UOSM2008 Progress -Topic 3 Idea Extended
In the process of writing my topic 3 blog, about creating professional online profiles, I tweeted some of my ideas as I was incorporating them into my work. I hoped to find some solid evidence to back up the ideas of how we retain and remember different information which Simon Morice suggested, in the video work shop we had, in order to make the point in my blog that variety in professional profiles makes them more effective and engaging.
I was pleased to find a really good image on the topic posted by what I see as a fairly reputable science page on Facebook, IFLS. The creator is Elise Andrew, she has a BSc in biology and is a great example of someone who has used social media massively to her advantage so can be seen as a role model from a UOSM2008 perspective. She also does public speaking, has featured on TV for the success of her page making science more accessible and creates TV shows herself. I found this interview with her in which she says:
‘People see me as an authority and I’m so not. People say: ‘I never believe anything unless it’s on IFLS’, and I’m like: Don’t think like that, my God, check everything I say!’
One of the reasons I have thought her to be quite reputable is because she makes the material appropriate for the platform (Facebook) but includes a link to the original source/ research of the content for people to draw their own conclusions too. I noticed the lack of original reference on this occasion; the reference was just another Facebook science page, which referred another after that. After chasing links through a few Facebook groups (I f*ckinglovescience->asapscience->neuronswantfood) I reached a web page by brainbox.co.uk which stated William Glasser, a psychiatrist, as the source of the idea. I read about his work online and it seemed realistic this was his idea as it was similar to other work he had done. I couldn’t find the specific paper relating to the diagram but decided to post my tweet with what I had as I had spent a while researching it.
This was retweeted and favourited by a couple of people; I then received a couple of responses:
I appreciate their tact when pointing out my error and they included links to articles debunking the concept as a myth. I was a little embarrassed as I thought I had done enough research to be confident in posting the idea but was pleased the error was quickly spotted so I could respond -it also saved me from putting the idea in my blog post and promoting it further! I did some more research with the new information I had and found it much easier to find evidence against the concept, with the general consensus being that it was ‘unproven’. I noted to myself that I should of been more suspicious when I was unable to find an exact original source previously but heeded to my own confirmation bias.
-Confirmation bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories.
Instead of taking the tweet down (which I considered to save face and to not encourage the spread of the idea further) I thought it a good UOSM2008 lesson and an example of successful peer learning so instead wrote this blog post –Ron Davidson’s concept (from my last blog) of social media being a social invention rings true here!
-Social Invention: novel design that allows people to do jointly what they could not do on their own
It has also prompted me to extend a point from my professional profile building blog further. I mentioned it is important to not put up false information on your professional profiles, I would like to add to this it is equally important to check your sources and references thoroughly! Content adds value to your networks according to Mayfield in my last post, however badly researched ideas if anything will inhibit your profiles from gaining precedence -particularly as you are often advertising your profiles to people who have more experience in a field to you.
Lesson learned, ALWAYS find an original source! It is important to be mindful of confirmation bias when researching and of putting false information on your profiles accidently as well as on purpose. On platforms which allow users to comment on content I’d also advise reading or at least scanning through the comments as my tweet was favourited by 2 more people after considerable evidence was posted in response to it disproving the idea (some of it from me after some more research!)
