When curating a social media network, it is important to keep in mind that it will be in the spotlight with a critical public audience. When you engage with a public audience in media space, there are inevitably risks and benefits that come along with it. A major benefit is that you are able to educate the audience on a topic that they may not be familiar with, but that you have knowledge of. This benefits the individual because they are able to make more people aware of a particular subject matter that is important to them. Unfortunately, there is a risk that you may say something inappropriate, controversial, or something that is wrong to certain groups of people. This will cause you to get judged harshly, and could ultimately cause the audience to no longer trust that person. This could be especially if you held a position of trust, such as an educator. When you get negative critiques reflective of your personal values and employer social media policy, it is best to not get defensive. Instead, you should be respectful to the person who posted the critique, address it right away, and respond with a resolution immediately so that the audience know you are taking the critique seriously.
Many notable individuals use social media to connect with more people than what would be possible without social media. Some of these notable individuals connect with people and build their brand and increase their notoriety. Other notable individuals use social media to discuss issues that are important to them in order to increase how informed people who follow them are. Lastly, notable individuals will use social media to get news out to people that they feel people need to be aware of.
Being in the public eye and having a professional learning network can open a lot of doors of opportunity, which is the main benefit, in my opinion. If you were not in the public eye, no one knows who you are and what you stand for and believe in. If people were to find you through your professional network, they may have opportunities for you that intersect with your values and beliefs. Had you not put yourself out there, no one would know about the principles you believe in and provide you with potential ways to engage more meaningfully with these values.
Building community with online tools provided by an employer can be limiting, which creates a major restriction in who is in your community, and how widespread that community is. Sine the tools that the employer provide are not as expansive as if you had access to your own personal tools, your community may end up being relatively small. Having a small community restricts the viewpoints you can learn from since they will most likely not be as diverse. Although your community may end up being smaller, it can actually be beneficial because you will end up being closer to the people who are in your network. With less people, it will be easier to form closer bond with those who are in it.
Building a professional learning network that you can rely on can be done by ensuring that the people who are in your network are people who you can trust. Your PLN should be comprised of people who help you expand your views on education and motivate you to develop as a professional. You should view your PLN as a series of relationships, and the people you want to have relationships with are ones you can trust. If the individuals that make up your PLN are all people you can trust on an individual basis, then you will be able to trust your network as a whole. The educators in your PLN should align to your own personal values and beliefs, and should be people you respect.
Lastly, sharing misinformation on social media is something that everyone should be especially careful of. If you share information that is not correct, it can ruin your reputation.
Veteran storytellers minimize their risk for sharing misinformation by verifying their sources before they post anything from them. One should follow suit by verifying everything they are posting has a legitimate source to back it up. You should also ensure you understand what you are posting in case you have to back it up.
Hi Chloe， I think what you said is quite reasonable. First of all, the security of personal information is really important on the Internet. We should not reveal too much information to strangers. Because if your PLN is safe, you won’t feel comfortable sharing things about yourself. The same things shared on the network as you said must be correct, otherwise when you mislead others, you will lose the trust of others on PLN
I quite agree with you. I think social media can really bring us a lot of benefits. It helps us understand new ideas, meet new friends, find new jobs and so on. The open network platform is inclusive, so it can bring us many opportunities.
Hi, Chloe, I agree with you that sharing misinformation on social media is something everyone should be especially careful of. If you share incorrect information, it can ruin your reputation. First, the source should be verified, reducing the risk of sharing incorrect information. Also, check that everything they post is backed by legitimate sources and make sure you understand what you’re Posting in case you have to back it up.