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.