Professional Communication Technologies continued...

Architectures of participation 

"A phrase coined by Tim O'Reilly that is used to describe the nature of systems that are designed for user contribution. Architecture of Participation is a Web 2.0 concept in which a community of users contributes to the content or to the design and development process." (Beal, V. no date) Another definition of "Architecture of participation is both social and technical, leveraging the skill and energy of users as much as possible to cooperate in building something bigger than any single person could alone" (GoogleTalksArchive. 2012)


Personally I use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networking on a regular basis. I use it to keep in touch with friends and family and seeing what is happening in the world by following news pages, such as BBC News and my local newspaper. I also use social networking to organise events and trips with my friend and family by making group and posting. I find this is the easiest way to organise and get in touch with people as now most people have their phones with them with the social networking apps on it. So they are always a tap away.  
                 

However I totally use social networking sites differently professionally than I do socially, firstly I have separate accounts. My professional account is private and having friends and followers of work colleges, employers and parents of students (costumers) and students over the ages of 18. I follow pages and groups in my profession such as dance pages for up coming events and news. I also follow small business pages that link into my work such as costume makers. As for my personal social accounts are to keep in touch with friends, family and what I do in my day to day life. This account is also on private so I can decide who and what people see before following or adding me. 

My type of conversation is completely different as I represent myself professionally and as a teacher should when talking to employers, costumers, future employers and costumers. I also have to concider ethical considerations as when posting on my professional accounts some images or content might include a student, so I will have to get their parents/guardians consent. As for my personal account I won't be posting any content of my students on there. 

Users and business now a days rely a lot on social media and the web to advertise and search for certain things. Not many use old school methods such as leaflets or brochures but this will narrow down the audience as people of the older generation may not have accesses to the internet and those who may not be able to afford not only internet access but electrical devices that are also needed to access the internet such as computers, laptop, iPads, tablet, phones.

I feel that personally for a business to reach a wider audience you need to have a balance between Web. 2.0 and old school methods. The company and dance schools I work at use a variety of advertisement such as leaflets and posters up in nurseries and play areas. As well as handing out leaflets to students who already attended the school if any more new classes are starting up. There is also a chance for Baby Ballet to own a pink beetle with the trade mark printed on it so your advertising everywhere you drive.

Bibliography

• Beal, V. (no date). architecture of participation. [Online]. Available: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/architecture_of_participation.html. [Last Accessed: 28/02/17].
• GoogleTalksArchive. (2012). GeoServer and Architectures of Participation for Geospatial Information. [Online Video]. 22 August 2012. Available from: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PVQfEwgggmE. [Last Accessed: 28/02/2017].