Social Networks and Workflow

With regard to my work flow, social networks rival my email. When beginning work, email is always the first thing I check, but I check it with a certain wariness. Social networks, on the other hand, I check with a sense of excitement. Twitter and Facebook are the second and third thing look at when I go on the Internet each day. While an email might hold some important work or a message from a colleague, my social networks are ripe with exciting stories and, often, new online tools for me to investigate.
As an instructional designer, I enjoy seeing what other e-learning professionals are doing on a daily basis. With the number of professionals on Twitter today, I can always find a blog post, article or tweet about a piece of software, a cool new tool, or a thought about how learning is best done over the Internet. Professionally, these networks help me to expand my knowledge without taking a class or committing to another obligation. I use social networks throughout the workday to “refresh” my thinking. After a couple hours of work, it is nice to see that conversations are being had that relate to the work I am doing. It keeps everything feeling relevant.
It it always important to be aware of the line between professional and personal use of social networks. One tempting thing about them is the access we have to friends. At any time during the day, I can send a message to a friend, and this message may be completely off topic from what I am currently doing. I always try to keep personal use to a minimum during the work day. However, it is not uncommon that personal use, or resources shared by close friends over a social network, are also pertinent to my professional work.
Facebook is nearly ubiquitous among my friends, whereas Twitter is not. I encourage all of my peers to use Twitter. It really is a professional space to share and learn, and any profession can benefit from the resources being shared on it at any given time. I see the social network as an integral piece of professional learning, important to almost all professions, and as something that can be consulted at any time, not necessarily needing hourly or daily checks. They allow for self-paced, personal learning... about any topic!