Thing 12: Putting the Social into Social Media

I've found myself being more social than ever before thanks to the CPD23 programme and I think that is one of the major benefits of taking part. I think I behave the same on social media as I do in real life - if there's a big group conversation going on I tend to feel quite shy about joining in and think I have nothing worth saying...unless I have something I am burning to say when I will eventually work up the courage! Social media has an additional speed element to it that often defeats me - I'm not lurking on Twitter all the time and sometimes I'll find there was a conversation a day ago that I would have enjoyed but everyone has moved on already.

I'm lucky in that I have some friends working in different careers but with a shared interest in social media so that gets me out of my comfort zone a little. I try to follow more general topics such as social media and education so that means I'm not just engaging with librarians - although most of my top tweeters to follow are librarians (our profession just has such quality people...)

As with many things, time is an issue - I haven't had much time lately to follow Twitter or check the blogs I follow - but when I do find a moment, I shall keep trying to engage a bit more and lurk a bit less.

Lurker by Robert Stok on Flickr
(This breaks my secret NO CATS rule!)