Comments on: Empowering Public Sector Workers with Social Media http://interactivecultures.org/social-media/empowering-public-sector-workers-with-social-media research. knowledge transfer. consultancy. Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:25:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: John Heaven http://interactivecultures.org/social-media/empowering-public-sector-workers-with-social-media/comment-page-1#comment-604 John Heaven Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:38:33 +0000 http://interactivecultures.org/?p=1154#comment-604 I agree that research is an important part of persuading people to adopt new ways of working, but perhaps those who need research before even trying social media aren't those who will lead the revolution. In a way, waiting for the research is either an excuse, or the kind of defensive practice that is part of the wider issue around local government and openness. Speaking in a personal capacity here, I'm probably in some instances as bad as the rest; but ideally, an enthusiastic worker keen to do their job well would experiment with social media in case it can assist them. I do actually know of cases of this. Another point about the blurring boundary between personal and private life: I was thinking the other day that it would be nice to have separate brains for work and pleasure, in the same way that I have two mobiles. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people that do, and I often find myself creating a mental to-do list, or solving work problems when I should be sleeping. The point is that those that want to will ensure they avoid seepage -- which is fine, by the way, and I don't think anybody should be pressured to use personal social media profiles for work stuff -- but others, by their nature, won't. I agree that research is an important part of persuading people to adopt new ways of working, but perhaps those who need research before even trying social media aren’t those who will lead the revolution. In a way, waiting for the research is either an excuse, or the kind of defensive practice that is part of the wider issue around local government and openness. Speaking in a personal capacity here, I’m probably in some instances as bad as the rest; but ideally, an enthusiastic worker keen to do their job well would experiment with social media in case it can assist them. I do actually know of cases of this.

Another point about the blurring boundary between personal and private life: I was thinking the other day that it would be nice to have separate brains for work and pleasure, in the same way that I have two mobiles. Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people that do, and I often find myself creating a mental to-do list, or solving work problems when I should be sleeping.

The point is that those that want to will ensure they avoid seepage — which is fine, by the way, and I don’t think anybody should be pressured to use personal social media profiles for work stuff — but others, by their nature, won’t.

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