My reading of blogs and lurking in social media sites reveals an absence of learning, training, and performance improvement professionals (WLPs) in using/pioneering social media in their organizations. Why is that? I have an inkling, an untested suspicion. WLP professionals use, push, and pioneer in their organizations the tools they are most comfortable in using. A professional association recently asked their members about using Twitter and Facebook. The response was overwhelmingly, no. I will not use it. It’s not professional. Who says so? The most telling statement, “. . . let the net generation find us.”
At a time when organizations must leverage all resources to gain a temporary competitive edge (or survive), we need WLP professionals who will leverage informal learning, contribute to the organization’s success, and learn what Twitter, Facebook, and blogs have to offer before dismissing these utilities. Social media is not a passing fad. Social media is how we “do” on the job training whether our peers are standing next to us or a continent away. Social media and blogs allow experts to document what they know, allow those with problems to find those with answers, and allow equal access to informal learning. What do you think?