Identify the risks and benefits of engaging with a public audience in a media space – what are the risks for a public figure or person in a position of trust (educator, lawyer, government official)?
Engaging with a public audience in a media space has a lot of benefits but also risks. Interacting with a public audience in a media space allows for such a diverse interaction that can reshape and guide individuals’ opinions. For example, a public audience is extremely vast, with people from all sorts of backgrounds, experiences, communities, and cultures coming together to share their opinion. Another interesting part of this is that media can allow people to be more honest. This is because some individuals choose to create accounts that are an alias and this can allow them to express themselves freely without fear of someone knowing it’s them. This leads to such raw and real opinions and stories, that can expand others’ views and opinions from their interaction in the media space. Risks of course are prevalent though too. Engaging with a public audience can be difficult as I said previously it can be anyone and expressing personal information can be dangerous to your security.
Risks for a public figure/person in a position of trust, can be astronomical. In terms of a media space, individuals hold a lot of expectations from public figures and trusted people. A public figure is pretty much defined from their supports and their online presence can either drive their success or completely obliterate it. “Cancel Culture” is a good example of the detrimental effects of errors online. Canceling is when individuals deem a person no longer supported by something they have done (online or not). Usually, this is justified for example Harvey Weinstein was canceled a few years ago from his mistreatment and abuse that was shared online from survivors. On the ladder though, there are people who are canceled for simple errors that don’t justify a person being deemed unsupportable. Another “trend” or theme which is arising right now is the canceling of individuals from their prior social media posts. A lot of young figures right now are losing fame and credibility from old tweets and posts that held offensive and racist comments. All this canceling from media presences whether it being current or actions from years prior, a figure is defined by this action in the public eye.
How do notable individuals use social media?
Notable individuals use social media very consciously. These individuals are generally in the public eye and have a following base. Being that their actions are followed and commonly spoken about (from media coverage), the things they do on their platforms have to have a purpose. Social media is a way to showcase the things they like and what they’re up to personally and professionally. They use it for the same reasons we do (except they can make lots of money from brand deals and marketing their products/brand), however, they are judged on a completely different scale than us. For example, a notable individual with a million followers posting a photo with a product that promotes weight loss could receive backlash for trying to market that product to a young demographic or backlash from trying to sell a product that doesn’t work. I on the other hand could post this and my friends and family who follow me could possibly think it’s weird I’m posting a product that doesn’t work, but I wouldn’t receive hate or lose credibility. All in all notable individuals use social media with the consequences in mind and have to make a conscious effort with all engagement and posts.
What are the benefits of being in the public eye and having a PLN?
Being a public figure opens many doors and vastly affects your PLN. For example, I have 778 followers on Instagram (not even that many though as spam accounts and random inactive accounts litter my following), these are the individuals who engage with me socially as my posts and actions reach their feed. In contrast to someone with over a million followers on these platforms, they have access to almost anyone they want. If they want to engage with someone in Scotland or someone who works in Tech, these people are easy to find and get a response. I on the other hand must make a bit more effort, as I am a stranger, while people in the public eye are seen as peers/friends from the start. This initial credibility allows for them to expand their PLNs quicker and easier than myself in comparison. Also, imagine if I posted to my story asking a question, I could assume maybe I would get 10 responses depending on the topic as only those very close to me would probably answer, however a person in the public eye could receive thousands of replies as people feel comfortable engaging with these figures in comparison to someone they know of (acquaintance) in their personal lives.
Building community with online tools provided by the employer can be limiting, what are the perceived restrictions and benefits?
Building community with online tools can be restrictive however, also beneficial. Restrictions can be present in communication and expression. Online tone can be lost and what’s trying to be expressed can be read differently than attended. I have sent a handful of messages and have had people think I was angry or sad when I was the opposite, but you don’t have to ques you usually get in person (facial expression, tone, movement), online. Another restriction is the fact you can’t genuinely know what’s true online. Those you interact with and things you are told at times can be very different than what you think because online and behind a screen, people think they can do anything. In contrast, though, there are benefits to building community online. Online tools allow us to reach like-minded individuals easily and allow us to participate in the conversation. Online tools are open to anyone and that means we don’t have to experience exclusion and instead inclusion, helping us expand our thoughts and opinions.
Delivering information in a connected society requires verifiable resources, how to build a PLN to rely on?
Building a reliable PLN takes a lot of extra effort nowadays. We live in a world where “Fake News” is super prevalent. The number of times I have come across pages and posts about crazy alleged stories is astronomical. This has made researching and fact-checking a must when finding information on something. If we simply take any information we see as fact, our PLN will be littered with unreliable ideas/thoughts which will negatively affect our learning process. All in all, this showcases the importance of fact-checking and only accounting for reliable sources when building our PLN, or else we limit our growth.
How do those, who are veteran storytellers, minimize risk in sharing misinformation?
Making sure to consciously speak to others can help minimize the opportunity of misinformation. By this I’m referencing what was spoken about above, making sure the stories you spread are factual and are built from reliable sources. This conscious action is the only way to stop this misinformation from being spread but it also allows for your credibility to not be ruined. Veteran storytellers have a talent for conveying things but if their credibility is ruined, no one will want to listen anymore, therefore conscious actions are vital.
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Vance, Jody & Miller, J. “EDCI 338 – 2021 – 03 – 21 JODY VANCE.” 03 Mar. 2021. doi: https://.youtube.com/watchv=dgZOJgJKdyl&feature=youtu.be
Hirst, M. (2018). Social Journalism and the Gig Economy. Navigating Social Journalism: A Handbook for Media Literacy and Citizen Journalism. Ch. 6.(pp. 142-143). New York, NY: Routledge.
Great post. I agree that notable individuals require more caution when using social media. Advertising less quality product could ruin their reputation easily. Also, I agree that storytellers should be doing research and rely on reliable sources, not some random information people could google online.