- Do you have a problem that needs solving?
- Is there something in your professional life you feel you could do better?
Don’t worry, there is someone out there who can help you!
Across the whole spectrum of social media platforms, users are regularly posting tips, blogs and advice on best practice or even examples of how they have succeeded in their profession whether it be in teaching, sales or even solving a DIY problem.
As an example, let’s take one profession, teaching, just to illustrate what’s out there….
On Google+ there are communities similar to your Facebook groups but with groups of people in similar professions to you. Within theses groups you can easily chat about topics of mutual interest. Under education or teaching alone, there are a number of different Google+ communities. One such example is
"Google Apps for Education" discusses new, popular and recommended apps specifically geared towards education and which make learning more fun and relevant to pupils.
On Facebook, in additional to your personal groups you can set up and join groups where the specific focus is related to your professional rather than personal life. As with Google +, there is also a vast array of teaching specific groups on Facebook. For example, check out "Teachers – Sharing ideas and resources in the classroom".
Twitter is slightly different in that there are no groups, just open discussions that you can participate in by following the relevant #hash tags. For a teaching professional, it might be #numeracy, #literacy, and #teaching. Treat twitter as one large public conversation that you can simply eavesdrop into. It doesn’t matter whether you know the participants or not. If they’ve expressed an opinion that’s of interest to you, feel free to respond to them, or even seek their advice!
Finally there is, LinkedIn, otherwise known as the “Facebook for professionals”. Here you have a number of education related groups where you can post questions, advice or any other comments related to your profession. You can even post a multiple choice poll! Before joining, a group, you can check out how many members they have and even view their statistics to see how active their discussions are. Examples of teaching groups include…
All these groups and platforms offer FREE advice and are easily accessible via searching on the individual social media pages or even via Google itself. To not take advantage of these resources would not only be a waste but a missed opportunity to make a difference in your profession!
