Learning, influence and trust through social media

Joanne JacobsCOO, 1000heads | @joannejacobs

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Session Promise

•To identify how different social media platforms and processes support different learning styles•To demonstrate the role of stories and trust in facilitating learning through social media•To show how influencers can be used as both a channel and a location for learning•To describe the role of new intermediaries for organisational learning

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Social Media and Learning

Adoption still growing– Facebook: 845 million active users– Twitter: 127 million active users– LinkedIn: 150 million users– Google +: 90 million users– Pinterest: 21 million users

Usage variations for learning– Collaboration– Problem solving– Sharing knowledge/news– Info organisation– Social

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Current issues with SoMe Learning

Tendency to measure social learning through hit rates and low-level engagement

Tendency to assume that learning through social media is uniform, despite differing comms characteristics

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Why Social Media Exists

Decline in trust of corporate sources

Need for specialised information

Understanding that expertise is located around passionate individuals, not necessarily around paid endorsers

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Trust

Trust is generated

through history of voluntary

contributions of useful, reliable

information

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Stories as Sources of Trust

Most valued contributions of information come from people you know

Stories of experiences are the most likely vector of such information

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Influencers

People near youPeople you respect

Both develop a history of interactions based on

trust

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Influencers as Sources for Learning

Influencers either:– Tell stories; or– Act as the

location for story telling

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Social Media and Influencers

Influencers tend to have robust history of interactions in social channels

Tend to share useful content created by others, not just themselves

Tend to respond quickly and in an appropriate manner for the social channel

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Facilitating Learning from Influencers

Influencers are experts, but not necessarily effective teachers

Influencers understand subject matter, but not necessarily organisational priorities and processes

New intermediary role in facilitating connection between expertise and organisational practice

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Controlling Influencers

MUST NOT control influencer content

MUST NOT treat influencers like celebrity endorsers

Influencers are experts; facilitators need to accept all advice and deliver to

appropriate sources

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Reviewing Influencers

While always important to listen, also important to ensure value of learning is sustained

Influencers tend not to be static; need to introduce new influencers over time, and retire old sources when their effectiveness reduces

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Facilitators as Editors/Filters

Great benefit of social media is lack of filters

Learning via social media requires human filters to ensure right information being delivered to the right people at the right time

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Facilitators as Trust Generators

Editing and filtration function of learning facilitators crucial to trust generation

Failure of filtration function will immediately impair trust

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Impact of Mobile

Shorter conversations and level playing field for engagement

Increasing adoption of mobile means greater participation in social networks as social

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Mobile isn’t optional

There will be 788 million mobile-only Internet users by 2015.

Global mobile data traffic will increase by a factor of 26 by 2015.

Source: CISCO Data Traffic Forecast

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Social Media Characteristics

Facebook: social channel, closed network

Twitter: short lived channel, good for abbreviated knowledge sharing

LinkedIn: professional knowledge exchange, good for Q&A, group organisation

Google+: good for hangouts and collective problem solving

Pinterest: good for visual stories, ‘ideation’

Path: good for mobile/dispersed users sharing content

Niche networks: better for diverse information exchanges and multiple learning styles

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Finding Influencers

Influence measurement toolsResearch on activity and expertiseAsk group members who they respect and consider an expert

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Influence measurement tools

• Klout measures:– Frequency and 'value' of interactions across a

range of network• Peer Index measures:– Engagements over time in subject areas and

based on feedback/conversations• PeopleBrowsr measures:– Activity as well as more traditional

achievement oriented measures (qualifications, community appeal) and sets this in terms of audience reach

Activity not a useful measure of actual influence.

Measurement of Learning

NOT hit rates

NOT number of engagements

Change in organisational practice

Speed of response to issues

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Delivery on Session Promises

Identified how social media platforms and processes support different learning styles (fast learning, slow

learning, collaborative, communicative, etc)

Demonstrated the role of stories and trust in facilitating learning through social media

Shown how influencers can be used as both a channel and a location for learning

Described the role of new intermediaries for organisational learning

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/73230975@N03/6893326896/

Joanne JacobsChief Operating Officer, 1000headsp: +61 2 9809 8966 m: +61 2 419 131 077e: joanne.jacobs@1000heads.comt: @joannejacobs

Questions

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