Module 1: Task 3b - Theories Relating to Networking

Professional Networking has always seemed like a fairly simply activity; connecting with people with whom you percieve as beneficial to your career. However, since studying Reader 3 I have realised the theories behind professional networking are a lot more complex. 

Cooperation

Cooperation is the theory that you cooperate in a relationship with someone until it no longer benefits you. It has been associated with the 'Game Theory'. These are games that are created where one player succeeds at the expense of another player. From various experiements with these games, it gives a way of predicting how people respond to specific events. 

Robert Axelrod studied this theory through the use of games and identified the importance of cooperation. He concluded that many of the game players used the idea of 'tit for tat', which is doing the same move as what your opponent did in the last round. "When should a person cooperate, and when should a person be selfish in an ongoing interaction with another person? Should a friend keep providing favours to another friend who never reciprocates?" (Axelrod 2006, p.vii). This quote helped me to understand more deeply what the concept of cooperation means in a professional networking environment. Connections are made in most industries for people's own benefit. Before networking with someone, you are thinking about what it is you will gain from this person by building a relationship with them. In order to continue the relationship until it is no longer of use to you, you have to cooperate with them in the hopes they will give you what you need. 

I find this concept quite vicious. The thought that all my professional networks have these superficial and selfish gains behind them makes me feel uneasy. I can understand that professional industries can be harsh and cut-throat at times. But I would like to think that not all my professional relationships are made purely to gain as much out of them as possible before terminating them. Maybe I am naive in thinking that professional networking can be done without any selfish thoughts.

Affiliation 

As a human, it is a natural instinct to create relationships and socialise with others on a regular basis. The need to be around others is innate be it with one person or a group of people. Affiliation is the concept in social psychology that tries to eplain why humans form close relationships. It has been shown that it is infact a psychological process operating in our brains. It is a social process that means we surround ourselves with groups of people that will be there if a problem occurs. 

With professional networking, it is that psychological process that pushes us to build relationships within the industry we work with. Therefore, we have people to go to for problems based in that same field. Affiliation can be different among individuals. Some people will choose to build fewer, closer bonds, whereas others will choose to build many bonds that aren't as meaningful. " To summarise, the studies discussed above suggest that individualistic cultures, people may develop friendships in a fairly self serving manner..." (Crisp and Turner 2010, p.324). Relating this to professional networking within the performing arts industry, performing artists are very much part of an individualistic culture. Performing artists adopt a one track mind of success, therefore a lot of the affiliations made within the professional network will be done with the benefit of their career in mind. This is not to say that other groups they are affiliated with, such as family or friends outside of work, are for these same reasons. I personally feel that I will have affiliated myself with a large group people because they have the same career prospects as me and we share many interests. These relationships won't be particularly meaningful, but they may benefit me in some way with regards to finding work. However, my family and friends who I am affiliated with will be the people that I have strong bonds with and will be there for me when I am in need. 

Social Constructionism

Social Constructionism is the concept that suggests it is through social interaction that we learn about the world around us. 

"As a direct consequence of the way in which we humans have evolved, we depend on culture to direct our behaviour and organise our experience." (Crotty 1998, p.53). Although from a young age we are taught what things are, behaviours that are right and wrong etc. a lot of what we learn is from the people surrounding us. Therefore, with professional networking we learn from others by interacting with them. As a performing arts student, there is only so much that can be taught about going out into the real world. Consequently, when I went into my first contract after graduating, it was being around seasoned professionals that I learnt more about the right way to interact and behave in that environment. 

Connectivism

"Within social networks, hubs are well-connected people who able to foster and maintain knowledge flow." (Siemens 2004)

Connectivism is the idea that we use social networks to keep the flow of knowledge ongoing. An individual learns from a network, puts information back into it, which in turn will be used and expanded on. This cycle keeps on going and there for by staying connected we can derive more and more knowledge on a subject. "The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe" (Siemens 2004).  This quote reinforces the idea that it is not necessarily the information that is important within a network, but the fact that there are always people in the network to keep the information flowing. I find the use of connectivism extremely helpful. It means that within all my professional networks and social media, the information I need will always be available.

Communities of Practice

Communties of Practice are a group of people who share a talent or profession. The group can develop naturally due to it's members' common ground in a particular subject or it can be created specifically with the idea to learn more about the topic (Lave and Wenger 1991). It's the idea of being able to learn from interacting with others rather than just acquiring the knowledge as an individual. This relates to professional networking and the idea that through making connections with others in the industry, you are able to learn more than just finding the information for yourself. This is the whole basis in which professional networking stands on and without it, we wouldn't be able to do as much as we can today.  

Ethical Considerations for Networking

Social networks have a large influencce on scholary practice in modern day. I personally believe this to be a positive influence on the whole, as it enables a wider range of sources for information and the ability to be able to do work wherever, whenever. For example, the BAPP Arts course could not exsist without the use of social networking. The blog itself is a social network with the use of feedback within comments. Skype is an excellent tool for keeping in touch with course advisors and colleagues. The use of blogging and resources online allows students to complete the work at a time that is convenient. 

The implications of social and professional networking is the sharing of information. It is important to remember that anything online is public to others. Any work that goes on our blog is at risk of plagiarism so it is down to the individual to decide on what they share publicly and privately.  

Bibliography

Axelrod, R., 2006. The Evolution of Cooperation. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Crisp, R.J. and Turner, R.N., 2010. Essential Social Psychology Second Edition. London: Sage. 

Crotty, M., 1998. The Foundations of Social Research. Australia: Allen and Unwin.

Lave, J. and Wenger, E., 1991. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Siemens, G., 2004. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for The Digital Age. elearnspace [online]. Available from: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm [Accessed on 12th April 2015].