Personal Learning Networks (PLN), whether we are aware of what they are or not, contribute to our everyday learning and lives. I for one was an individual who was completely unaware of what a PLN was and thus its relevancy in my own life. However, that was quickly changed once I began to explore this week’s readings. I found that a PLN is the place we collect, generate and share information/experiences with groups of connected individuals (Gutierrez, 2016). This links into our other key idea of Digital Identity as our PLNs are developed through the use of our online activities (thus our digital identity), which allow us to view, respond and connect with individuals anytime; anywhere (Gutierrez, 2016).
What does it mean to network using social media?
Networking using social media, to many, is a conscious (and a lot of the time unconscious) everyday practice. Living in 2021, we are so familiar with the use of social media. Our generation lives through these applications whether it’s checking Tiktok, posting on Instagram, communicating through Snapchat, or reading on Reddit. All of these actions are networking using social media even though at times we might not be aware that’s what we’re doing. Think of how many times you have come across a post on Instagram and found out something that relates to your studies and provided you with interesting new information. Have you ever shared those posts to your story or reposted them on your page? did you gain a new follower from this? We’re you able to talk about this post with other like-minded individuals in the comments? Well, that’s networking using social media! The use of these social medias grants us access to communicate with people regardless of timezones, learn new things whether we wanted to see them or not and express our interests to anyone anywhere. In the past, to network we had to go somewhere to meet people or find resources, however now it’s as simple as clicking a button.
How are we motivated to participate in networked publics?
We all experience motivation and drive no matter what it may be towards. It causes us to seek out sources and go to extra lengths. Regarding networked publics, it follows the emerging theme in this blog post, it’s a conscious but also unconscious motivation we have. It is in our nature to seek out those we can relate to and converse with. This can lead us to join Facebook groups of like-minded individuals (I personally am a part of the “Gustavson Commerce Class of 2024” and “Costco Langford Updates”) and forums. This is an act we do throughout our days’ whether it’s to engage in public networks or simply achieve our natural instinct of communication and belonging. A part of the readings this week which I think relates to this question would be as follows:
“Both strong and weak connections contribute to the individual’s learning: strong ties allow for active collaboration on knowledge creation, whereas weak ties are sources for new information, knowledge and ideas (Bell, 2010; Gargiulo and Benassi, 2000; Jones, 2008; Jones, et al., 2008; Ryberg and Larsen, 2008; Wenger, 1998)”
What are the risks & rewards of public communications?
Public communications can lead us to experience and learn things that in everyday life we probably wouldn’t have come across. We don’t have the worry of not being able to communicate due to location and timezones as online we can connect with anyone. We also can express ourselves and our experiences with so many individuals we could have never communicated with without online resources. However, even though we gain all of these amazing new ways of learning and communicating, it still holds many risks. Putting our information online gives up a lot of our privacy that we may not be comfortable providing (Boyd, 2012). When we share things online not only is our system aware of these things but as said before so many people can see it. This can seriously put us in a sticky situation as putting vulnerable information online jeopardizes our security and those around us. Not only do we have to worry about our privacy but the things we post online can have a detrimental effect on our image. When we say/post things online we have to keep in mind that colleagues, future employers, and friends have open access to these posts.
What is a digital identity?
Digital identity essentially is your presence online. Everything you post, interact with, and join is a part of this identity. In short, all aspects of your online actions make up your digital identity. ( be careful what you post, we all can see it, and now it’s a part of your digital identity!! )
How do personal versus professional approaches to digital identity affect social media use?
A personal approach to digital identity leads our social media to look completely different than it would for a professional approach. In personal use, we tend to give a lot more information about our lives while with a professional approach we would keep these more private. Professionally our connections stay very linked but personally, we can expand into such a huge variety of different groups. A personal approach also leads us to post and interact online in a much more vulnerable and open way. Something we would likely refrain from doing from a professional standpoint. Both have such different sides but contribute astronomically to our PLNs (in such interesting different ways, providing us with so much more depth)!
How do digital identities converge in networked publics – what are the impacts and/or benefits?
Our digital identities showcase who we are as individuals and this can allow anyone to get an understanding of who we are as people. This can be super impactful with employers being able to see our strong suits and redeeming qualities however, with them being able to see the positives they also are then able to see the negatives. This means that our digital identities open up an opportunity for our downfalls to be presented to anyone at any time, possibly ruining our potential connections and job opportunities.
References :
Boyd, Danah. (2012). Networked Privacy. Surveillance and Security .
Gutierrez, K. (2016, June 21). What are personal Learning networks? What are Personal Learning Networks? Retrieved from https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/personal-learning-networks.
Hi Ali,
Thank you for your thoughtful blog post this week. I agree with many of your viewpoints regarding PLN and social networking. As a university student in today’s social climate it is imperative that we adapt with the technological advances and participate with social networking. We have watched many aspects of life transition onto the online world and it has been a unique experience to grow up during this time period. You touch on the simplicity that networking now entails, and I think this is an important mention for the topic. Simplicity seems to be the driving force behind technological advancements and updates, specifically with PLN and digital identities. There are countless possibilities that digital identities bring to the table, and it is imperative for younger generations like us to continue to learn and expand with the evolution of digital identities and learning networks.
Hi Ali,
I really enjoyed reading through your post. I agree with the idea that joining Facebook online forums is a great way to connect and engage with like-minded individuals. Additionally, you are likely to get a quick response using this way of communication because most Facebook users utilize push notifications and will receive an alert when there is a new message in the forum.
I also like how you mentioned that having a sense of belonging is an important factor when looking at why we are motivated to communicate with our networks. We all want to feel heard, have a safe place to ask and answer questions, and feel like we are a part of something meaningful. This is exactly what PLNs can offer.