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!