What Do People See?
The growth of networked digital media has enabled us to form new communication styles. Previously separate – text, image, audio, video – can all come together within a single platform bringing new approaches in how society obtains its news. In today’s society, social media holds the largest influence on how we communicate with one another as it is easily accessible and promotes free speech.
There are numerous advantages to social media in developing thoughts and ideas in public discourse. We are able to easily communicate and collaborate with one another to finely diagnose thoughts and ideas. To continually grow with social media, every user should immerse themselves within a diverse PLN. This would curate the individual’s PLN to minimize biases as different perspectives would be brought to light. In the interview with Harrison Mooney, he noted that when he began to blog, he mainly focused on hockey and sports. This curated his PLN to a niche group of individuals. However, as his interests expanded, and his main focus wasn’t sports and hockey, he began to unfollow hockey fan accounts, etc., and began to seek philosophers, academics, etc. to further expand his knowledge. This is a particular advantage of social media as this brings new perspectives and adds more voices to challenge thoughts/ideas.
With its benefits, comes its challenges. Not everyone will believe that a diverse PLN is beneficial – causing those to be narrow-minded and stuck with their beliefs. Their thoughts and ideas are not challenged, therefore the narrative is static. This has caused conflict and further separated groups of people worldwide.
The identity of the person plays a major role in creating a successful PLN. First off, the individual must have a specific point of view (not saying that this can’t change however, it should be known). This will help form an audience that can offer insights. Harrison Mooney noted his passion for hockey and that is the reason why he began blogging this topic. This shows the audience his passion for the topic and commitment to this area. Bloggers engage with one another revealing their interests and stance on the topics which help to start conversations within their PLN.
Professional and personal boundaries should always be assessed when posting on social media. Personally, I tend to curate my posts with what I am okay with others seeing – for the most part, keeping my life private. As I and society are continually growing with this new-aged platform, it is important to not overshare as in previous blogs, it can hinder future opportunities. That said, these boundaries placed must still be your authentic self. In Meikle’s (2016), they discussed how although our digital lives may seem to be private, the databases/internet is constantly tracking our digital presence. Although this was already known, reading on it is still uneasy.
EDCI_338. (2020, November 8). EDCI 338 A01 – Harrison Mooney. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKNQpz0RrI&feature=youtu.be
Meikle, G. 2016. Convergence and the Limits of Citizen Journalism. Chapter 4 in: Social Media – Communication, Sharing and Visibility. Routledge.
Hey KC,
As usual, very insightful post this week. Your discussion about how different perspectives can minimize bias is absolutely true, and is something I also discussed this week. Incorporating different perspectives even in our personal lives can broaden our knowledge base and can offer a number of new experiences. I really enjoyed this read, thanks so much for sharing.
Jasmine
KC,
Great work! I enjoyed your mentioning of Harrison Mooney and how he started as a sports journalist and how that created his niche of a PLN. I agree and really enjoyed Mooney’s interview. In what way do you think your own PLN is crafted to your individual likes and interests?