Where do the questions that lead to knowledge acquisition and application get asked and discussed online? Or do they? Do these questions come up outside of mediated educational contexts? Why?

These are just a few of the questions that Expert Voices developers have. There are missing pieces in the Expert Voices practical and social equation for developing a space where experts, teachers, classrooms, librarians, and others would come together to tackle issues, share content, and collaboratively solve problems. Over the pre-beta test of the system there have been some lessons learned that are supported by current research into social networking systems:

1. Figuring out why and what to talk about, then chosing and using appropriate social technology to facilitate different kinds of communications is a mystery for non-digital natives–IM, email, blog, web post, 3-D world, or wiki?

2. Lack of time prevents participation no matter how much someone cares about a question or issue.

3. Students in particular gravitate towards participation in social media that exist outside formal educational systems.

4. “Catch Fire” effect. When someone is talking about something and it gets reflected out through other channels there is an interest bounce.

What do you think are the reasons people participate in social media?