Using social networks as a collective intelligence tool for a decision-making process about adult lifelong education

Background: Proceeding with life-long learning decisions is a complex task for most adults pursuing professional development. Objective: This study investigated the use of collective intelligence as a new approach to examine one’s professional development options. Methods: A systematic deliberation procedure within Facebook where people ask their friends what they should learn. The procedure that reflects the collective intelligence of one’s friends was analyzed, and the generated ideas were examined for their usefulness, creativity and satisfaction. Results: A total of 115 deliberation procedures were analyzed. Results indicated that people who use Facebook more often receive additional responses, yet those who did not use Facebook frequently could also attain a comprehensive deliberation process. The number of respondents was found to correlate with higher usefulness, and the number of ideas was found to correlate with satisfaction. Conclusions: This study offers a procedure based on a deliberation process that can be implemented within Facebook for better investigating how to pursue professional development. It may serve as a basis for further investigation into ways in which Facebook could be used not only for sharing statuses but also as a tool for harnessing collective intelligence.