Please note these notes were for rough drafting and our not a complete or accurate record of what I discussed in the talk. However they hopefully will explain the background to the slides.

Social Media is a very polarising medium which makes it off putting for many. This is partly due to mis-understandings in terminology.
Facebook and Twitter are both forms of social media but while some enjoy one modality...

the other may be viewed disparangingly...

A common view of social media being full of cats, children and bottoms is only partially true.

Learning and engagement is occurring at an unprecedented pace.

Social Media shouldn't work really. Without any formal governance or obvious hierarchy you would think it would be difficult to develop any structure. However it is precisely the lack of regulation that drives the community. It is not a traditional fora for medical professionals who are often deeply suspicious and skeptical especially of anything that is open.

Traditions are hard to change. Educators have been used to a certain hierarchy - a distance between them and their students that has often put them on a pedestal.

But it is in the expansion of traditions - not there replacement - where social media has really come into its own.

What is social media.

Instantly people think of Facebook or twitter but it really is much more expansive (but connected than that). Definitions are very variable

I use the term to describe anything that is an “openly accessible participation and engagement platform"

What defines open is challenging as some would argue that 'forum' are not social media but Google + provides many closed access fora but that would be regarded as a social medium.

So why should you be on Social Media?

Well for me it is access to knowledge.

Information overload is a challenge. I suspect many of you will have piles of journals, collections of e-mails about interesting papers, a scrap of paper with a must read you need get round to doing. There is constant flow of information and someone needs to strain it for you.
(I will practically demonstrate this to you after the talk)

But there is a powerful reason for crowd sourcing of information.

You really don't know what you don't know.

As educators we do need to be one step ahead of the game. The next big paper, guideline release, policy document. How do you ensure you know they exist let alone have read them?

I have no idea whether I am generation X, Y or Z. What is definitely true is that a new generation of learners have grown up in a different environment than previous ones. Information is out there. It is available to them for free. And some of it is presented very well. Often people talk about not spoon feeding. Previously students didn't have a choice. You either went to lectures, read, did both or neither. Social media has given an whole new meaning to open education.

One example is the rise of the FOAM movement. FOAM stands for Free Open Access Meducation - a coin termed by Mike Cadogan a doctor you have all recently seen on the television treating injured australian rugby players. The hashtag delineates material that is openly accessible to all. It is generally used by the critical care and emergency medicine communities but is expanding rapidly. There is no quality control - the beauty is in the network itself identifying the most relevant, innovative, useful material and sharing, modifying and challenging it.

The development of personal learning networks is also a powerful driver for continued engagement.

Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose are enhanced and encouraged within networks and communities.

FOAM has led to a clear increase in the quality of presentations as SMACC (the social media and critical care conference) has generated an ethos that presenters must work hard to educate the attendees. If you are a medical student why would you bother going to a lecture where the lecturer makes no effort to inspire when the same content is available in a much more entertaining format online?

Social Media also brings with it the chance to be part of different communities. Interactions with those who inspire (and challenge) you in a different context and with a different frame you would have in your normal working environment.

There are challenges. While there is an adage that you don't have time NOT to be on social media to really access it properly to begin with you do need to find some space. If you are unwilling to give anything up additional searching, curating and contributing will only make you even more time poor. However when established the benefits will start to find you extra time/resources you didn't have to begin with.

There are also other often undisclosed issues. Twitter especially can be a means of exposing yourself to risks you wouldn't normally take. I have been cited by a national newspaper for a comment that in hindsight was unprofessional. The benefits definitely outweigh the risks but there is a balance.

I am not an evalangist about social media but I also feel that dismissing social media as a relevant and reliable source of information - whether by blogs, twitter, Facebook or youtube is no different from a student who isn't engaging with a new module as they don't believe it is necessary.