Month: November 2020

Who Needs To Know About Your PLN

Reflect on your experience in the course, your development of PLN, your use of social media platforms and networked publics, share any changes in your perspective of social media in professional settings and personal use.

This course revolves around PLN. I still remember how my curiosity was aroused at the first sight of the term. After reading the material, I knew what it is. That’s the first time I started to reconsider the benefits of social media platforms. Previously I hold negative attitude towards social media. I thought it breeds anger and anxiety, blurs the boundaries of one’s professional and personal life, gradually turning human into machines working around the clock. However, I can’t deny the advantages of such platforms. I have gained a lot of opportunities through such platforms and I can always find someone to ask for help. After associating the abstract term with my life experience, I accepted the logic behind it and started changing my thinking. Throughout the course, we have read a lot of materials, which discussed the advantages and disadvantages of social media, fake news and reasons behind it, and media literacy. I have also enjoyed the lesson videos, learning from the experience of the predecessors. They come from all walks of life, bringing refreshing perspectives. 

I have also built a PLN with my group. Reviewing the blogs of my group members enables me to gain different perspectives towards the same question. Everyone has his/her interpretation of the same material. Such a process deepens my own understandings. 

The course allows me to reconsider the necessity of my participation on social media platforms. It’s an ability to build a successful PLN. It needs efforts to make our PLN work for us. I start to notice how others around me make use of social media platforms to build a desirable personal, enhancing their own credibility and reputation. In my final project, I have analyzed the social media presence of Sophie Lui in details. Through the analysis I recognized that PLN is essentially about one’s digital identity. An effective and useful digital identity requires us to present both our professional competence and our personal charm. Besides, the two parts should be supplementary. For example, Sophie Lui shares her time with her family and friends and her activities of social services. Such a caring image adds her charisma, enhancing her reliability. 

I have learned a lot from the course. Thank you for reading!

Engaging your PLN

1.If your PLN can be used to help professional development post-course?

Amber Glauber’s experience shows that how PLN can help one’s professional development. She built a deep relationship with a surgeon who later helped her to fast track and work in the operating room. 

I want to work in a company focusing on technology. Thus, I have proactively connected with graduates who are working in such companies. I think relationships with them could help me get an easier access to my desired position. 

2.Can your PLN be relied on to open professional opportunities and on which platform does your emerging expertise get good exposure?

Amber Glauber mentioned that build a useful PLN could actually add one’s credibility, which may in turn open more professional opportunities. In my opinion, the quality of one’s PLN matters in creating possibilities. I have taken part in some volunteering activities and competitions where I have encountered students from other universities and all walks of people. I have built relationships with some of them and get to know more professionals through them. Such a wide network can enlarge my professional opportunities.

I was recommended frequently to use LinkedIn through which I can meet other professionals and also present my abilities. Besides, I have been working on my personal profile and persona on Twitter because I want to show my expertise and abilities. 

3.Can you leverage your PLN in future endeavors?

As far as I am concerned, I can leverage my PLN in my future endeavors. One advantage I can take of my PLN is that I can recognize my weaknesses through others’ feedback or comments. Amber Glauber mentioned in the video that she tend to approach people critical of her in that she can keep improving herself. What’s more, I can widen my horizon or learn more knowledge from my PLN. My PLN can provide professional knowledge from different sources. 

4.With consideration to the reading and video interview, how do you ensure that you expand your PLN via social media platforms into spaces that may be outside of your comfort zone?

In the book From Information Society to Network Society:  The Challenge, social media platforms have the advantages of overcoming different barriers and promoting communication, which can help one to expand one’s PLN. However, social media platforms are shaping the existence of a digital culture, which may consequently affect our cognitive abilities. Glauber amber’s description further explains how to combat the negative influence digital culture has on our insights. 

According to Amber Glauber, there are mainly two ways to expand one’s PLN and get outside of one’s comfort zone. One is to deal with people of different personalities or different institutions. The other is to keep absorbing new and upcoming information together with updating one’s knowledge. She mentioned that she persists in reading peer-reviewed research articles to be aligned with the trend of the contemporary society. 

References

“EDCI 338 A01 – GLAUSER, Amber.” YouTube, uploaded by Jesse Miller, 15 Nov. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiWaXNfnHAg&feature=youtu.be.

Giudice, Del Manlio, et al. Social Media and Emerging Economies: Technological, Cultural and Economic Implications (SpringerBriefs in Business). 2014th ed., Springer, 2013.

PLN and communications—what do people see?

1. Community communications go beyond blogs and social media shares, how does a PLN help and hinder the developments of thoughts and ideas in public discourse—especially when addressing our differences?

According to Harrison Mooney, his PLN can help him, an isolated black man, to connect to zeitgeist. He can also learn from others in his PLN. He also mentioned that being able to observe others’ remarks online can provide him with inspirations. 

According to the book of social media, the prominent advantage of social media, when it comes to address our differences, is that it can present various perspectives, which can deepen our understanding and make us more objective. However, a PLN sometimes may have negative effect on developing new thoughts and ideas. For example, when we add hashtags in Twitter we may find that there are many people who hold the same opinion with us, which actually is a process of self-reinforcing. In this context, we may tend to be extreme, ignoring other opinions. Besides, being absorbed in a PLN composed of the like-minds may create an information silo for us, which means we can only receive confirmation of our own values and beliefs. 

2. How can a PLN be curated to minimize bias and expand knowledge of the lives of others?

Bias is sometimes bred by ignorance. When we don’t understand others’ circumstances we are easy to hold prejudice. A PLN can help with providing opportunities for all people to make their voices and tell their own stories. Harrison Mooney comes a good example. His online presence and his share of his own story can expand others’ knowledge about black men. 

3. How does the identity of who you are, fit into your PLN?

Harrison Mooney narrated his own experience of being the sole black man among the environment dominated by white people. What I have learned from him is that he would present his professional abilities regardless of the outside environment. He didn’t show anger over other’s impoliteness and disrespect. What he chose to do is to seize every opportunity to make his own voice, expanding others’ understanding. When it comes to myself, I don’t think my own identity has to fit into my PLN. If the PLN holds some kind of tacit understanding of whom I should be, then I might just turn to another PLN. That’s why I separated my professional and personal PLN. 

4. Do you include professional and personal boundaries?

Yes, I set professional and personal boundaries. It’s mainly because the two areas hold different expectations for me. My professional persona is supposed to be diligent and sensible. However, my personal PLN expects me to be sincere and open. I don’t want to expose my true self in the professional context because that may undermine my credibility. 

References

Miller J. (2020). EDCI 338 A01 – Smith, Julie. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/Z_T9RghwJlI

Cathie L. (2017). Introduction to Media Studies. Chapter 4. Retrieved from: https://mediastudies.pressbooks.com/chapter/the-importance-of-media-literacy/

Why Media Literacy matters in your PLN

1. What is media literacy?

According to Julie, media literacy refers to the ability of resourcing and producing information on media platforms. Julie confirms the saying of “media fluency” because it contains the key aspects of media literacy: understanding and producing information. People with media literacy, at first, can recognize the important role of media in today’s society. Besides, they are able to search for effective information and apply the useful resources for learning. At last, they are supposed to be equipped with certain media skills, creating various message forms, such as audio, video or websites).

2. Why is it important?

Currently, media literacy is a useful skill both for our personal and professional development. As Jesse mentioned in the video, media platforms actually allow us to grow ourselves and connect with others. Julie described her own experience of interacting with other staff on Twitter and how that benefits her. Personally, such interaction presents different perspectives, helping one to be more objective and rational. Besides, such media communication can provide mental relief and boost morale because it’s easy to find other people who can relate to you. Professionally, the process of connection enables people to learn from each other, to access to all kinds of useful materials, promoting working efficiency and creating more career opportunities.

3. Why is it dismissed?

According to Julie, media literacy is dismissed for two aspects, one is that people aren’t familiar with the concept, and the other is that people focus mostly on its potential risks. Julie joked that she would rather change the name of media literary to make it more accessible because people fail to link the concept with their daily experience, recognizing the importance of it. Julie also explained her drive to popularize media literacy—-people’s fear. Nowadays parents are concerned about social media’s negative effect on their children, overlooking the benefits of media literacy. Social media is possible to mislead children with unverified information. However, it also serves as an opportunity to broaden one’s horizon and connect with others.

4. Why should you aim for varied views but factual consensus in your PLN?

To start with, it’s important to seek varied views because it helps us become well-rounded rather than single-minded, as Julie says. Our media activities aim at different needs whether of emotional or intellectual. When one’s online presence is for emotional satisfaction, he/she is actually looking for information to confirm himself/herself, which reflects his/her own values and beliefs. As a result, one is indulged in an echo chamber that prevents one from understanding different perspectives and developing objective opinions.

However, once we open up to the varied views, another problem pops up: how to verify different information. One thing we should bear in mind is that there is false news online and part of them is targeted to mislead and manipulate us. Julie revealed the reason behind fake news, that is, journalism is actually a business which favorably presents what we want instead of what we need. Thus, factual consensus is significant because it sets a principle of our media presence. Varied views are useful and helpful on condition that they are facts.

References 

Miller J (2020). EDCI 338 A01 – Smith, Julie. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_T9RghwJlI&feature=youtu.be

Trilling, B & Fadel, C (2009). 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times. Retrieved from: https://learning-oreilly-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/library/view/21st-century-skills/9780470475386/fade_9780470475386_oeb_c04_r1.html

Public PLN – Balancing PLN and public discourse

1.How do notable individuals use social media?
From Sophie’s sharing, we can learn how notable individuals use social media. Sophie is a news anchor, and she is active on her social media. She has made a separation between her professional presence online and her personal one. When it comes to the professional field she turns to the platform of Twitter where she can post her perspective towards social issues, follow people she is interested in and learn from them as well as scroll over others’ comments. Twitter is where she builds her professional PLN, which promotes her career development. Besides, she also creates a personal PLN on Instagram where she can post the photos of her life, showing others her facet of being accessible.

 2.What are the benefits of being in the public eye and having a PLN? (career development in the public eye)
During the interview, Sophie has mentioned the benefits of being in the public eye. The online presence of anchors allows the public to know more about their profession, to understand their situations and impediments, and thus show more sympathy and recognition. Besides, Sophie talked about how her PLN helped her when she entered the field. She contacted some journalist predecessors, asking them for advice and recommending herself, which set a good foundation for her career development. What’s more, being in the public eye enables Sophie to get real-time feedback towards her performance. Although these comments are mixed with both compliments and criticism, she could reflect on them and learn from them.

 3.Building community with online tools provided by the employer can be limiting, what are the perceived restrictions and benefits of having social media directly associated with employment? (verified accounts because of employment, accounts that are professional versus personal, hybrid accounts)
There is no doubt social media serves a convenient tool of connecting with others, therefore, when it marries work it facilitates communication, cooperation and supervision. Such a social media platform can improve working efficiency dramatically. However, its upside can also turn into its downside. With such an online tool, any online movement and performance of the employees could be tracked and recorded precisely by data. To meet the demands of employers, employees may have to create their professional persona. Besides, the feature of “instant messaging” makes it possible to blur the borders of one’s professional life and personal life, keeping one in standby mode all the time around the clock.

 4. Delivering information in a connected society requires verifiable resources, how does one build a PLN that can be consistently relied on?
According to Martin Hirst, two main factors account for the occurrence of fake news. One is economic factor and the other is reckless journalists. This could inspire us on how to build a reliable PLN. We can choose to follow individuals or information channels that are not manipulated by capital participation. Only when the sources subject to no powerful persons or institutions could they stick to the truthfulness of their information. In addition, we can make a judgement towards the credibility of the sources from several aspects, for example, whether the person we follow checks the information beforehand or not and whether he/she resorts to logical thinking rather than the intuitive one. Last but not least, we ourselves should also develop social media literacy, which means we should always check the facts before we spread the information.(Hirst 54)

5. How do those, who are veteran storytellers, minimize risk in sharing misinformation?
To minimize risk in sharing misinformation, storytellers must capitalize on search engines or their PLN to verify the truthfulness of the information. Besides, they’d better be clear about their own belief systems or their ideology because that helps them to bring no personal bias when sharing information. What’s more, the storytellers should pay attention to their rhetoric and they are supposed to employ logical thinking instead of emotional manipulation. (Hirst 54)

Works cited
Hirst, Martin. Navigating Social Journalism: A Handbook for Media Literacy and Citizen Journalism. 1st ed., Routledge, 2018.