Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Risto Säntti
social media mindset and knowledge management. Chapter 5 concludes <strong>the</strong> findings in relation to <strong>the</strong>
research questions set. This paper has utilized and developed fur<strong>the</strong>r findings presented in a Finnish
language article (Säntti & Säntti 2011) published by <strong>the</strong> Committee for <strong>the</strong> Future <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Parliament <strong>of</strong>
Finland.
2. The historical perspective on <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> social media mindset
Technology and its development facilitate social media, its use, and also form <strong>the</strong> basis for social
media mindset development. Technology facilitates, but does not determine, social media related
thinking. The use <strong>of</strong> technology, experiments and reflection based upon <strong>the</strong>se experiences define <strong>the</strong>
ways <strong>of</strong> using social media that emerge and which <strong>of</strong> those become dominant. Technology has got a
decisive role in social media mindset development. Therefore <strong>the</strong> forces that influence technology
development are relevant in relation to social media thinking. Technology development is <strong>of</strong>ten
considered to be unplanned and impersonal. According to Ellul (1976) technology development is
strongly based on haphazard technology-internal regulations. Lanier (2010) has added <strong>the</strong>
perspective <strong>of</strong> choices made during a certain technology development phase to this view, as those
choices close <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> selected solution and make alternative ( and maybe potentially better solutions)
unviable. Social media technology, and <strong>the</strong> mindset based on it, can be seen to develop to a
considerable degree in an unplanned and undirected manner. The outcomes <strong>of</strong> such sporadic
development are not necessarily <strong>the</strong> most desirable ones. Alternative development trends exist and,
connected to <strong>the</strong>m, also alternative social media mindsets.
It is possible to recognize some alternative social media development phases from <strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong>
technology. Social media – technology supported multi-directional communication and common
interpretation building – has germinated at different phases <strong>of</strong> history. Operator controlled manual
telephone exchanges that were in widely in use during several decades at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> 19th and <strong>the</strong>
beginning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 20th century contained social media potential, albeit mostly unutilized. Switchboards
were able to connect numerous telephones, including <strong>the</strong> exchange unit, in common discussions.
This social media development opportunity was mostly missed, only to emerge some hundred years
later in <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> conference calls and speakerphones. In hindsight, <strong>the</strong> social media technology
based on <strong>the</strong> telephone switchboard could have been adopted in <strong>the</strong> 19th century instead <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 20th.
The reasons why this development opportunity was missed may be due to mindsets excluding such a
possibility. Ano<strong>the</strong>r and an even more developed genuine social media technology existed, and exists
still today, in <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> amateur radio activities. Amateur radio enthusiasts are involved in social
media. They are in contact with o<strong>the</strong>r activists through <strong>the</strong>ir personal radio stations digitally or
o<strong>the</strong>rwise to form common interest groups. (Säntti & Säntti 2011)
In <strong>the</strong> 40 years since <strong>the</strong> 1970’s, technological development has speeded up social media
development both through continuous improvements in processor capacity and through innovations
including Arpanet, <strong>the</strong> PC, <strong>the</strong> cell phone, <strong>the</strong> internet, e-mail, <strong>the</strong> commercial internet, chat, <strong>the</strong>
intranet and so on. New social media knowledge management tools are being introduced at an
increasing speed (e.g. Hart 2011) The use <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se tools will have a considerable impact on <strong>the</strong> social
media mindset, but that influence has been studied to only a limited degree.
The evolution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> book is an important phenomenon influencing <strong>the</strong> social media mindset. Carr
(2010) has described this development trend in detail. His hypo<strong>the</strong>sis is that reading through digital
media influences human learning and knowledge management processes in a fundamental way.
Reading on <strong>the</strong> net is considerably different from <strong>the</strong> processes involved in long text reading. The
tool, that is, <strong>the</strong> computer does not invite <strong>the</strong> reader to stay long on one issue, various kinds <strong>of</strong>
disturbances and temptations influence <strong>the</strong> reading process. Platform owners (e.g. Google,
Facebook) have an interest in disturbing longer term reading processes. Internet reading has
influenced <strong>the</strong> way we approach papers and books. Magazine articles have become shorter and
books written in traditional or classical form are too long and <strong>the</strong> plots too complex for present day
readers. Social media may not be <strong>the</strong> best means <strong>of</strong> supporting <strong>the</strong> elements <strong>of</strong> constructivist learning
orientations (Ruohotie 2000): reflection, internal construction <strong>of</strong> reality, meaning schemes and
knowledge construction.
Lanier (2010) describes how social technology development contains excluding choices. Such
choices fill a position that can be occupied by only one player. This lucky position may be constant or
for a limited period <strong>of</strong> time only. Facebook can be seen to be in such a position. It has become <strong>the</strong>
global networking standard that defines <strong>the</strong> practices <strong>of</strong> social networking. Facebook is broadly
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