboration tools; with the individual personalising their self-managed platform to develop a portfolio of information that can be restructured into areas that are significant to their current needs, and with the flexibility to review and contribute to materials at a time that supports their objectives.

Notwithstanding the importance of social software applications as the enabler in these processes, without re-framing our views we are unlikely to realise the opportunities presented by integrated communication networks and personal portfolio developments into our everyday workplace activities.

Anne Bartlett-Bragg  develops and delivers e-Learning content in the Faculty of Education at the University of Technology Sydney.

She will be a speaker at the Public Affairs Convention on Social Media and Public Relations on May 5, 6 and 7 at the NSW Teachers Federation in Surry Hills, Sydney.  Further information visit http://publicaffairs.alliance.org.au

Some social software options:

Blog software
WordPress - free hosted blogs available
Typepad - hosted sites for annual fees

Wiki software Wikispaces wikispaces.com (basic functions freely hosted)
PBWiki  - basic functions freely hosted
Confluence - Enterprise wiki

Social Bookmarking
Delicious - free social bookmarking

Social Sharing
Flickr – for photos (basic functions free)
YouTube – for videos (basic functions free)
SlideShare – for Powerpoint presentations 

Aggregation
Netvibes

Communities
Ning  - basic options freely hosted

Social Networking
Facebook 
LinkedIn