This session is facilitated by Beth Duckles
About this session
In this interactive and conversational workshop we will take time to look at what social networks we already are in. Then we will talk about how to bridge into new networks by examining the skills we can develop to do this work. We will share ideas for strengthening and building those connections so that we can decentralize our own lives.
For those who are trying to create something new, create welcoming communities or make changes in their life, it can be a daunting challenge to figure out how to break into new networks and to go where people aren’t like you. But we’re all here to do that work aren’t we?
Goals of this session
One of the biggest challenges in creating an open internet and doing open science is that we spend far too much time talking and engaging with people who are like us. People who look like us, have the same background and who like what we like. In Social Network Theory, this is called homophily or “birds of a feather, flock together.”
Talking to people like ourselves means we build echo chambers in our organizations, our communities and our technological systems. This prevents openness, change and innovation because we aren’t welcoming of diverse perspectives. For academics, it means we talk only to people who are in our fields, who have read what we have read, who know what we know.
The goal of this workshop is to start to decentralize ourselves and to become bridges for multiple communities. We can create connections where they don’t yet exist.