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Personal Learning Networks and digital identity
What does it mean to network using social media?
Social networks create connections by bringing the real world and the digital world together. Enabling people to connect with others they may never have met.
How are we motivated to participate in networked publics?
In today’s society, most people have their own social media. The most common social media marketing platforms are Facebook, linkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, Tumblr, etc.
From time to time, there are hot topics in these social media. When we participate in discussions on hot topics, or comment on social reports, or even retweet some articles, we have actually participated in public opinion at this time.
How are we motivated to participate in networked publics?
The risk of public communication is that social media is given public power. So if an employee represents the company then his statement becomes the voice of the company, so if that employee makes a questionable statement then the company will be taken along with it in a negative light.
What is the Digital Identity？
An online or networked identity adopted or claimed in cyberspace by an individual, organisation, or electronic equipment is referred to as a digital identity. These users may also project several digital identities across various groups. It is the real identity information condensed into a digital code, forming a public secret key that can be queried and identified through the network and related devices.
How do personal versus professional approaches to digital identity affect social media use?
Social media can be used not only on a personal level, but also on a professional level. Whatever the purpose of starting to use social media, it can be used to benefit both personally and professionally.
Developing separate social media accounts for personal and professional use is a very wise choice. A very large number of professionals will have two accounts on the same social media account, both of which serve different purposes. On the personal account is usually the place to communicate and connect with family and best friends. Professional accounts, on the other hand, are more professionally oriented to showcase their respective professional skills. However, it is important to note that when using both accounts you should be careful not to post information to the wrong social accounts.Some people in social media-related careers will update their social media accounts for their companies. If they mistake a professional account for a personal account, it can have unimaginably disastrous consequences for the business. The most direct and worst result is that they will lose their jobs.
How do digital identities converge in networked publics – what are the impacts and/or benefits?
The introduction of digital identity is dramatically altering the dynamics and growth of the economy and society. In comparison to existing identification systems, this will considerably increase overall social efficiency and optimise the release of user value, allowing all parties to benefit from it, including governments, service providers, and users.
Digital is far more convenient and adaptable for users, who not only have the right to govern who has access to their personal data information, but also have the ability to choose when, when, and how their information is published. On the one hand, service providers can modify products and services based on the user’s traits and intents using the user identification information stored in the system.On the other hand, the existence of a digital identification system may effectively replace the previous cumbersome paper proofs from the process, minimise the expense of frequent contact between the service provider and the user, and considerably increase the efficiency of the operation.
And governments can interact with citizens more effectively. All citizens’ important identification data and behavioural information are recorded in digital identity, and the government may assist them properly in the face of various qualities of people and their demands. Simultaneously, regulators may boost oversight and improve the relevance and efficacy of monitoring with the use of a digital identification system.
But the fact is that digital identity still has some drawbacks, such as the lack of real validity of personal data. Sometimes it is impossible to determine whether the user who is using this digital identity is actually the user himself, and it is difficult to trace the authenticity of digital identity information in the system from the source, and it is not easy to correspond the reality to the online identity. Likewise because the social infrastructure is not complete. There are numerous classifications of identity attributes, so different application scenarios require different identity information, and the mutual authentication between systems needs to go through a very complex process, making it difficult to manage consistency and collaboration. Finally, the simplicity of identity authentication technology makes privacy vulnerable to leakage. As people are more and more active on the Internet, the prerequisite for using Internet services is to solve the identification problem. And once the digital identity is used by the bad guys, it will lead to the risk of personal privacy information leakage, followed by the betrayal of user information, resulting in serious property and related interest losses. As mentioned in The Value of Digital Identity for the Global Economy and Society, when people link their ids to their bank accounts, assuming a total of 600 million people, half of them will lose their bank accounts.
Personal Digital Identity vs Professional Digital Identity
Here is my V&R MAP~
Nowadays with the popularity of social media, students use many digital platforms. Traditional ones like Instagram, YouTube, Fcaebook, Twitter, Zoom,LinkedIn or Snapchat. Or wechat or Weibo, which some Chinese students will use it.
As a student, when starting a professional learning network, I would consider how to fully present myself on the platform and make friends with like-minded people. Often, a well-chosen avatar and a captivating profile will make a better first impression on strangers. But once I graduated and started working, I needed to think about how to attract employers to find the right job. For example, Linkedln, a professional workplace-oriented social platform.
For people with similar interests who may not be able to meet in the real world, try cyberspace and form online teams with people with similar interests. You can also become an expert in a certain area based on your interests to attract more followers on the web. Develop your strengths by writing blogs and posting interesting articles and making interesting videos. Also, in a traditional learning environment, learners may be limited by geography. And PLN provides a great way to do just that. Even if you encounter group work in an online class, you can use Google Drive to work together. Online personal learning networks are virtual, which means there are no barriers to contend with. Even PLNs can include global resources, such as the UVIC Online Library, which has a lot of valid material to read.
On these digital platforms, you need to regularly post content that is relevant to your interests to attract more like-minded people. You can also post some content related to your profession to prepare for future job hunting and development. Also need to pay attention to the content posted on these platforms whether there is any inappropriate, because when starting a job search, employers may visit my social media platform to make an initial judgment, if there is inappropriate statements will make me lose the job opportunity. When using these platforms remember to use the full potential of digital methods.
The last thing that needs to be mentioned is the privacy and security issues that need to be taken into account when using digital platforms. For example, when posting photos on social media platforms, some people may retrieve personal information through the photos with ulterior motives. Not only that, our information is not only used, but also sold by Internet companies as a package.
Inclusive and diverse PLN development
We live in a world completely consumed by social media. We millennials, in particular, have grown up with electronics and the Internet.
As a content production and exchange platform based on user relationship on the Internet, social media is a tool and platform for people to share opinions, opinions, experiences and opinions with each other. Social media is booming on the fertile land of the Internet, erupting with dazzling energy. The information it spreads has become an important content for people to browse the Internet, creating one hot topic after another in people’s social life, attracting traditional media to scramble to follow up. When disease outbreaks, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and breaking news occur, people increasingly rely on the Internet and turn to social media as a major source of news and information, making it a powerful communication tool.And social media has gradually evolved into a tool to discuss gender equality, which is also a trend to show the inclusive development of social media.
On social media platforms, the interaction between people and information has never been possible before. There are challenges to these possibilities, too. There are a series of problems hidden in social media, such as security, privacy, false information and polarization of opinion. The challenge of social media in the process of communication is that not all people have their real faces displayed online. Most people may choose to beautify their image, and a few people will directly choose to fake, which may have a negative impact on interpersonal interaction. In particular, fake information on dating apps is a serious problem.
Social media is an open platform that allows everyone to express their opinions, but there can be inequality due to users’ ability to trigger cascades of information. This ability represents the influence of social media users and can have a profound impact on opinion formation on political, economic and social issues.In fact, social media should be an inclusive place where there should be no race, sexual orientation, gender, religion or disability. Inclusion of all genders, races and industries should be a trend.What needs to be realized is that if we unconsciously suppress inclusion and diversity, we miss the opportunity to see the life experiences of others. We lose the opportunity to listen to those who speak for us. We also lose the pleasure of learning from others.
As for my PLN, I always try to learn from different voices. What I believe is that in PLN learning, we should not only focus on the direction of our own views. You also need to be open to different perspectives. Realize that the other person’s point of view is a complement to your own, not just a rebuttal. One of my favorite quotes is “I don’t agree with you, but I defend your right to say it.” The diversity of PLN allows me to get in touch with the output of viewpoints from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds.
Public PLN – Balancing PLN, Media Literacy, & Public Discourse
Media literacy refers to “people’s ability to select, understand, question, evaluate, create and produce, and respond to discernment when confronted with various information in the media. In this era of information explosion, the penetration and spread of false information are speedy. Many audiences are still young people with little experience in life, so it is essential to pay attention to how to make them understand right from wrong, first and foremost as media professionals. It is important to note that when I, as a media person, post a blog on social media, I have to be aware that the people behind the media will influence the final message that readers receive. This means that my blog will value the values and opinions embedded in what is raised. As a media person, I realize that the public, in general, lacks critical thinking and independent thinking in Internet life and is easily confused by the surface of information, blindly believing in the truth of information and even equating the mimetic environment created by the media with objective facts. This also leads to being easily led by the inflammatory and emotional information published by some unscrupulous press.
As the darling of the spotlight, public figures are in the limelight. Any inappropriate words or actions may be magnified and exposed to the public, causing a tremendous negative impact. However, in recent years, numerous crises have involved public figures. When a public figure is affected by a general problem, it also affects the brands it endorses (here, public figures refer to actors).
The best way to deal with negative comments is to respond to them as soon as possible. The longer a negative comment goes unanswered, the more complaints it will get. The second is to apologize. Assuming someone complains about my product, service, or anything else, please say sorry first. It doesn’t matter if their complaint is justified; the best approach is to take the “customer is always right” approach. Or choose to communicate with the party who made the negative comment through private channels. The most direct way is to delete the word and not to give money; respecting the values of others is the best way.
I want to conclude that the more media literate you are, the less you will be led by the nose by the reality constructed by the media.
PERSONAL LEARNING NETWORKS & EDUCATION
Most social media platforms are very beneficial to education. For example, TikTok is familiar to most students, and teachers can create private classroom groups on the platform and share interesting educational videos and assignments. There is also TED-Ed, a platform that offers a wide variety of TED talks with shorter and often animated clips on topics such as science, technology, social studies, literature, language, art, health, psychology, and business and economics. Users can also collaborate through the site’s community and clubs. In addition, YouTube is an excellent educational platform where students can search for categories of interest, such as science, business, and engineering. There is also Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to name a few platforms that benefit education. These social media platforms provide a wealthy opportunity for students and educators to communicate and learn from each other.
The social elite’s control of discourse power makes it difficult for socially disadvantaged groups to make their voices heard, and they are in a disadvantaged position in the discourse power distribution model, basically excluded from the content of media expression, and their media discourse rights are ignored and crowded out, becoming information disadvantaged. In the news coverage of the underprivileged, most media outlets choose to put them in the spotlight and condescendingly judge them, disregarding the fact that they are disadvantaged and need to be rescued by society. On the other hand, social media platforms give the underdog a chance to have a voice. Social media can be an accessible communication channel to deliver information and reduce communication inequality. Social media partially addresses local issues by providing a third digital space in environments plagued by high crime rates, violence, and poverty.
ENGAGING YOUR PLN
Through learning and understanding PLN, I would like to explore how PLN can help me in my future career in my last blog this semester.
PLN is one of the sources for people to gain knowledge and exchange thoughts and ideas.PLN allows me to connect with a group of people and gather and exchange knowledge anytime, anywhere. It allows me to connect and expand my knowledge base through social media and develop myself professionally through continuous learning.
For example, when I started planning for my graduation development in a year, I searched through social platforms to find information about some seminar events related to my future career planning. I could not attend in person due to COVID-19, but with the technology involved in PLN, I could get information from the seminars without having to be there. The technology allows for many learning events to be broadcast live and connections to be made nationally or globally. Professionals related to my profession provide insight and help me stay up-to-date on relevant information through the PLN. Also, when I have questions about my expertise, PLN can help me get the answers and advice I need, and PLN can provide a constant stream of resources and solutions even when they are available.
I can post my opinions on my social media platforms, and at some point, I may attract people with the same ideas. It doesn’t matter if they are on opposite sides of the fence. Different perspectives can change one’s thinking and lead to deeper discussions, debates, and reflections. Although we are strangers who have never met, PLN brings us together. It also allows for interpersonal interaction from one person to two to a small group of people and expands to a wide circle of connections for a group of people. This expansion has created more opportunities for me to learn and work.
PLN is a potent learning tool, provided I know how to best use it to meet my learning needs.
