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.