Social Media And Professional Spaces

Social Media and Grad Students

Being a grad student and learning how to create an identity and presence in your profession is a unique experience for each individual. Social Media and professional spaces are becoming intertwined as social spaces online allow for more communication. Students can find it hard to balance there personal persona and a professional persona dealing in social media space. Being someone who is heavily into social media, I find myself wanting to keep both lives separate because the audiences are different. Your professional study may not be what your hobbies or interest entail and can cause a miscommunication to either audience you are speaking with. It could be seen as better to keep them separate ,but there could be a benefit to the audience you gather if you combine both.

Is Social Media A Professional Space?

After reading the Amber Bucks chapter it helped to reinforce the idea that social media can be used in a professional way. I have created a twitter, as she mentions a space for scholars to share their ideas, and an instagram that is strictly for school purposes. This means that anyone I meet in this community will have access to these sites. This keeps the level of professionalism between peers, mentors, and other scholars the same. I have a place where I can go to share my thoughts and projects with an audience who will not only take in the informations it give progressive feedback. I noticed on my personal pages for everyday life interest and hobbies can take on a different type of attention.

Boundaries in Social Media and Professional Tech

The study conducted by Amber Buck in chapter 9 gave insight into how grad students manage their multiple identities in their daily social experiences. One was a grad student who was also a teacher and she choose to keep current students and past students different in what they can see on her Facebook profile. Seems very smart if you want the professionalism to stay with the students who are taking you currently. She also had a separate view for what family and friends could see. I do this as well on my Facebook profile, because not everything is for everyone to see.

Conclusion

Blending the social spaces to fit different types of professional conversations and interactions allows for more engagement. The more you are able to connect with peers and scholars while in grad school you are able to enhance the research for you work and build on your knowledge. Social media and professional spaces go together and create a new dynamic.