Facebook Chat session on 'passwords' with @OpenUniversity ...

Live Chat on FB
To say that it was chat maybe a misnomer, but putting this aside. It struck me that the session I completed with our communications colleagues today. Created an interesting experience, gave me an insight and also stimulated my thinking in this area.

For the uninitiated, you can see the entire conversation here.* Apologies for the slightly disjointed nature of the PDF, as I tried to capture the entire facebook session.

As you can see, we had a multitude of threads all discussing different password issues. From the very very teccie to the most basic (and no less important) of questions.

So, for the analysis, lets go for a pros and cons approach:

Pros ...
  • it was enjoyable, I was impressed at the level of engagement, once the chat 'got going'.
  • many threads, many conversations, we had to call a halt at 75 mins, having gone over the published 60 mins.
  • interesting questions and equally interesting themes and opinions
  • worldwide audience, noticed some players from around the world involved.
  • if my colleagues, keep the page, it will remain a useful teaching/information tool.
  • it was an interesting public engagement exercise.
  • the discussion was very civil.
Cons ...
  • it took some effort to keep up, there were three of us, we needed it. At a couple of stages it was a little frenetic.
  • split threads sometimes kept it interesting, trying to remember your reply to whom on what.
  • you get some who 'dominate' with their uber tech, while nice. We felt that it may have intimidated some of the less teccie souls.
  • some repetition, as later joiners lose the thread quickly.
  • checking a couple of facts online before replying occasionally delayed responses. I may be 'expert' but like to check my facts before committing foot to mouth.
So, if you ask, 'would you do it again' ... an unequivocal yes would be my reply. I am considering drafting in another colleague for the next session and to do an uber-geek chat on password security issues.

Thanks to Sam, Ben, Kate and Wojtek who made this possible, I think that we should do more of these.

*note that the information in this pdf is public to anyone looking for this event on facebook.


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