Piecing Together the Social Media Puzzle

As a previously self-diagnosed social-media-phobe, I am surprised at how many light bulb moments I have had (and continue to have) in ALES 204. My first light bulb moment came at a yoga class way back in February. My instructor was talking about presenting her pecha kucha at Pecha Kucha Night Edmonton. As I sat there watching all my fellow yogi’s with that oh so familiar look of “pecha-what?” I instead heard that catchy little jingle singing in my head. "AH HA!" I thought, "I think I almost get it!" And there were many other moments like these when questions started to become replaced with answers.


Retrieved April 11, 2012 from http://socialcommunitybanking.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/social_media_puzzle-scaled500.jpg?w=490

But it wasn’t until Anindya Ghosh came in to speak to us about the various aspects of social media that I actually began to put the pieces of the social media puzzle together. It is mind blowing how much the world has changed in the recent years and is continuing to constantly evolve through the use of technology and the internet. This lecture really helped drive home the point of how necessary it is to be able to use these tools in order to stay relevant in today’s technological world. After this lecture I felt truly cured of my social-media-phobia, ready to embrace the world of social media and actually a little excited to see what I would be signing up for next.  I will never forget one of his tips for effectively using social media: “be human”. This is something that I had thought was being lost with our increasing dependence on technology. In the past I have felt that we are increasingly becoming somewhat of a cyborg society, our very existence and survival based on our ability and need to rely on and use computers. It was very refreshing hear that though this may actually be the case, our humanness is resilient and still powerful over the web.


Another one of Anindya’s points has stayed with me as well. The idea that the internet is just like an elephant, it never forgets. It is certainly true that what happens on the web, stays on the web but unless you have something to hide, this is not a bad thing at all. When I was trying to organize my thoughts about this reflective post I simply scanned back through all the pages of the class blog and then read through my own blog posts as well. The web is the time capsule of our generation; when I needed to go back in time all I had to do is spend a little time and do a little digging. Looking back it is amazing to see how far we all have come since January. I came across Janessa’s intro blog and was reminded of how I felt about social media at the start of this class. Similar to her, I found it to be quite annoying. But when I read my introductory blog post it is obvious how limited my knowledge of social media was: “blogs, tweets, Facebook and YouTube videos”. Certain terms would not have existed in my vocabulary  back then. Terms such as pecha kucha, folksonomy,  wordle, flickr, audioboo etc. were all completely foreign to me, part of a language I didn't understand. I can say confidently that in the last few months that my knowledge has grown, my attitude has improved and confusingly, my vocabulary both expanded and shrunk (to 140 character bundles) at the same time.

What I have found the most valuable is the actual career prep tools such a the professional Facebook page, CV exercise, interviewing practice, public speaking and powerpoint presentation tips and blogging experience. These are tools that I can absolutely see myself using in the future and I am very glad that I have had this class to hold my hand as I learned how to effectively use my new technology skills in my future career. My eyes have been opened and my attitude has shifted from a fear of technology and social media to one that is keen to embrace its presence and usefulness in our daily lives. I have learned that as long as you are responsible, knowledgeable and open to the process, the many social media outlets that are available to us can be used as valuable tools and enhance our abilities and effectiveness. Before this class I must say I felt a little behind the times, almost as if there was a secret that everyone else knew and I was trying hard not to care that I didn’t get it. I would like to thank Dr. Laccetti, the TA’s and all the students of Ales204 for letting me in on the secret, I think I get it nowJ

One of the most valuable skills we learned this semester was how to interact and engage with other students over the internet. I have included the links to some of my comments and you can scroll through my blog post to see what other students were saying about mine. Also, if you are still wondering what exactly all this “ALES 204” stuff is about, you can check out the youtube video that some students made last semester. It does a great job of explaining the value of this class through the eyes of the students who took it.

1)   http://buildingmye-portfolio.blogspot.ca/2012/02/research-in-nutrition.html?showComment=1334027734852

2)   http://cookeatrepeat-ktreats.blogspot.ca/2012/01/and-so-it-begins.html?showComment=1330572958584

3)   http://erinhrycan.blogspot.ca/2012/01/intro-to-my-life.html?showComment=1334030139778

4)   http://jvandermeer.blogspot.ca/2012/01/photo-by-jen-v-nanaimo-river-welcome-to.html?showComment=1334031563574

5)   http://walina.blogspot.ca/2012/04/critical-literacy-and-nutritional.html?showComment=1334272916970

The role of defining "the process" when communicating personal behaviour change

When dietitians are working with behaviour change at the individual level they are attempting to do 3 main things: 1) promote healthy eating 2) transform knowledge into useful strategies and 3) motivate people to change.  To achieve these successfully, a dietitian must understand and engage with the concept that acquiring new behaviours is a process. When we are striving to motivate people to change their personal behaviours, we must remember that people spend their lives cementing those actions into their catalogue of habits and it will take more than one attempt to inspire someone to abandon their old ways and adopt new healthy behaviours as their own. When we are addressing the changes we would like to see a person make, we must also expect that people will come to us in different stages of readiness for change and that gradual changes will be the key to success. Programs need to target specific steps, use direct experience and teach goal setting. If people are given the knowledge but not the tools to perform the task, there is less likelihood that a change will occur. When we counsel people as to why the change is needed, we must never forget to include HOW the change needs to occur in specific, do-able steps. By setting small goals, one can increase their self-efficacy with individual success and continually replace old behaviours with new ones.     

In ALES204, communication theory and practice, we learned how to effectively present a process change to a target audience. When giving a process talk there are 3 main points to hit during your presentation: the specific purpose of the process which will reinforce the importance and accessibility of the new process (gets your audience ‘on board’), the central idea which will define the steps of how to get there and finally, the main points or steps to take (what to ‘do’). This format can be used explain any process that you wish to describe to your audience and by following the steps above you will be much more effective at sparking peoples interest in makes the changes you are working towards. Let’s use my favourite example of stocking your fridge as an example of how this works:

1)      Specific purpose: “How to make the healthy choice the easy choice"

When you stock your fridge with healthy, ready to eat, easy to grab & go foods and snacks, you will immediately improve your diet. By having fresh, ‘real’ food ready for you when you need it, you will be less likely to eat out, snack on less healthy foods and make less healthy choices overall. This will not only improve your diet but also save you a ton of money. It doesn’t take a ton of time to do and once you learn the basics, your fridge will be stocked in a healthy new way that it never was before.

2)      Central idea: The first things to learn when starting the basics of a fridge stock include having healthy, simple sources of protein, fruits and vegetables and grain products at your fingertips. This involves hard-boiling eggs, chopping up vegetables, washing fruit, and organizing your meals for the next day.

3)      Main points: "The process at work"

-           As soon as you get home from the grocery store take a good look at what you have already in the fridge. Make sure that you are going to use what you already had before the new stuff so nothing gets wasted. Food is only nutritious if it’s eaten, not if it goes in the garbage. If you end up throwing out rotten produce you are not only throwing away money, but also valuable nutrients.

-          Start hard-boiling 5 eggs on the stove

-          While the eggs are boiling, wash all produce

-          Chop up vegetables and store in clear containers in the fridge

-          Place washed fruit in either clear containers (ex. Grapes) or in produce drawer (ex. apples)

-          When eggs are done, cool, peel and place in clear container in fridge

-          Take muffins out of the freezer and put in fridge for the week

-          Group foods together that will go in your lunch bag the next day

And that’s it! You have just learned to basic process of what to do right when you get home from the grocery store to get your fridge ready for the meals of the next week.

The final product of the process!
photo by Erika Brown March 25, 2012

To a nutrition student, this extremely basic process may seem like it is missing many fundamental components such as what to buy at the grocery store? How do you hard boil eggs? And where did the muffins come from? The key is to understand that each one of these questions addresses a completely different process all together. We do not want to set people up for failure, this will only make behaviour change less attainable. For this reason, the process above would not have been presented to an audience that has not demonstrated the knowledge and skills that would be needed for success. People can only digest a limited amount of new information at one time. When specific information is presented and associated with small, attainable goals, your target audience will be far more likely to adopt the new behaviours. When one small step is mastered, you can then work on expanding upon the knowledge and changes that have now become new behaviours.

Inspiring behaviour change in someone is not a simple task. People are complex and have developed their current behaviours over the course of their life time for many different reasons. When working in this area you need to be prepared to be understanding, be patient, and be diligent. When you are able to communicate efficiently and effectively your results will speak for themselves. Nutrition blogs are a great resource for people to use when they have mastered a new healthy change and are eagerly seeking to learn more. With the vast diversity of blogs out there such as "The Fit Life", everyone is sure to find ample information regardless of their different stages of readiness. When recommending such resources we just need to make sure that our target audience already has the tools in their tool box that will make these changes a reality and if so, success is inevitable.