The Problems with Learning Through Social Media
The criticisms of social media are not new. Many people are now aware of social media's negative implications, whether that is increased screen time, social comparison and pressure, or constant exposure to marketing. People are increasingly looking at the level of control social media companies have by their wide-scale curation; their algorithms can share misinformation or silence the truth. They can make or break the livelihoods of content creators and determine who gets a voice in the world.
Since social platforms have become much more than just a way to socialize, they also impact how people get information and learn. Many people want to learn new things and intake high-quality information. The problem is, that it is increasingly difficult to drown out the noise. Personally, I have been working on building a habit of reading information related to my industry. Yet, this behavior has been challenging to build. It can be challenging to find the content that is at the right level of stretching my knowledge but not beyond my ability to comprehend. This is even more difficult when the content is mixed into social media sites or personal promotion platforms (like LinkedIn). I find myself sifting through tons of unnecessary information seeking relevant informational posts. There has to be a better way!
What is Personal Knowledge Mastery
Harold Jarche has a fantastic website where he has written about the process of making sense of an overabundance of information. He calls his framework “Personal Knowledge Mastery.” The three elements of his model are seek, sense, and share. One must deliberately seek valuable information (not just what is fed to them on social media), filter, read, and absorb the new information, and then synthesize the information to share with others or create something new.
How to Curate Your Own Content
Workplace learning leader, Mike Taylor, is also known to focus on the importance of curation. In his article, Wired not Tired: Is Curation the Cure for What Ails You, he discusses how both within professional organizations and at a personal level, curation is key for effective learning. Taylor includes the three types of tools needed for a curation process:
· Inbox- how do you first come across information from different sources?
· Save/Organize- how do you save and organize the information you find valuable?
· Share/Publish- where do you share useful sources or publish new content?
Taylor includes his personal curation process with exactly which apps he uses for each step in the process. He creates a weekly industry newsletter that highlights new and useful information. This newsletter is highly regarded and has likely earned Taylor his own following and good reputation.
I used some of the tips listed by Taylor to create a similar process where I get articles and podcasts from various authors sent to me in the Feedly app. I then save and organize information in the Raindrop.io app, which syncs with my phone and computer. Finally, at the moment, I am writing and sharing my professional portfolio on Wix and LinkedIn. The benefits of this process are that I am creating my own algorithm with reputable authors. It is not dictated by advertisements or social media algorithms. The downsides are that this can be quite time-consuming and does not have the easy enticement of a social media app. I still have trouble finding enough sources, taking the time to read them, and it lacks the community aspect of a social platform. Additionally, I haven’t found a great way to communicate my ideas to other people that isn’t too broad of an audience or too narrow.
I believe a major shift is coming in how people consume, create, and interact with information. I have been researching and thinking about this and will continue to share my findings on my blog. I would love to hear what others are doing to curate their own content or what they think the future of information sharing holds!