August 04, 2009

How to Avoid Social Networking Groupthink

Spaceball2groupthink 

photo from orin

I was so inspired by an article written by Robert Pagliarini, I wanted to share
with you part of it that really rang true with me. Social media is wonderful
for networking, but it can so easily put you into a mindset where you are just
searching for information to confirm what you already believe is true.

What happens is that we stop looking for new ideas or opinions and that's sad.
We close our minds and only let things in that we've adequately filtered.

Here's what Robert Pagliarini had to say on the subject:

Will you expand your mind and increase your creativity more by talking to
people just like you or with people who are different?  If you’re always
nodding your head in agreement, you’re not exposing yourself to unique or
contradictory ideas.  Here are a few ways to maximize creativity and limit
groupthink:

• Join groups and communities that are completely different/opposite from what
you believe.  You don’t have to agree, but try to at least understand their
perspective and why they believe what they believe. If the O’Reilly Factor is
your homepage, consider perusing the Huffington Post for a different view on
the same topics.
• Become Facebook friends with people who think differently and who will
surprise you and cause you to question your ideas.
• Read blogs and websites that don’t recycle ideas.
• Get into disagreements and friendly arguments by posting comments on blogs.
Just make sure you do it respectfully. I’ve found using “What if we think of it
like this…” to be a non-confrontational approach that can lead to a healthy
exchange of ideas.
• The more you are a fan of someone, the more often you need to question their
assumptions and ideas. We tend to let our mental guard down around those we
trust.

You can read the full article at http://tinyurl.com/n8qe8m.

Aug 4, 2009 1:27:12 PM | Social Media

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