Put a #Hashtag on it: Social Networking as Professional Networking in Archives and LIS
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Presentation given at Fall 2014 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference as part of the panel "Going Viral: Creative Social Media Use at Collecting Institutions."
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Put a #Hashtag on it: Social Networking as Professional Networking in Archives and LIS
- 1. Helen Schubert Fields, M.S. @magicallyreal MARAC Fall 2014 October 17, 2014 | Baltimore, MD
- 2. Why Twitter?
- 3. Basics http://snaproundtable.wordpress.com/2013/0 3/05/twitter-101-for-snappers/ http://bit.ly/1rhK9qP
- 12. How Twitter is Used?
- 13. How Twitter is Used?
- 14. Observations
- 15. Conversations
- 16. Conversations
- 17. Conversations
- 18. Conversations
- 19. Conversations
- 20. Navigating the Waterfall: Lists
- 21. Navigating the Waterfall: Lists
- 22. Favorites
- 23. Favorites
- 24. #Hashtags: The Key to Networking? Organization of asynchronous or spontaneous chat (e.g. #thatdarnlist, #teamharpy, #nightlibrarian) Organization of scheduled chats Organization of conference “back channel”
- 25. Twitter Chats #snaprt #saawar #readsaa #libchat #inaljchat #critlib http://hacklibraryschool.com/2014/05/27/hashtags/ http://bit.ly/1s2fQse
- 26. #snaprt Chat: Archives on the Fives
- 27. #snaprt Chat: Archives on the Fives
- 28. #snaprt Chat: Archives on the Fives
- 29. #snaprt Chat: Archives on the Fives
- 30. #snaprt Chat: Archives on the Fives
- 31. #snaprt Chat: Archives on the Fives 3/25/2014: http://sfy.co/if8c 7/24/2014: http://sfy.co/io1q (SAA Advice Special Edition) 9/25/2014: http://sfy.co/btYL https://storify.com/SNAP_Roundtable
- 45. Apps & Tools Tweetdeck - https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/ Hootsuite - https://hootsuite.com/ iOS: TweetBot, Twitterific http://lifehacker.com/5809798/the-best-twitter-client-for-iphone Android: Carbon, Plume, Twicca http://lifehacker.com/5810139/the-best-twitter-client-for-android
- 46. Conclusions
Editor's Notes
- Twitter another option; not a substitute for other venues (e.g. listservs). Among social networks, Twitter is the best for forming and nurturing professional relationships. More professional than Tumblr and more conversational than LinkedIn. Allows for conversation internationally and between archivists and librarians. From survey: Likes - easy, fast, wide reach, brevity/concise, up-to-date, immedicacy, accessible, conversational, low bar to entry, and open; can interact with people they don’t know in “real” life, meet new people via Twitter, and eventually meet people in person after meeting on Twitter. Dislikes – 140 character limit (leading to misunderstandings, generalizations, and lack of substance, rudeness/”snark,” difficulty following conversations, an overwhelming amount of info, “noise,” inability to keep up with all tweets, ephemerality. Character limit and public nature appeared as both likes and dislikes. Twitter isn’t for everyone, but, particularly for new professionals, I think it provides opportunities to engage with professional community with a very low barrier to entry. Some of the ways respondents characterized Twitter that I particularly liked include “a combination interactive business card and constant conference hallway,” a “virtual watercooler,” and a “cocktail party.”
- Blended account the most popular option. Some users don’t like it when other archivists include “personal” tweets, but others specifically noted liking the mix because it allows them to get to know their colleagues holistically. I particularly liked this comment from a respondent: “[I] think a fully professional account denies that archivists are human while a fully personal accout denies our personal followers from learning about archivists. My mother… claims she skips the archives tweets, but I bet she follows some of the links.”
- 58% of Twitter users in the survey had a handle based on their real name, while 21% have one based on archives or LIS, with some overlap. Only 12% had handles based on something other than a name, nickname, or the profession. For icons, 66% of use a recognizable face picture, while I was somewhat surprised to learn that only 4% use a picture of an animal. The important thing is to change from the default. Using a photo is particularly advisable when attending a conference, and some people change their icons specifically for conferences. I also favor mentioning the profession in the short bio, which 82% of respondents do.
- Kate Theimer’s (@archivesnext) lists are a useful place to find accounts to follow
- You do not need to follow everyone; Only 21% of Twitter users surveyed follow more than 500 accounts.
- Twitter’s suggestion emails can help you build your network.
- Some people converse more often than they post non-conversation tweets; others do it less. Only 4% tweeted and conversed both one or more times a day; 19% did both less than once a montly.
- An example of a tweet containing an archives-related observation.
- An example of a conversation with a colleague
- Twitter conversations do not have to be about archives in order to further relationships with other professionals
- Example of a blend of archives and non-archives subject matter
- Twitter gives an opportunity for even new archivists to share advice and resources
- Flattening of hierarchies: can interact with authors of the archival literature
- Most people do not use lists, but setting up a separate “archivists” list can help tame the flood of content.
- Have 22 lists; this is a selection. “Archivists” is the most used.
- I use the “favorites” feature primarily to save tweets I’d like to look at again or follow up on, but frequently my tweets are favorited when they are funny or interesting, but not of particular lasting value, so I was interested in how others use this feature. In turns out 58% use it for both purposes, while 23% use it just to acknowledge tweets, in a manner similar to Facebook likes. A much smaller percentages uses it as I do, and few don’t use it at all. I do find myself wishing Twitter had separate “like” and “save” functions, a desire shared by at least one respondent.
- Hashtags make your content discoverable by others.
- I found that around half the respondents had heard of each chat, give or take; among the whole survey population, #libchat had the most recognition, followed by #snarpt and #inaljchat; reading archivists, which is new, had the least. However, most people who had heard of a given chat had not participated; #snaprt had the highest participation rate. Among archivists only, #snaprt was by far the most recognized and participated in. A few respondents noted in the comments that the survey itself had exposed them to hashtags they were now interested in following.
- #snaprt Chat was started on March 5th, 2013. Questions are submitted without hashtag by Twitter, DM, email, FB. Ideally, questions come from the participants, but are often supplied by the organizers.
- During the chat, questions are tweeted with an identifier, and participants respond using the hashtag.
- Example of using the chat to get advice.
- Former SAA President Jackie Dooley has participated in our chats, as has current President Kathleen Roe. Again, Twitter flattens hierarchies and allows interaction between new and established professionals.
- Example of giving advice during a chat.
- Examples of Storified chats, including the second SAA Advice Special Edition, which has been our most successful chat.
- 87% of respondents follow the hashtag during a conference.
- Interestingly, a few respondents do not follow the hashtag, but still tweet.
- I also asked about following hashtags when not attending a conference, and a little over half are “somewhat likely” to do so. Only 15% are unlikely. Interestingly, when I separated those who follow when there and those who don’t, the 55% “somewhat likely” ration stayed about the same, but those who follow at the conference are more likely to follow from home as well. The single biggest factor is how much time a person has, with whether people they follow are tweeting on in coming in second.
- Example of sharing links to presented content during a session.
- Example of tweeting session notes, including the Twitter handle of a presenter.
- Humorous tweets are among some of my more frequently retweeted/favorited tweets.
- Another example of a humorous tweet; interaction with other archivists.
- Examples of more serious tweets that were highly retweeted/favorited.
- Retweeting others is another way to interact during a conference.
- An example of a longer conversation taking place on Twitter during a conference session.
- Twitter provides a way for someone not at a session to get information about it and even have a question asked.
- Twitter provides a way to find out more about concurrent sessions.
- A conversation on Twitter (for example, a response to this tweet) can provide an opportunity to meet someone in “real” life.
- Web browsers and apps on mobile devices were the most common ways respondents access Twitter; 72% use both. Only about 40% use a desktop or laptop app. The most commonly used app was the official Twitter one, but thee are also other options. Tweetdeck (through the web) and Hootsuite (through the web or app) provide the ability to view multiple columns (e.g. hashtag searches, sent tweets, and mentions) side-by-side.
- Good quote from a respondent: ““Anyone can chime in and haive their voice heard, no matter how low on the archival career totem pole.”