TTW Contributor Justin Hoenke serves up a mighty fine guest post at Heather McCormack’s blog:
For an example, I’m going to turn to Twitter. Just two years ago, I was a librarian in South Jersey tinkering with tweets, not knowing at all what I was doing. I took it upon myself to understand the strange little-big world of hyperlinks and handles. There were days when I didn’t get it and tweeted too much or avoided it out of a lack of confidence. But I kept pushing and experimenting. What finally happened reveals the true beauty of the DIY concept: suddenly (so it seemed), I had built a community that shares my goals, a mini revolution in my web browser. Today, I’m connected to a couple thousand amazing people who inspire me to do my job better.
Feeling powerless for more than five minutes is pretty much inexcusable now, though I still do it. It seems ridiculous, but “giving up” always seems to result in more confidence in myself and in my initial investment in social media. Flash-back to two weeks ago: I was in a terrible headspace. An average of fifty to sixty teens were flooding the library in the afternoon, and I was at a loss of how to manage the wrecking ball of awesome that is adolescent energy without driving it away entirely. Being a staff of one most days, I felt overwhelmed, tired, and confused. Then I remembered my online support system. I tweeted for advice, and they bestowed upon me a treasure trove of the stuff along with the digital equivalent of a bear hug.
I urge you to read the whole piece and reflect on this fascinating concept – can punk rock help librarians find their own way?