Implementation of Knowledge and Innovation within Facebook - Assignment Example

? The Implementation of Knowledge and Innovation within Facebook Facebook is a social networking tool that has hit the jackpot with the masses. What it has done is to tap the intended users to become fans of this website and thus post their comments, upload photographs and send messages as and when they wish to people from all over the world. When one discusses the tangent of knowledge management and innovation with regards to Facebook, this is one phenomenon that has helped shape up the modern times (Towner and Munoz, 2011). It is such an important part in the lives of individuals that it is hard to take away from them. Same is the case with students all around the world. They spend quite a while over the Internet and thus explore the intricate details that they have conducted over Facebook (Wilks and Pearce, 2011). This paper specifically takes a look at how Facebook forms a vital link between the teachers and their students through the knowledge management domains, and the role of this social networking tool within the norms and routines of the teenagers who will grow up to experience a totally unique and different life from what their forefathers saw. Facebook is a social platform where these students meet, discuss and share ideas, videos and do their postings. For the knowledge management stakeholders, e.g. teachers, it gives them a platform to understand how their students think of the world around them, what they are doing in their normal, day to day lives, and how they think and act in the wake of changing circumstances. It is a fact that Facebook has become an everyday routine, so much so that it will shape up the coming times in a number of positive ways (McMellon, 2011). The negativities include the fact that people now interact with one another physically less and meet more often on the Internet, through Facebook (Shepherd, 2011). However for the sake of this discussion, the basis of Facebook being a help for the teachers around the world would be made note of (Desenberg, 2000). This will ask for the teachers to remain vigilant and alert as per their actions and thus showcase their truest selves through persistence and devotion (Weston, 2011). Facebook is a social learning tool as it gives out so much information that one can take hours at stretch to fathom. Same is the case for the teachers who are on the look-out for new trends and fads that have come up within the ranks of the students as well as within their own lives (Helvie-Mason, 2011). Concerning specifically within the limits of knowledge management and innovation, Facebook helps the teachers in the classroom as they already know what their students have been up to in the recent times. They can feel pride in knowing beforehand which students are enjoying their life to the maximum and which students have been visiting leisure places of late. All these pointers give them an idea that their students have busy lives just like their own (Greenfield, 2008). Similarly, the ones who are unwell and unable to attend school can also be found out through their status updates, pictures that are posted or shared across their walls, and so on and so forth (Han, 2001). Basically the teachers are finding reasons why their students are proactively driven, and what makes them feel different in the differing times within the classrooms and indeed in the school (Pike, Butler and Bateman, 2011). Facebook is suggestive because it tells the viewers what the profiles are telling them. It asks of the teachers to remain glued to their Home screen and find out who is doing what and which student is coming up with the best ideas within his field of life, and so on (Sams and Elliman, 2011). In essence, Facebook helps create that vital bridge between the students and the teachers which are required in this day and age (Halverson, 2011). Even at times, students can message their teachers and find out about certain things which are not related with their academic lives. This has a very interactive feel about the whole affair that comes about due to the presence of Facebook within their lives (Campbell, 2011). Same can happen on the part of the teachers as well as they explore the inner basis of their students’ lives and discern what is going on behind the scenes and what kind of enjoyment activities are happening within their ranks (Milner, 2000). Knowledge management and the vital link of innovation seems apparent here since within the Facebook norms it is something that assists the planners in having a proper feel about it, which has brought the virtual world closer. Facebook can assist the teachers as they find new and novel ways to reach out to their students. They can devise ways and means through which pertinent strategies can work to their own good effect. Further, if they want to know what kind of activities or events their students are doing and attending, they can have a serious look at their Profile pages. Facebook is such a facilitating tool it can help the teachers immensely. It opens their perspectives to know so much about their students that they can only fathom. What is most important is a general know-how into the ideology of doing things that will make the students learn much better and thus concentrate on the learning premise by employing a number of different activities, tasks and behaviors. Facebook does not limit the students in any way. It just opens up their minds and allows them to think beyond the ordinary aspects. These help the teachers because they are always on the hunt for something new as far as their students are concerned. Similarly, Facebook helps the teachers to know what kinds of new concepts are being delved deep into by the students (Feeney, 2009). It helps the teachers to find out how they can shape up their teaching skills and capacities with regards to their Facebook browsing. They can also chat with their students through the Facebook Chat option. At times, they can tag their students in group photographs that were taken in a school event and thus different comments from the students can be moderated upon. Then again there are times when different Facebook Groups can be established which ask of the old students to come and register (Carter, 1999). This helps them build up an alumnus of a class that took place a few years back. There is interactivity for the old students that a teacher taught some time back. One can believe these steps help the teachers immensely as they can keep a check what their old students have been up to and what they did after they passed out from school (Isacsson and Gretzel, 2011). The element of nostalgia can also be had from such Groups and Fan Pages that are established in the name of old classes and events/workshops that the teachers had attended in the past (Raskin, 2006). There is a great amount of nostalgia involved with all such events and activities that took place some time ago. One must understand that Facebook opens up the hemisphere of collective growth and consultation as it offers the students to get in touch with their old teachers as well, thus bringing in the age-old debate of respect and dignity amongst the teachers and the students. It is indeed wise to state here that Facebook is for the betterment of the teachers themselves (Ramsay, 2009). The students can also reap a number of benefits if this social networking and learning tool is used for all the right reasons (Feinberg, 2008). Facebook will update itself to improve and enhance its features in the coming days and times. What is most important is the fact that its users will have memories which will ask of them to reminisce the olden days and the times gone by. For the sake of the teachers, Facebook holds a special significance as mentioned in the above paragraphs (Foss, 2005). The role of Facebook is not limited to the virtual world of the Internet rather the concentration can also be transferred on to the real world where new relationships can be built over the Facebook and thus moved on forward amongst the teachers and their students in the real world (Norton, 2011). All such steps and actions are important to understand within the thick of things as one comprehends the real meaning behind having a resourceful tool like Facebook for the sake of the teachers, who are indeed the most important pillars within any society of the world. Facebook will always be there for the teachers to get one step ahead of what they are doing in the real world (Scale, 2008). This indeed is a sure positive if seen from a correct standpoint. Facebook has its positive benefits and negative drawbacks. The manner in which Facebook has become a household name is something to derive from (Bhagat, Ford and Jones, 2002). What is even more interesting is the fact that Facebook has made headlines for good and bad reasons ever since it has come of age. People have started to view it as a social networking tool which can turn heads, break news and change personalities into living legends. Facebook is indeed a phenomenon and there is reason enough to believe such a hypothesis (Ramig, 2009). For the sake of discussion here, a particular population that has been chosen is that of the teens. These teenagers have brought with them the much needed attention deriving regime which is so very important for this age population in the current times. Some of the most sought after technological changes that Facebook has brought to the fore are for the teenagers themselves. The benefits of using Facebook for the teenagers is that they remain busy in one chore or the other whilst being on a page, at a friend’s wall or even while viewing photos (Fernandez, 2009). The negative is that they find out just too much for their liking. The element of gossip within the teenagers is derived from the feed that they witness or post on the Facebook. Facebook is such a big phenomenon in their social circle that they cannot live without it (Tatum, 2009). They believe that their whole life is dependent on the good and bad points that come attached with Facebook in essence. There is a good amount of research available that infers the fact that Facebook is creating waves for all the right and wrong reasons. The element of innovation is there in entirety and cannot be denied its due right (McEwan, 2011). One should understand that Facebook is a complete experience for the teenagers of current times. They can gain so much from it that one can only fathom about. The positives are in the wake of understanding how they get to become friends with people they have just met in real life, and at times too when they have not even met an individual; they are connected in a virtual world through Facebook (Chatzkel, 2003). The positives are endless and the bounties that come attached with it are aplenty. Facebook educates the users to have a smooth flow of the website which is indeed a social networking tool (Mills and Smith, 2011). The Help section represents the manner in which steps are detailed in a sequential way. The step by step procedures are such that one can comprehend a great amount of knowledge and information from the manual that is embedded within Facebook (Steyn, 2003). Also the amount of information that they receive with regards to their favorite eateries, products, events and services is something that one can see as a major positive within the thick of things. Facebook educates, informs and persuades the teenagers towards making decisions which are not only vital for them, but also impossible to negate since they have to move ahead with the changing times and the norms of the society (Hyde, 2000). Being on Facebook is considered a very important aspect within the lives of the teenagers as they cannot think of being not on this most important social networking tool of present times. On the flip side, the risks of Facebook are apparent as well (Stein, 2001). One can believe that the teens are most likely to fall into this trap. This is because the Facebook’s teenage users take a lot of unwanted information that is sent their way. They find out details about pornography, access to websites that are not meant for them, disclosure of stuff which is banned, and so on and so forth. Further, they can post and share these videos, blogs and pictures which exponentially increase their chances of being exposed to banned items which are present on Facebook (Graham, Faix and Hartman, 2009). Also the teens are exposed to political and social ailments which are not their concern. Since they are young, it is good for them to stay away from such information but the same does not happen, which is unfortunate to state the least. Facebook is an open field for everyone – the teens are no exception to this rule. They seek information and details which have absolutely no role within their lives, yet they become strict addicts of gaining such information and even follow up on this count, which is a problem as far as their parents and guardians are concerned (Loving and Ochoa, 2011). Their educational domains are also affected due to similar problems that they have within their lives. Facebook is destructive as far as their understanding of the world is related as they are gaining information and details which are useless for them at such an early age. Their parents also have no idea what kind of information they are taking in and what they are learning with each passing day (Richardson and Hessey, 2009). In essence, Facebook is there for both the benefits and risks associated with the chosen target audience – the teenagers. They are reaping the rich dividends as well as losing on a number of counts. What is important here is to understand the role of the parents and the guardians who must ensure that Facebook is used in a proper manner and that there is absolutely no wastage because this can hinder their growth mechanisms (Elias and Wright, 2006). The teenagers must exactly know what kind of activities they are getting involved within and this can only be guaranteed when Facebook has its set terms and conditions implemented in a proper way (Veltman, 2006). Any teenager, who is found to have transgressed his boundaries within the ones set by Facebook itself, should be removed from the social networking website (Higgins, 2011). This is important as it will ensure that the teenagers remain stuck to their roots and feel disinterested in gaining information which is of no use for their own selves. Facebook is here to stay (Dalcher and Sandhawalia, 2011). Now it is up to its users and more particularly the teenagers as to how they employ Facebook for their own betterment or otherwise they can fall in a trap that has been set by the most viewed social networking website of the world (Pitta, 2011). Efforts must be undertaken to assure that the teenagers remain committed to this cause of understanding their good and bad, today and tomorrow (Greenhow, 2011). The knowledge management and innovation elements become apparent and clear because these touch upon the finer aspects related with the people who use them the most. Facebook will therefore remain an important discussion in the times to come, and must be given its due whenever there is a need for the same. Bibliography Bhagat, R. S., Ford, D. L. and Jones, C. A., 2002. Knowledge management in global organizations: Implications for international human resource management. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, 21 Campbell, R., 2011. 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Fostering an Ecology of Openness: The Role of Social Media in Public Engagement at the Open University, UK. Cutting-edge Technologies in Higher Education, 3 Read More