Looking for deeper insight on social networks as they relate to work and learning? Here are four guidebooks for the network era: the perpetual beta series – social networking and much more!
Introduction to Social Networking
This was originally posted in 2008, after Michele Martin and I ran what today would be called a MOOC (massively open online course) with over 700 participants. It was called Work Literacy and was hosted on the Ning software platform. As the platform changed its fee structure, I exported a number of the pages and resources to my blog. What follows below the image, is what we suggested in 2008 [updated October 2016].
Online social networks facilitate connections between people based on shared interests, values, membership in particular groups (i.e., friends, professional colleagues), etc. They make it easier for people to find and communicate with individuals who are in their networks using the Web as the interface.
By some definitions, just about all Web 2.0 tools are a form of social networking, but each platform highlights certain aspects. Ian McCarthy’s honeycomb model is one way to see the differences between consumer social media platforms, as it highlights 7 functions with 7 implications. For example LinkedIn is strong in Identity and also supports Relationships and Reputation. On the other hand, Facebook is strong in Relationships, and also supports Presence, Identity, Conversations, and Reputation. Ning is strong in Groups, and also supports Sharing and Conversations.
There are several different online social networks, but for our purposes, we focused on the three that tend to be used the most by learning professionals in 2008 – Facebook, LinkedIn and Ning. Each of these networks has its own unique style, functionality and patterns of usage. You will also find that different people are active in these different networks.
LinkedIn is primarily a professional network, designed to facilitate linkages between people who are wanting to connect for work-related purposes. It is more “buttoned-down” than Facebook with a more formal culture of relationships and connections. It is also the network of choice for most professionals.
Because LinkedIn is designed for professional networking, there’s a greater emphasis on building a reputation and connecting to employment and business opportunities. LinkedIn Questions and Answers is a way for people to ask questions and receive expert advice. Answers can be rated and people who do this well can improve their LinkedIn reputation. There are also employment listings and an ability to receive recommendations from your connections that then become part of your profile. You can also create and join groups.
Facebook was originally developed for college students to connect, so it has a more informal, social air than you find on LinkedIn. Now open to anyone, you will still find that Facebook is the preferred network for Millennials (2008) who see the encroachment of Boomers and, to a lesser extent, Gen X into the network as cause for some alarm.
Facebook combines the personal and the professional. Members can play games, join groups, share photos, and send each other virtual “gifts.” This is the network where you’re most likely to see both pictures of someone’s weekend activities, as well as a link to their online portfolio or professional website. Many companies are using Facebook as a recruitment tool for Gen Y, while college and university professors are exploring it’s use for their classes.
Ning is what’s referred to as a ‘white label’ network–anyone can use the Ning platform to create their own social network related to a particular topic or area of interest. We operated the MOOC on the Ning platform.
As a learning professional, you can think of Ning in two ways. First, there are a number of Ning networks related to various topics of interest to learning professionals that you could join. In addition, because Ning allows you to create your own network from scratch, you can also use it to facilitate learning events or activities. Therefore Ning offers opportunities for you to be both a joiner/collector and a creator.
One great advantage of Ning for learning is that it allows you set up your own private space that can only be accessed by members. It also offers great functionality, including allowing members to write blogs and engage in forum discussions.
A short note on owning your data
Open source gives you something extra though, and that is the ability to take the whole application, source code and all, and move it or even modify it. For instance, this website is on WordPress, an open source blogging platform. If I am not satisfied with my host, I can take the whole application and set it up somewhere else. I cannot do that with Gmail or Skype or Ning. Therefore, I own my data and the application that makes my data available to my readers. With almost 2,850 posts on this blog, these data are becoming quite important to me as my knowledge base. The decision to use an open source system as well as an OS database gives me a certain amount of flexibility, evidenced by my switch from Drupal to WordPress in 2006. My only costs were labour. I could not have taken my data out of a proprietary system (like Ning) as easily.
More information on owning your data.
Common Features of Social Networks
The ability to create a Profile page–this is your main “home” on the network. Different networks offer varying abilities to personalize your page in terms of look and feel. They may also differ in terms of the types of information you would include, such as name, location, education, etc. Facebook, for example, asks for your relationship status (because it’s more “social”), while on LinkedIn, which is primarily for professional use, does not.
A way to find and link to “friends” or connections–The purpose of a network is connections, so facilitating a members’ ability to find and connect to other people is important. Each network offers different types of search capabilities and once you’ve located a potential friend, you must send an “invitation” to invite them into your personal network.
Privacy Controls–In most networks, your ability to access more detailed information about a person is based on their status as one of your connections; “friends” can see much more information than those who are not your “friends.” You can control who is actually in your personal network by effectively managing who you invite into your network and whose invitations you accept.
The ability to send public and private messages–In Ning and Facebook, you can communicate with your connections either by sending a private message or “writing on their wall.” On LinkedIn, you communicate via person-to-person messages. Ning also provides Forums where members can interact with one another on specific topics (you’re reading this in one of the Ning forums).
Ability to share various digital objects and information–Both Ning and Facebook allow members to share various online items, including photos, videos and RSS feeds. LinkedIn offers some ability to share links, although it’s multimedia capacities are nothing like what you find on Facebook or Ning.
As in real life, the value of an online social network lies in the people. While you can have some fun playing around with some of a network’s online functionality, if you don’t have the right people in your network, it will be a waste. Here are some good resources on building a social network:
- Six Steps to a Remarkably Powerful Network
- Weave Smarter Networks with LinkedIn
- How to Grow a Facebook Network
To learn more about the basics of social networking, check out Common Craft explanatory videos. You may also want to read this article (2008) on myths and risks.
Further Reading
PKM: social media for professional development
Blogs: Social Media’s Home Base
Social Media for Senior Managers
Thanx a lot It helped me 2 get over my speech abt social networking in the school,it is really helpfu.lOnce again thank u all.
i am just starting my research in social network. if any ideas please share
Thank you so much.. it will be very helpful in my social networking project..