Category: edci338

Welcome to my fourth blog post for week five of EDCI 338. I will answer questions about social media use, personal learning networks, and media literacy.

How do notable individuals use social media?

First, a notable individual is viewed as an important figure, and their name might even be a household name. Examples of notable individuals may be prime ministers or presidents, popular content creators, and celebrities. Most of these notable individuals have some social media account, and if they have a social media account, we all most likely follow them. Notable individuals use social media and their mass amounts of followers for self-promotion. For example, successful celebrities use social media to help publicize their brands and keep their names relevant in pop culture. Frequent use of social media helps to keep notable individuals in the eye of the public, ensuring their names are never forgotten. 

As many notable individuals do, engaging with a public audience in the media space carries many risks and benefits. The benefits of engaging with the public audience in your media space can be exposure and publicity. Sharing more frequently increases your exposure, giving you more publicity. In turn, more people will come to learn your name and perhaps love your brand. However, risks of engaging with a public audience in a media space can include a difference of opinions among yourself and your viewers and experiencing negative replies and critiques. Having different views among yourself and your viewers can cause negative comments, and experiencing negative responses and reviews about yourself can damage your mental health. Further, experiencing negative replies and critiques can cause you to feel you must reply to these negative critiques. However, addressing comments may not be the best idea when we are in emotionally volatile states. 

What are the benefits of being in the public eye and having a PLN?

Being a notable individual, you are most likely in the public eye, which comes with the benefits. Some of the benefits include receiving special treatment, being recognized wherever you might go, being a role model to many individuals worldwide, and having an abundance of new opportunities. Essentially, notable individuals with social media have so many followers that someone will recognize them no matter where they go. Because of this recognition, these people may receive preferential treatment and attention. However, these individuals can use their PLNs and massive platforms for good. Again, a PLN is the network of people we connect with over online media to share opinions, thoughts, and concerns. Having a PLN in the public eye Can help you broadcast important information and spread awareness about topics and issues that are important to you. The more people are aware of these issues you care about, the more people can do something about it! This mass publicity can be life-changing for certain people, organizations, and topics.

Building a community with online tools provided by the employer can be limiting. What are the perceived restrictions and benefits?

Often, employers utilize in-house means of communication, which can have its benefits, but also be limiting and restricting. For example, Establishing an in-house communication platform allows all information to be readily available and accessible to its employees. However, these employer-implemented community platforms serve the people inside the company, and all the information shared over this platform is limited to said company. In turn, there is not much room for diversity.

Delivering information in a connected society requires verifiable resources. So how do you build a PLN to rely on?

Building a PLN requires searching for those who deliver information you agree with and using verifiable resources. People who use verifiable resources are typically viewed as reliable. Following their content and information, you can rest assured you will be informed. Your digital identity and reputation reflect who you are as an individual. Constructing your PLN and the people you associate with in a way that reflects your beliefs and values is crucial.

How do those, who are veteran storytellers, minimize the risk of sharing misinformation?

Veteran storytellers typically have a lot of followers and subscribers and thus a lot of media coverage. Because so many people are tuning in to what veteran storytellers have to say, these storytellers must share factually accurate information. In the wake of COVID-19 misinformation, UNHCR shared this document of ten tips to minimize the sharing of misinformation via social media. Some suggestions made to reduce the sharing of misinformation follow:

• It is important to press pause! Social media moves quickly, and it is essential to take breaks.
• Check the source!
• Is the message criminal or dehumanizing?
• Do you truly understand the material and the issue you are reading about?

What is media literacy? Why is it important? Why is it dismissed?

Media literacy, simply, is the ability to analyze and understand media messages (Hirst, 2018). Media literacy is crucial because it helps us become wiser consumers of media and responsible producers of our media (Fresno Pacific Staff, 2018). Further, media literacy helps us develop critical thinking skills (Fresno Pacific Staff, 2018). Despite being so crucial, media literacy is often dismissed, but why? As stated by Julie Smith, we tend to be more interested in what we believe than what is actually true (Miller and Smith, 2021). Instead of looking up factually accurate information, we look for information confirming our beliefs. This is known as a confirmation bias. 

Further, open dialogue about media literacy and factual information can easily create conflict because of our confirmation biases. Once people confirm their beliefs, it is nearly impossible to change what they believe and show them that the information they have found to verify their beliefs is false. Thus, media literacy is wholly disregarded and dismissed. 

Why should you aim for varied views but the factual consensus in your PLN?

Sharing our thoughts and opinions through our PLN will attract people with varied opinions. It is essential to aim for mixed views to consider other arguments and beliefs. We must be cautious and create a factual consensus within our PLN. We want people to trust us and our opinions, and we must use trusted resources and verifiable information.

Further, there are benefits of having a PLN that values media literacy. For example, Creating a PLM that values media literacy will help spread awareness to others that media literacy is an essential skill to understand and assess the messages they are reading on social media.

I hope you all learned something and enjoyed the read 🙂

Amelia

References

Fresno Pacific Staff, (December 17, 2018). Why do today’s students need media literacy more than ever? Fresno Pacific University. https://ce.fresno.edu/news/why-today-s-students-need-media-literacy-more-than-ever/ 

Hirst, M. (2018). Navigating Social Journalism: A Handbook for Media Literacy and Citizen Journalism (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.4324/9781315401263

Miller, J., and Smith, J., (June 6, 2021). Media Literacy. EDCI 338. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57r3-aEnci0

Imagine you owned a small designing business or were a content creator making posts to spread happiness and laughter. To spread the word about your business and start developing your learning network (PLN), you would probably want to get on social media platforms with a public account to create content for the world to see. Depending on your taste and the overall image you want your business to exemplify, social media can play a role in helping you establish messaging and themes. With all of the negativity and hatred being spread online, many businesses and creators online have been using their platforms to create safe spaces that are inclusive and diverse for all to enjoy and spread light. Further, having a PLN that is public and engaging requires risk assessment and policy understanding, all of which we will dive into later. 

Social media was made for users to engage in communication to build their PLNs. This communication may not always be personal and direct, but it can be through comments on a public post or even just viewing a post and liking it. Social media is widespread, and if you need to find something on social media, you can simply search it, and you will most likely find what you were looking for. However, this accessibility is both a blessing and a curse; social media can engage in communication or can pose challenges for communication. The accessibility of social media is a blessing because it can allow for some unique, inclusive, and diverse spaces for people to share their own experiences and raise awareness of injustices. On the other hand, it can also be a curse. Instead of working against injustices or creating inclusive and diverse spaces on the Internet, we can create places that are not diverse or inclusive and that make injustices instead of helping to solve them.

Here is the million-dollar question: is social media inclusive? I believe there is no right or wrong answer to this question. Depending on the’ area’ of the Internet you are on, it could be inclusive, or it could not be inclusive (Arfini et al., 2019). I think of the Internet and social media as I think of different places in the world. You will see other things and have different experiences depending on where you want to go. To get to some niches (like the sketchy or illegal ones), you might have to cross some borders (do something to access these different places). There is a wide variety of what you can find online, and some areas are not inclusive. However, some amazingly constructed inclusive and diverse social media platforms are safe spaces for those to voice their opinions and share their stories. My final note here will be this: if you are looking for inclusivity, you will find it, and if you are looking for places with hatred, you will find those places too. Further, I believe who you associate with online, such as your PLN, reflects you and your values as a human being. Make it count. 

In my last blog post, which you can find here, I discussed employers with employees who questionably use their social platforms. For example, many employees lost their jobs or have taken hits to their reputations because they post and share discriminatory language. Further, some companies with employees who share derogatory words have suffered economic losses. For reasons like these, companies often have employee social media communication expectations policies. 

Talking about inclusivity and PLNs, I feel it is essential to bring it home and talk about how I work to make my PLN and social media platforms inclusive. I have about 900 followers on Instagram, and I do not have 900 friends. My account is private, but I typically let whoever follow me if they have requested to do so. I am from a tiny community, so everyone knows everyone, even if you have only ever heard another person’s name. This is where most of my followers come from; the rest come from my travels and my last two years of university. Also, I am outspoken and political, so I often use my social media to share factual information with those within my PLN. Thus far, I have shared information on my Instagram stories and in my Facebook feed regarding COVID-19, United States politics, gun violence, BIPOC discrimination, mental health, elections and how to vote, and legislative bills, such as Bill 61 in Manitoba. I have tried to create a group of like-minded people who care about their communities, societies, and the world. Unfortunately, raising awareness around these issues comes with hate. Whenever I receive or see hate, I simply hit “remove follower,” and the hate is gone! Inclusion is something we ll must continually work towards (Shelley, 2017).

The benefit of having a diverse and inclusive PLN on social media is that I get the chance to engage in many interesting conversations. Sometimes when I post something, I receive a message telling me I made a good point, but I should also consider something else. Sometimes I receive a simple message from someone I know who has opposing views, and we will have an honest and constructive conversation about why we believe what we believe. 

I hope you enjoyed the read!

Amelia 🙂

References

Arfini, S., Bertolotti, T., & Magnani, L. (2017;2019;). Online communities as virtual cognitive niches. Synthese (Dordrecht), 196(1), 377-397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-017-1482-0

Shelley, M. & Schnellert, L., (2017). One Without the Other : Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion, Portage & Main Press. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=4832579

Hi, folx!

I am coming to you on a cold and rainy day in northern Manitoba (even though it is almost June :/ ), and I want to discuss a little bit about digital identities and personal learning networks (PLNs). Let’s jump right in!

As described by Eric Stroller in “What is Digital Identity?” your digital identity can be made up of your presence online. Your online presence can be described as what you post and share, who you engage with, how you treat other people, and how you use digital tools for everyone’s benefit. Essentially, your digital identity is your body of work and is always with you. Our digital identities are our bodies of work and which are tied to us; this can serve us well or exceptionally poorly. For example, our digital identities can help spread the word about a business or a product to help create traffic and activity on your business website—which is a positive effect. On the other hand, if we use our social media and digital identities to post and share controversial things or treat people poorly on our social networks, this reflects poorly on us and could perhaps even prevent us from getting our dream job. For these reasons and the effects that our digital identities can have on our lives, we all must remain and continue to be digitally aware critical thinkers. 

It is essential to recognize that we can curate our digital identity based on how we want it to look, thus presenting an overall effect on our social media use. Over the last few years, many users on social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, have used these applications in a professional matter to spread the word about their business. Having public social media accounts allows more people to see your products and your business who otherwise would not. Public accounts may also provide the opportunity to expand personal learning networks (Rajagopal et al., 2011). Conversely, people may use social media and build a digital identity in a personal matter. For example, many use Instagram and SnapChat to stay connected to friends and family members and to keep up-to-date with what is going on in their lives. 

Further, I feel it is important to consider public and private social media accounts. In a sense, personal social media accounts are safer if you post and share more private content that you only want to share with your friends and family. On the other hand, public social media accounts with a perhaps more professional approach to social media, as I mentioned earlier, allow more people to come across your profile, which could help publicize yourself and your business if that is what you want to do. 

It is crucial to consider the effects social media can have on our lives. No references are needed to say that ever since the creation of social media, these online platforms provide a private and non-confrontational space for people to spread hatred and negative attitudes. There can be detrimental effects on the people who are on the receiving end of these negative comments and hate. Further, spreading hatred and negative comments and attitudes could potentially reflect poorly on you if you are being screened for a job by an employer. Employers want someone kind who is a proactive and empathetic citizen. If an employer sees that you are treating people poorly online, they may see that as potentially treating another employee poorly if you are hired for that job. Therefore, you could lose out on a job opportunity because of your social media use and your digital identity and reputation. Through social media, people’s words are easily amplified and can be widespread. Many have lost their jobs or have taken hits to their reputations because they post and share discriminatory language. Further, some companies with employees who share derogatory language have suffered economic losses.

As I said above, and I feel it is important to reiterate this point, digital identities can have detrimental effects on our lives; we all must remain and continue to be digitally aware critical thinkers.

References

Rajagopal, K., Joosten-ten Brinke, D., Van Bruggen, J., & Sloep, P. B. (2011). Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them. First Monday, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v17i1.3559

Hi there! Today I’m going to share my visitor and resident map (V&R map), and then I would like to have a little discussion about personal learning networks and digital identities! 

When I first read” V&R map,” I had that same confused look you probably have on your face as I write this sentence. Essentially a visitor and resident map is an exercise we can all do to help us better understand how we use the internet (OCLC Research). 

I went through my devices and selected the top 30 most essential platforms I use. I then classified these 30 platforms into these four categories: V and R, and P and I. 

• V and R are on a continuum, and these letters stand for “Visitor” (you do not leave a social trace) and “Resident” (you do leave a social trace) (OCLC Research).
• P and I are also on a continuum, separate of V and R. P and I stand for “Personal” and “Institutional” (work-related) (OCLC Research).

Before diving into digital platforms, personal learning networks, and more, I would like to discuss why I placed some of these platforms where I have put them. After looking at some examples, I thought about what it meant for streaming services, such as Netflix, to be a resident or personal site. I don’t always use Netflix as a personal service; sometimes, while I’m substitute teaching, I will log on and use it for work-related activities, play documentaries and entertaining clips. For this reason, I rated all the streaming services I sometimes use around each other. Further, looking at the platforms I chose to incorporate into my map, all of my school apps, such as bright space, Microsoft Teams, and WordPress, are in the institutional category. I only ever use these platforms when it is for my schoolwork, which I consider work-related.

Thinking about my V and R map and the platforms that I chose to include, an important question is what digital platforms are students using to develop their professional network? To build my professional network, I am using LinkedIn, as most students do. Whenever I take professional development workshops or courses, the instructors always say to get onto LinkedIn as soon as possible. LinkedIn is a great platform to sell yourself and hopefully find a job through some of your connections! Along with LinkedIn, these instructors also tell you to get onto Twitter. Many use Twitter for fun, but Twitter has many other educational and professional uses, some of which can help expand your personal learning network.

Applications and platforms are great for expanding our personal learning networks. It is also important to consider in-person opportunities as a way to grow and boost your personal learning that works. I recognize this is an online course, but in-person interactions are more critical now that we are all coming out of our COVID-19 bubbles. Another great way to expand your personal learning network is through in-person means to attend an educational event, such as a workshop, a conference, or auditing a class, all of which can be done online.

When creating our digital identities and reputations, it is important to consider various factors such as data privacy and security. For example, when creating an Instagram account, we can choose whether that account is private or public. Making an account public means that whoever can see what you are posting whenever they want. Whereas a private account, someone must request to follow you, and that request must be approved by you. Only when that request is approved by you may individuals see your photos and what you post. Clearly, these data privacy and security aspects can both limit and promote our personal learning networks. For example, being private on applications such as Instagram, Facebook, and more, can perhaps limit the number of connections and information you’re able to find and share to expand your personal learning network. On the other hand, being public on these applications can allow for more traffic on your profile, as more people are able to find it and look at it. However, keep in mind when creating personal learning at work how you can create a digital identity and reputation.

Our digital identity is our presence online, such as what we post and share, who we engage with, how we treat people, and how we utilize various digital tools. Our digital identities are always with us, it is our body of work. Because our digital identities are always with us, they could either serve us to be really good or really bad. What I mean by this is that depending on what your digital identity and reputation may look like, it could determine whether you get a job or not. Often times when employers are vetting potential employees, they will search for your digital identity.

I will leave you with this. What does your digital identity and reputation look like? How would an employer respond if you applied for a job at their company and they assessed your social media presence via your digital identity? What would they find? Would the potential employers like what they see? Could you possibly miss out on a job opportunity simply because of your social media presence, digital identity, and reputation?

I hope you enjoyed the read 🙂

Amelia