Social Media

for Professional

Development

A.J. Kleinheksel, PhD, MEd, CHSE

Educational Researcher

Educational Innovation Institute

@AJKleinhex

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajkleinheksel

#SoMeforPD

Learning Objectives

1. Identify the major social media platforms relevant for

professional development

2. Locate professional communities on social media

platforms

3. Define standards and expectations of professional

behavior in social media

4. Describe best practices to maximize the impact of

social media activity

Get on Twitter!

#SoMeforPD

Social Media Platforms

Social Media Perceptions

✓Check In

Which social media platforms do

you use regularly?

Which of your social media

accounts are dormant?

#SoMeforPD

Using an Existing Account

Pros

Existing connections

• Authority

Get started quickly

• Building a presence

Cons

Existing connections

• Wrong audience

Unprofessional content

• Clean up history

Personal Learning Network (PLN)

Learn what you want, when you want, from whom you want.

“A PLN… uses social media and technology to collect,

communicate, collaborate, and create with connected

colleagues anywhere at any time. Participating educators,

worldwide, make requests and share resources.”

Whitby, T. (2013, November 18). How do I get a PLN? Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-do-i-get-a-pln-tom-whitby

Points of Entry to a PLN

Groups

Events

Individuals

Broad Community

Wider Discipline

Field of Interest

Local Network

Locating Professional Communities

Groups

• Listserv

• Forum

• Facebook Group

• LinkedIn Group

✓Check In

What value do you seek in

professional communities?

How do you contribute value to

professional communities?

#SoMeforPD

Participating in Professional Events

Activities and Conference

• Facebook Events

• Twitter Chats

• Conference hashtags on Twitter

• LinkedIn posts about attendance

✓Check In

Who has participated in a

conference backchannel?

What has prevented you from

participating?

#SoMeforPD

Finding Like-Minded Individuals

Personal accounts

• Targeted search

• Chats

• Conference backchannels

• Recommendations from the platform

Contributing to the Conversation

• Social media takes time

• Be intentional about how much you will invest

• Decide what matters to you

• What do you have to contribute?

• What do you want to learn?

Finding Your Voice

• Know your audience

• LinkedIn is a networking social

• Twitter is drinks after work

• Facebook is a girl’s / boy’s night out

• Don’t be a billboard!

• Engage with others

• Add your unique perspective

• Take smart risks

Augusta University Voice

Fun, witty, youthful, enthusiastic, and authentic

“We are achievement-oriented but never boastful. We are friendly and open-minded. We are smart but not arrogant. We have a sense of humor and use it tactfully. We communicate our messages with a positive attitude. We are genuine, honest and transparent with the information we share. We love learning about our community, their opinions and experiences. We ask questions and aren't afraid of feedback. We are unique. We vary our voice and tone to each audience with our values in mind.”

augusta.edu/dcm/social

Professional Standards

• Tone

• Self-promoting > bragging

• Self-deprecating > snarky

» You lose context in text

• Conversation > Soap box

• Style

• Grammar is platform-specific

» e.g., omitting the “I” at the beginning of a tweet (“Heard a great talk on #MedEd!”)

✓Check In

How do you hope people will

describe your social media voice?

#SoMeforPD

Maximize Your Impact

Schedule Your Posts

• Twitter

• Wednesday at 12pm, & 5-6pm

• Monday – Friday from 12-3pm, & 5pm

• LinkedIn

• Tuesday from 10-11am

• Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday from 7:30-8:30am, 12pm, & 5-6pm

• Facebook

• Saturday & Sunday from 12-1pm

• Wednesday at 3pm

• Thursday & Friday from 1-4pm

TweetDeck

Maximize Your Impact

Use Hashtags on Twitter

• Search for what’s been used before

• Be wary of overuse, which can be seen as clutter

Tag Users

• Give them credit for their work

• Don’t spam

Share others’ content

• Retweet

• Add a comment

Add Images

• Don’t forget GIFs!

Maximize the Value

1. Establish your presence

a) Find your voice

b) Post content

2. Cultivate your PLN

a) Join all the relevant groups

b) Participate in events

c) Follow new users and follow-back

3. Reduce the noise

a) Hide/mute sources of information that isn’t useful

b) Unfollow if it’s the only option

c) Use Lists on Twitter to highlight what you prioritize

✓Check In

Which of these strategies do you

think you’ll try out yourself?

What still seems abstract?

What questions do you still have?

#SoMeforPD

References

Donelan, H. (2016). Social media for professional development and networking opportunities in academia. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 40(5), 706-729.

Ellering, N. (2017, October 16). What 20 studies say about the best times to post on social media. Retrieved from https://coschedule.com/blog/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/

Kellogg, K. (2015, September 27). Five ways to use social media for professional development. Retrieved from http://www.simplek12.com/social-media/5-ways-to-use-social-media-for-professional-development/

McLoughlin, C. (2016, October). Social Media for Networking and Participatory Professional Learning. In 2nd International conference on higher education advances (HEAD '16) (pp. 461-472). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València.

Manca, S., & Ranieri, M. (2017). Networked scholarship and motivations for social media use in scholarly communication. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(2).

Samuel, A. (2016, August 4). Using social media to build professional skills. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/08/using-social-media-to-build-professional-skills