Author: dante

Thread Discussion

After taking the Privacy and Surveillance quiz, I realized that I am decently careful with my privacy and security. I only share online with intention and am conscious about what I interact with, as I know that it can have negative or positive impacts on me depending on who is consuming or viewing what I post online. I do think that being overly worried about the risks of interacting with social media can lead to you having a very narrow PLN or not having one at all. Personally my PLN is not that diverse, I tend to use the same sources of media and quite regularly and interact with the same pages, I would like to expand this as i think it could only be beneficial to me. By expanding my PLN I would only diversify the voices and ideas I interact with and broaden my understanding of the views of other people.

Blog Post

Before starting this class my PLN was mostly about consuming content for entertainment. Now that I’m gaining a better understanding of the ways I can expand my PLN I am becoming more intentional with my engagement and focusing more on learning rather than just consuming for entertainment. I’m looking at social media more like a tool rather than just a way to fill up my time. I am realizing that a PLN without diverse voices can leave me stranded in an echo chamber of the same ideas and beliefs, without allowing myself to expand my own beliefs and identity.

Social media is the main infrastructure of a PLN and it show you find follow and engage with other learners and professionals, and its fascinating how using social media can allow you to learn from anyone not just experts in a single field. You may have the same ideas or be really interested in a very niche subject with someone who is across the world and be able to connect and dive deeper into these thoughts or research by connecting over social media.

Algorithms are a tricky thing, they seem to shrink your PLN by only showing you more of what you’re already interested in or already agree with. They show you what you unconsciously want to be shown and want to interact with and this can keep you from expanding your personal views or hearing and understanding the ideas of others. The algorithms can trap you within a small circle of the same repetitive voices over and over again and I tend to find myself in these spots, I would like to try and shy away from the algorithms a bit more in order to expand my PLN.

The biggest benefits of having a diverse PLN is that you learn faster when your network challenges your assumptions, if you’re always around exactly like minded people you may never need to prove your point if everyone agrees with you. I also think that a PLN that is rooted in inclusion can create ripple effects as your learning will impact how you show up in your workplace, everyday life, and community.

Resources
https://digitaltattoo.ubc.ca/quizzes/privacy-and-surveillance/
https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/7802/6515
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/reader.action?docID=4832579&ppg=11
Media & Social Justice – CHAPTER 4
Course YouTube Channel

Personal Learning Networks
Networking using social media is building and sustaining connections on platforms
where people focus on self expression and can find community through their own interests and
beliefs, it doesn’t just have to be “connecting” with someone on linkedin in can be making new
friends through a personal garden group that you’re part of on facebook. Networking this way is
continuous and weightless in the sense that it can be done without much effort and can be done
across professional, personal or interest based circles.
Were motivated to participate in networked publics by social emotional aims.
Professionals network online for learning, growth and access to expertise but that participation
can feel forced and artificial sometimes it also requires trust and willingness to share. Where for
personal reasons people will be drawn into networked publics by searching for something,
whether that be entertainment, a feeling of belonging, identity exploration or recognition.
Public communications come with risks and rewards. Some major rewards are access to
information without a paywall or a gatekeeper preventing you from accessing it. Since social
media and the internet have become readily accessible it has become so much easier for the
average person to answer any question that they have or learn anything that they desire to.
Another major reward is granting access to opportunities for work, identity and community
through online spaces that weren’t available before, you can now live in a town of 5o people but
have five hundred thousand people that tune in everyday to watch and interact with content that
you make. Some risks are opening yourself to the public, where anyone can learn information
about you, maybe some people that are dangerous and could want to harm or harass you or
damage your reputation. You run the risk of losing personal privacy when you choose to interact
with these networks.

Digital Identity
Your digital identity is the way you represent yourself on the web, the way you conduct
yourself has consequences whether they be negative or positive. You can fully represent
yourself on the internet as someone that you may not be in real life, you could seem completely
different based on the way you conduct yourself and interact with the internet and social media.
Everything you post can be connected to you and it is very important to remember that. An
employer may see something you interacted with or posted online and it could completely
change their opinion of you or help them gather information about who you are as a person and
help them decide whether they want to hire you or not.
Your professional vs personal relationship with social media affects what you post, what
you interact with, who you follow and what you choose to keep private or public. Your personal
approach is oriented toward connection and entertainment, connecting with friends, family or
strangers but doing so in a way that is personal and candid and not necessarily censored in any
ways. Compared to a professional approach where your interaction with social media can affect
your reputation, credibility and opportunities, you may be more careful or censored with what
you decide to share or post about yourself and your opinions. Your audience is your colleagues
or superiors and recruiters and their opinion of you can be very important for your success.
Social media can bring everything together into one, you can have one identity for
everyone to have access to, it combines who you are at work, who you are at home and who
you are around your friends. If you have public accounts that anyone can access, everyone in
your life can see one version of you online, there’s no more differentiating who you are at work
or at home, they merge together and become one online. This can be beneficial for people to
connect with family and friends and co-workers, but there are obvious consequences to how
you conduct yourself online, maybe people will see a different side of you that they hadn’t seen
before and it may change their opinion in a negative way.

References
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137405876
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http://tinyurl.com/y53m4tuj
https://youtu.be/u0RryRbJza0?si=fyYTltdE7-0K0GRx
https://youtu.be/1-V7lyxrOmw?si=ZRzd1EJlaD3K
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