Category: ideas

The work-blog connection, part 2

In my previous post marking this blog’s third anniversary, I finally responded to Kyle James’ challenge to post something about how blogging has changed my work. But I didn’t get a chanceI also wanted to talk in broader terms about how blogging — and more broadly, social media — has changed work and the workplace.

The communications office in which I work seems to have embraced social media about as extensively as any higher ed office or organization I’m familiar with. Almost all of our staff members are on Facebook, at varying levels of activity. Our assistant director and two of our three managers use Twitter. We share calendars and schedules, using various software, from Outlook (not necessarily “social” media) to Yahoo pipes. We contribute to several of the blogs I mentioned in my earlier post. At least one other staff member blogs on a regular basis at a non-work site.

It should come as no surprise to any reader of this blog that I am an advocate of experimenting with social networking technology. If we in higher education aren’t dipping our toes into the water of the technology being embraced by the students, alumni and others we claim to serve, then we are going to become more and more out of touch with those audiences. I’m not saying we have to plunge into the deep waters of social media. But we could at least wade in.

Unfortunately I don’t see too many people in higher education embracing social media. I don’t see many managers or leaders in higher ed encouraging their staff or co-workers to use sites like Facebook. That’s too bad. Through Facebook I can stay in touch with current students and alumni as well as old pals from high school and connections I’ve made in higher education. The same goes for Twitter.

The other unfortunate thing I see is that too many of the “A list” higher ed social media people are limiting their use of social media to their personal blogs, Twitter streams and Facebook accounts. I wish more of them were involved in making inroads in the use of social media on their campuses. This is not to discount the Brad Wards and Kyle Jameses and others who are doing terrific work at their institutions. We just need more inroads. It’s 2008, after all.

The morning after

I don’t usually go rogue with this blog, unless it’s about music or books, so I hope you’ll indulge me as I post a few thoughts about last night’s election. To probably misquote the former GOP senator from Wyoming, Alan Simpson, “Everything that needs to be said has been said, but not by everybody.” So, I’ll say my part.

Last night, the United States elected a man who symbolizes hope and renewal for our nation. I just hope we as a nation don’t put all of our hopes on a single human to right our course as a country. Because no one person can do it alone.

Hope this doesn’t come as a bummer to your election-night giddiness, America, but this is my greatest fear of an Obama presidency: that the hope he symbolizes and personifies will become more than he can bear.

Barack Obama is as human and as frail as any of us, and as he acknowledged in his acceptance speech, “There will be setbacks and false starts.” No doubt there will be missteps, too.

Obama also said, “The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.”

I also have never been more hopeful. I have voted in every presidential election since I was first eligible in 1980, when incumbent Jimmy Carter lost to Ronald Reagan. (For the record, I voted for a third-party candidate, John Anderson. So don’t blame me.) I’ve voted for some winners and some losers, but never, ever in my 28 years of eligibility to vote in a presidential election have I ever felt more hopeful, more excited, and more optimistic for my nation as I do today.

I know many don’t share that enthusiasm. In my region of rural Missouri, where McCain appears to have a slight edge over Obama (CNN has yet to call it), the tenor is conservative. I suspect many Missourians will be somber today. Many will be pissed off. Many will have the attitude that the Obama presidency will be an utter failure, a descent into socialism and moral depravity.

But the future of our nation does not rest on Obama’s shoulders. It rests on ours. Those of us in the business of higher education play an important role in our nation’s future. In my lifetime, it’s never been more critical. The higher education system in the United States is still a beacon for the world. In the next four years, my hope is that our nation will invest in rebuilding our schools, rebuilding our roads, bridges and buildings, and creating a green economy that can thrive and be the leader for the rest of the world.

But that job is not up to the politicians alone. It’s up to all of us. Let’s do our part.

In closing, I’ll share a point a friend made on Twitter last night:

It’s never as bad as the losers think and never as good as the winners expect. God bless America and our new president.

Well put.