My flight home took awhile and while I spent most of it contemplating whatever time vortex I was entering going from eastern time to central time to daylight saving time all within a span of an hour (the quick answer: I just didn't need to change my clocks. It felt weirder than it really was), I had a chance to reflect a bit on what I learned.
I kept cycling through things I learned and things I read on the Twitter backchannel (#ACPA15 was blowin' up all weekend) and I kept getting stuck on one central idea:
I don't want to be better at my job on social media than I am at doing my job in real life.
I worry that we do this a lot. That we share things on social media (self-aggrandizing blogs like this one included) that we don't translate to our daily work. We look better online than we actually do at work.
Is it a matter of not having the time or energy? I write about ideas and Tweet things all the time that then make it to the to-do list but fall to the cutting room floor when the never-ending daily minutiae of the job catch up with me.
Is it a lack of confidence? A friend refers to internet trolls as "keyboard warriors" - Those who gain courage behind the cover of a keyboard and screen, saying things in comment sections and on social media that they would never say to someone's face. To shift the definition a bit to speak to a question of courage, are we "keyboard warriors" because we often brag and highlight the things we WANT to do (or think that others should do) but lack the courage to actually try them or make them happen in real life?
How do we translate the amazing ideas we hear about and talk about at professional development opportunities like ACPA to our daily work?
What are you taking home in that notebook that you will absolutely MAKE HAPPEN?
I want to be proud of the fact that the the enthusiasm and interest with which I approach student affairs-related topics on social media matches the work I do on my own campus.
Professional development in student affairs is about practical application - not just big conference registration fees and hotel bills and cool new cities. Put your thoughts (and the thoughts of others) into action at your own institution.
1 comment:
Love this post, Charlie. I also think, though, that some of us aren't allowed to be as good at our jobs as we are on social media, if that makes sense. Whether we're currently limited, or we have bigger vision than our supervisors, I do think that social media allows us to be better at student affairs more broadly sometimes than we can be at our individual job responsibilities. It's a chance to share ideas that aren't being heard elsewhere. Just another way of looking at it.
Thanks for posting!
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