At the heart of e-Learning 2.0 and Social Networking is the “Intimacy Factor” – it works only based on trust, relationships and mutual respect. It sounds like the relationship between an old Confucian philosopher (the master) and his young student (pupil).
Social Networking provides an incredible opportunity to nurture the “Intimacy Factor” between and among learners, trainers and leaders. If intimacy is not cultivated, the relationships decay and the network goes into necrosis. Then our investment in Social Networking goes down the tube with the footnote – “another nice technology that does not apply here.”
How do we nurture the “Intimacy Factor”?
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Focus your efforts on building micro-relationships (micro-networks) |
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Support existing relationships before leaping into newer relationships (network) |
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Encourage discussions or sharing of ideas with micro-interests (not broad interests) |
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Lower your expectations – micro-groups need to slowly build trust among members |
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Set-up well defined “etiquette of networking” |
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Discourage members from inviting a lot of people for the sake of “spam-invite”. Instead, invite members who can contribute and state clearly how they can contribute |
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Keeping the life of micro-groups – encourage trust and build relationships |
Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
“Helping Learners Learn Their Way”