Week2: Reading Reflection

    I read the chapter 'Networked Work' of the book 'Networked'. As suggested in the module, my reading reflection this week will be on the chapter.

    So, I chose this chapter because I think a network is an important pattern we can easily find when we're dealing with knowledge. Social network analysis, epistemic network analysis, and bibliometric analysis (these three are the network analyses I learned about so far) are all associated with a networked pattern, which shows how each piece of literature/individual/utterance is connected to one another.

    But the context for this chapter was slightly differentㅡ it was more about how communications have made business (to earn a profit) successful. It first introduces the history of companies investing a lot in ICT. Apparently, we all work with hardware such as smartphones, PCs, laptops, and tablets and software such as emails, messengers, social media, and cloud drives. As the author mentioned in the chapter, this definitely helped people be more productive but at the same time, people became to work longer and get distracted and stressed.

    I could deeply relate to this part. I hate being disturbed when I work. I hate long, pointless meetings and irrelevant small talks when it comes to work. I can say that I prefer to work alone. And if I get an unexpected message, a guest, or a call when I am focusing on something else, I get really grumpy.

    I know it's not a good treat but I think that proves how stressed I am for being connected everywhere all the time with all those hardware and software. But at the same time, I don't want to work in isolation because I will be anxious about my progress. I am working with six teams on my projects right now and although I get alerted every time I get an email, a Slack message, or a Whatsapp message, I appreciate their collaboration with me. 

    So I think the best way to describe my working style in this networked society is the 'Switchboard', which was introduced on page 179. And great online tools such as Outlook Schedule and When2Meet help people like me stay sane even with the busiest schedule. Although I still don't see a connection to education/learning from this chapter, it was a good opportunity to reflect on my working style as a networked individual.