Telling our stories: Using social media to bridge geographical boundaries

Beginning as strangers, selected for participation in an International Collaborative Writing Group (ICWG), where group members are geographically located thousands of miles apart this work serves to address the question “Can social media be utilised to effectively support international collaborative writing?”
Adopting an approach informed by collaborative autoethnography, focused on their experiences this work uses narrative inquiry to tell the stories of two of the six participants as they seek to establishes themselves within the group.
Illuminating the challenges encountered as they negotiated their meaningful engagement in the group, through the media of storytelling, the purpose of this paper is to support others who may be engaged in or considering undertaking work of a similar nature.
As such this presentation will be of interest to any colleagues considering the use of social media as a means of communication when engaged in collaborative work.