Oliver's Blog

I have learned a lot about social media and the importance of PLN in this course. EDCI 338 explained and introduced me a number of social media platforms to expand my PLN. First of all, my definition of PLN was professional network platforms only such a LinkedIn.  Now I realized people can learn and expand their PLN through various social media platforms such as YouTube, Indeed, YouTube etc. In addition, I have also learned the importance of engaging the audience, but also how to manage and develop my digital identity. Moreover, I also discovered the importance of having a diverse and inclusive PLN. It can enlarge our vision and gain different perspectives from people who share different experience and culture. Furthermore, the risks associated with privacy reminds me of engaging with others online with extra caution. The consequences of information losses could result in significant damage to our life. Overall, it has been a very fun journey with everyone in this course. I have obtained  valuable knowledge and experience from this course and others in this course. Again ,a lot of thanks to all the members and Jesse. You have been very supportive and helpful! Everyone stay safe and Merry early Christmas!

With the development of technology, there are various ways to expand people’s PLN now comparing to what people used to do such as reading newspapers or meeting people at events in person in the past. For example, people now can explore their community by simply browsing on social media, recommendations show up and give people opportunities to connect with others who they may know.  My PLN can be used as a tool connect to others and help professional development post-course.

My PLN can absolutely be relied on to open professional professional opportunities. There are a variety of experts who I can learn from in different fields. For example, Youtube is an extremely useful platform to learn and engage with others. Lots of tutorials cover many aspects of the world. Moreover, LinkedIn is another platform where people can connect with others based on their personal experience. For instance, I can find many experts from Uvic after I updated my profile as a Uvic student.

I can also use my PLN for my future career as well. For many social media, such as indeed and linkedIn. First of all, users are able to share their work experience with others in public, which creates many opportunities for future employments. Moreover, users can also see the requirements of the ideal candidates for the positions. This can help the people who are seeking for a job later have an idea what skills they should gain in order to be recruited.

When expanding PLN via social media, there would be both positive and negative voices. The unfavourable comments could sometimes hurt our feelings, which would make us feel uncomfortable. According to Glauser (2020), we do not know how others think of us. However, some negative comments could also make us realize our weaknesses. They can motivate us to become better. Therefore, we should accept and embrace the appropriate criticism in order to improve ourselves and become better and better.

References

Del Giudice, M. (2013). From information society to network society: The challenge.

Edci 338. (2020). EDCI 338 A01 – GLAUSER, Amber.

PLN can help and hinder the development of thoughts and ideas in public discourse. Diversity is a key factor for a successful and inclusive PLN. According to Mooney (2020),  as being a black hockey journalist, many other people argue with him based on his race since he is not white. Many people changed their attitude toward Mooney once they find out that he is black.  A diverse and inclusive PLN can help people embrace different cultures, which will indeed shape our society more well rounded.

Having a diverse and inclusive PLN can minimize bias and expand knowledge of others. First of all,  all individuals are unique. Therefore, listening to other people’s ideas and opinions can enlarge our vision and gain different perspectives . In addition, it does not hurt to gather more people’s view when making a decision. Indeed, including all different opinions can give us broader insight of the world and therefore to avoid any potential loss.

I am both a listener and speaker. I participate in my PLN by listening to others opinions carefully as well as sharing my views to others. For example, many friends would ask me for advice. I usually listen to them to explain the entire thoughts first, then I provide a few possible solutions based on the information I have gained from them. Then we go through the solutions together and make adjustments to make sure it can solve the challenge.

I set boundaries between my professional and personal PLN. I share lots of contents of  what my real thoughts are and who I really me in my personal PLN. Only people who I trust are able to see the contents in my personal PLN. Whereas  I try to create a trustworthy and professional image in my professional PLN for my career.

References

Meikle,G. (n.d). Social Media: Communication, Sharing and Visibility.

Mooney, H. (2020). EDCI 338 a01 – HARRISON MOONEY. YouTube.

Media literacy is a medium to deliver messages. (F, Charles& Trilling, 2009) It is difficult to verify whether the information is accurate online. Therefore, the users of social media have to be able to distinguish if the sources of the messages are legitimate or misleading.

Media literacy is important because it can help the users improve their ability distinguishing information online more effectively and efficiently. For instance, Smith (2020) stated that reading magazines from both republicans and conservatives helped him gain relatively more objective views on politics.

Sometimes, media literacy is dismissed because many businesses only share the information they want to share to the public. It is misleading when users only have access to the positive side than the well rounded perspectives. This could result in significant losses for the users.

Aiming for varied views but factual consensus in PLN can round users perspective to be more objective. Being able to access different views can neutralize and shape users views, which can benefit them and avoid potential losses.

References:

Fadel,C., & Trilling,B. (2009). 21st Century Skills – Learning for Life In Our Times.

Smith, J. (2020). EDCI 338 A01- SMITH, JULIE. YouTube.

Notable individuals use social media to engage with their public audience to let the audience know what they are doing. Usually their social media accounts are officially confirmed which the account holders are the public figures. Many people also make lots of income off social media by either selling products online or taking advantages of the massive number of followers.

There are many benefits of having a PLN being in the public eye. First of all, It is very easy to increase their influence to the public. Many people truly believe the actions and words from the public figures who they love. In addition, having a PLN in the public eye can also expand their reach. However, online abusing is another serious concern. Many people abuse others by using very offensive language on the internet. Lui(2020) has mentioned that there were times in which she stopped posting and replying the comments because of the high volume of negative comments.

There are both restrictions and advantages of having social media directly related to employment. Justia (2018) stated that employers might know a candidate’s race, sex orientation, gender, and disability through social media. This could potentially increase inequality in the society. Moreover, it is difficult to maintain a life-work balance with personal profiles linked with many employment related.  On the other hand, it is an effective advertisement to have people’s social media related to their employment. social media are very useful tools to promote the company or brand that people are employed with. For example, famous public figures are great ambassadors in terms of representing their company or products.

In order to build a PLN that can be consistently relied on, the contents need to remain accurate and relevant. being trustworthy and creditable are the key factors to make strong connections with each other.  We need to decide whether the sources of information are reliable before sharing to prevent from misleading others.

References:

Justia. (2018). Use of Social Media in Hiring.

Lui, S. (2020). EDCI 338 A01 – LUI, Sophie. YouTube.

Social media can provide realtime engagement for communities to reach their audience as it reduces the limitation of transportation and other traditional methods of delivering information. In addition, social media can also help the audience feel  are more involved in the communities as the audience can leave footprints such as comments on social media.  However, it is also difficult to communicate online than talking in person. People can use different strategies to express their information more efficiently based on the targeted group comparing to simply talking to the general public.

Cultural sensitivities should definitely be considered in order to include inclusiveness to everyone. everyone should be respected regards to their culture and background. Moreover, communications can also be different across different groups. For example, gestures and body languages can be very controversial between different groups. Therefore, creating a respectful and inclusive environment on social media is extremely important.

When communicating on social media, it is necessary to represent yourself credible and also gain trust by others. In general, people are more willing to share their thoughts to the people they know and trust. According to Kermer (2020), people are sometimes scared talking face to face. Therefore, representing yourself trust worthy could potential eliminate the fears from others and remove the barriers when talking over social media.

In order to balance people’s professional expectations and personal reliefs, it is essential to establish healthy relationships with others as well as helping each other when needed. As Kermer (2020) stated, A good listener does not have to be the loudest person in the room. Therefore, being a good listener and also sharing thoughts to others can benefit everyone in the group.

As Russell (2020) mentioned in his success over the applications of multiple social media platforms. I believe that it is very beneficial to extend my personal PLN so that I can learn more knowledge from different communication tools. In conclusion, people can get more involved to their communities by extending their PLN.

References

Kermer, A. (2020). EDCI 338 – KERMER, A.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73KOxy_fMSM&feature=youtu.be

Russell, M. (2020). EDCI 338 – RUSSELL, M.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH_UiTWYYwU&feature=youtu.be

There are a variety of online platforms with a wide range of users. I personally would choose the ones that are the most interesting and suitable for me. With the development of technology, social media sites are becoming significant components in which people can obtain updated news and education. Both online and offline networks are essential for people to expand their PLN around them. I personally agree that  in person communications usually tend to be more effective and in-depth in creating bonds between people comparing to online networks. However, online networks undoubtedly play an important role in today’s society. For example, Youtube is a very important source for learners to obtain knowledge related to their field. There are a variety of tutorials from professionals for people to review and learn from at a low or zero cost.  Youtube is my best friend and I personally listen to it on a very frequent basis. In addition, Twitter is another effective platform where people can expand their PLN. users are able to follow the accounts which they are interested in, as well as commenting the posts and receiving followers back. For instance, when people share their thoughts on social media, it sometimes can attract others who also share similar interests. great contents are also a factor to make interactions.

While participating in PLN,  some concerns may arise with respect to privacy and security. The consequences of fraudulent activities could have significant negative impacts on people’s personal life. The exposure of personal information online may also result in serious safety and security issues. Moreover, Cyber violence should also be considered when interacting with others online. language abuses could lead to some mental health issues such as depression. In conclusion, people should be careful when participating in online networks in order to benefit from them and avoid any losses.

There are a variety of advantages of having a diverse and inclusive PLN. First of all, it can attract a wide range of audience who all share some common interests. Personally, I can participate in my PLN mostly through videos, pictures, and texts. I prefer watching videos than reading texts since videos are more vivid and interesting. For example, online tutorials are my best friends whenever I want to learn something. Moreover, social media such as instagram and facebook are useful to communicate with my friends and families, as well as relaxing and entertainment . Furthermore,  Twitter and other websites such as CBC news are proficient for me to learn what is happening in the world.

I love sharing my opinions with others to get positive feedbacks. For instance, I have many groups on Facebooks and WeChat based on different interests and activities that people would like to participate. Such as basketball, table tennis, board games etc. These activities made up a large portion of my entertainment time. My diverse PLN also have broadened my views and enlarged my visions toward the world. I have many friends who are from different countries. Hearing from them gives me completely new perspectives which I did not have before. In addition, I also always listen to opinions from both sides to gain a full and true perspective of certain things. For example, in some sensitive political topics, some countries criticize the other parties for the lack of human rights for their citizen. Whereas the accused ones provides strong evidences trying to prove that all the reports and criticism are inaccurate. In these situations, I always pay attention to both sides and analyze the accuracy of their contexts.

The learning outcome of a diverse PLN is to comprise inclusion and diversity to make sure that all people are provided with platforms to learn and participate. For the people with difficulties, other methods are used to provide them an environment to access information freely. For example, sign language classes can teach the people who have difficulties hearing to use sign languages to learn and express their ideas. Same as braille are designed with combinations of dots for the blind people. After reviewing the videos and readings, I strongly agree that everyone is unique and special. We should respect the differences and diversity, as well as provide others with fair and inclusive platforms.

Today, technologies are getting more tied with people which have huge impacts on people’s lifestyles in many ways. People could have more than one identity now based on what they want to show others in real life or online. Digital Identity is what people present themselves on the internet. It includes what contents and information people share to the public and who they represent while interacting with others on the internet. For example, my digital identity could be my Tweets, Instagram posts, WeChat stories where I leave my footprints on the internet.

Usually, there are different purposes for personal and professional use of social media. In general, professional use of social media creates a good image also advertises an individual, company, or organization. Whereas personal social media is to share the mood, hobbies, and other daily activities to the group of people whom the publisher wants to be seen.

In many cases, personal and professional accounts are related. For  example, many people set up two accounts including a personal, and the other one is professional. For the personal account, people share the daily activities, whereas the professional account covers most of positive and healthy images of the individual or company. individuals should be careful when they express their real feelings on the professional account, which could result in a negative impact on the professional image.