Social Media: How much is too much?

A quandary…

We go to conferences to learn, network, socialize – to have conversations – (and to get the hell out of the office). One of the many goals of the Brandon Hall Innovations in Learning Conference is to extend meaningful conversations and to increase the likelihood of continued conversations, something that business cards usually do not deliver. Social media is a big part of our 2008 Conference.

We have a Ning Network, a Blog, a Hitchhikr listing, a Facebook Group, a Twitter stream, a Flickr group, a Slideshare group, and a YouTube group. Our Wiki is not yet live. We are rich with opportunities to try social media.

What the heck are all this things?

Ning – I modeled the conference Ning community after seeing the Ning network Jeff Utecht created for the Learning 2.008 conference. I like this because it’s a community just for the conference and you can incorporate all of the other social media like Twitter, blogs, video, photos, etc. Plus, you can make your own. [Click image to make larger]

A Blog – just like last year we went with WordPress for our conference blog. This is one of the ways we’ll blog the conference. This is a good way for a newbie to make their first comment, respond to others comments, learn about RSS, read session info, etc.

Hitchhikr was invented, “to provide you with a virtual space where, thanks to blogs, podcasts, and RSS, we can connect, share, respond, and grow knowledge out beyond the place and time of the event.” Here’s our listing. I like how it aggregates content.

Facebook – If you’re new to Facebook, you’ll see this page when you initially join. Nothing about the conference unless you search or are given a link. [Click image to make larger]

Of course, it’ll look quite different if you have an established Facebook account. You’ll likely meet people at the conference and become friends with them on Facebook and increase the likelihood of staying in touch. Getting from A to B takes some time though…”I don’t get it” is what I hear from new users (and I certainly don’t want to adopt a puppy). However, Facebook has 67 million active users. See all stats on Facebook here. It’s not going away. And, with the 25+ crowd the fast growing demographic, your younger employees are likely there. Users can open an account with Facebook and search for the Brandon Hall Innovations in Learning group. Or, once logged into Facebook, simply join it.

Twitter- This video is about the best explanation of Twitter I’ve found. Follow the IiL08 conference here. We can use Twitter at the conference to do everything from have running conversations to meet ups to lost-and-found.

Flickr is one of the places conference photos can be shared (also on Ning, Facebook, etc.)

Slideshare is a popular way to share presentations. Speakers can upload there own materials. They can be shared other ways too – on Facebook, Ning, brandon-hall.com, or on a Wiki or blog.

The conference has a YouTube group too.

And, let’s not forget tagging.

My thought is that, for a conference that focuses on Innovations in Learning, more is better. If a conference is about exploring innovations, then wouldn’t it make sense to expose people to as many experiences as possible? Or does it create confusion? Does it dilute the networking, connections, and conversations?

I am reminded of a group I was working with… someone was saying, “no, type http,” and the other person was saying “htt what? what’s a backslash?” (Never mind that the http was not needed at all). Or another conversation where someone asked, “what does the ‘I’m feeling lucky’ button mean on Google?” (the button skips the search results page and goes directly to the first ranked page for that search phrase). Some lack experience of entering a URL in a browser – what’s a URL? What’s a browser? What’s a desktop? A window? Others are afraid to explore.

Do you go with many options like Starbucks coffee or offer the coffee that comes in one size and flavor – a cup of coffee?

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