Callie's student blog

First off, I want to say there is so much I have learned about PLNs in this course. I had no idea what a PLN was when I already had my own PLN. I feel like many people can relate to that.

There are a few topics that really resonated with me throughout the course that I would like to share my thoughts on once again: digital identities, the importance of diversity in a PLN, and media literacy. I want to look at these from multiple standpoints as well, those being professional and personal learning networks.

First off, digital identities are something I was definitely aware of but hadn’t put much thought into. Every account we have on the internet is essentially its own identity, though can be connected with other accounts and identities, both intentionally and unintentionally.

As someone who streams live on YouTube for a public audience, me and my audience built up what my identity is based off of my content and how I behave when I stream. I go by “Catherine” on my YouTube channel, along with most of my other public social media accounts. Additionally, because of what my audience knows and doesn’t know about me, along with the fact that they don’t see me (as I currently don’t use a webcam), there are some interesting perceptions my audience has of me. One of these perceptions that is often brought up is that although none of my audience has seen me, they feel like I am probably 5’1, which is not at all true. Assumptions like these are based off of only the things we already know and see about a person. Sometimes the assumptions can be correct, but there have been many times where people incorrectly guessed my age, height, and even hobbies.

So, there are all sorts of things that can make up one digital identity. Some things you might decide for yourself, like how I go by a different name online, and then other things are assumptions that people have collectively made about your online persona.

Although we can create different identities, it’s also important to note that there are ways these identities could be connect. For instance, security breaches, although uncommon in some situations, can happen. I’ve had this happen before with instagram. Even though these identities can represent different parts of ourselves and there are some things we may not share on some accounts but share on other ones we own, it’s important that we be careful about what we post. We have to consider the possibility that our audience on one account might discover our other accounts. Not being careful about this could result in complete strangers finding personal information about you that you didn’t intend to share with that given audience. Additionally, employers may look for your social media accounts, so it’s important to keep that in mind and refrain from saying anything that could be deemed insensitive or offensive, as this could affect your employment.

The second topic I enjoyed hearing about was diversity. Thanks to social media, we are able to connect with people from all around the world, and as a result we can further develop our PLNs. Our online classes at UVic have allowed for more diverse PLNs than what I had experienced previously in my courses in person, since I’ve been able to collaborate with people living in all sorts of different places in the world. Had UVic not switched to online courses (for the most part), there would likely be many people who would choose not to study here because of travel and the fact that we’re in the middle of a pandemic. Many of my peers in my classes this semester currently live in different parts of Canada, but there are also many students from China as well.

Having a diverse PLN means we get to hear insights from the point of view of those who have differing backgrounds from us. Without this diversity, we would only get one part of a big picture. For instance, if we had a class where everyone was of the same gender, race, background, and had the same opinions, we would continue to have the same opinions as there is no differing opinion to change that. This is why the more diverse a group is, the more diverse opinions that may be shared, and therefore we would have more insights into things, thus adding more pieces to this bigger picture.

In the context of this course, I believe although we have quite a diverse group, with differing races, backgrounds, and fields of study, we could have a much more diverse group. However, only so many people are going to take a course like this, as depending on the field of study, some students might not find this course beneficial in their learning.

Lastly, my favourite topic we discussed in this class was media literacy. Media literacy is all about delving into what information you’re listening to, seeing, or reading. One common example would be online stores. There are many stores that sell products, but they don’t actually manufacture or have anything to do with the products whatsoever. Once you order something from these websites, they will order the product from elsewhere for a much cheaper price, and then send it to you. This is called drop shipping. Many websites will do this and then buy stuff from websites like AliExpress. In a scenario like this, being media literate would mean you would have to go out of your way to find out where this product is actually from before buying it. That way you can get it for the price that the website you originally looked at was buying it for, which is often significantly cheaper.

Now this is just one example and one of the more obvious times that we can be media literate, but we can be media literate on a daily basis by delving further into information, statements, and claims made by those in our PLNs. One of the difficulties with being media literate is that you might not want to be. Human beings don’t exactly enjoy being incorrect. Because of this, certain media will cater to certain people and opinions. This leads to biased information which might not share all sides of a story or might just be blatantly incorrect. It’s our individual responsibility to figure out if something is true or untrue. In some cases, things might be fact-checked by other parties for us. Twitter has been doing this very frequently with more popular accounts like Donald Trump’s account, where after the election, Donald Trump was still claiming he won. All these false claims were met with a fact-check notice by twitter, that said these statements may be untrue, and then attached links to reliable sources that had the actual election results along with other relevant information. Now it’s not twitter’s job to fact-check things for us, but it was good that they did so. It’s our own job to look into the reliability of a source along with what reasons the source was created, who it was made by, who funded the sources, and other relevant information.

Altogether, there is so much I had learned in this course that I never really thought about before. Yes, all three of these topics were topics I was previously aware of, but I had barely scratched the surface of it. All of these things are incredibly important in all contexts in our personal and professional lives. As I plan on teaching in the future, I also continue to learn. If I make sure to be cautious with my use of online resources, look into the legitimacy and fairness of sources, and continue to grow my own learning network, I can take into account what I learned here and better myself and the way I go about my online life.

I interpreted the questions for this blog post in two different ways. The first being that we are looking at how PLNs in general can assist in professional development post-course, and the second being how my PLN in specific could assist in professional development. With this in mind, I decided to talk about this with the latter interpretation.

My private learning network is made up of many different topics and people and media. That being said, there are two general subjects that is focused on for the most part. Of course one of those subjects is based around my education. Specifically I connect with peers in my classes, those who have the same academic interests like French and teacher education, and choral music on the side as well. The second part is arguably not professional but has some pieces within it that prove to be beneficial in my everyday life as a student. This side focuses on video editing and live-streaming. To be blunt and completely honest, I play video games live on YouTube for an audience and it has gotten to the point where I can earn money from it. There are many things that you end up learning through making video content as you have to learn how to use editing software and open broadcasting software and develop technological understandings that many people would never learn otherwise. That being said, even the most seemingly unprofessional things can become a profession.

• Can your PLN be used to help professional development post-course?

My learning network is made up of connections through my current job as a cashier, my classmates and peers who share similar academic interests, and a wide audience of people I interact with online, some of which have great insights into how I can improve many aspects of my life, though mostly focused around my social media.

Now I don’t plan on being a cashier forever, but it has helped me gain an understanding for how to behave in a customer service position and how to converse with complete strangers. This relates to both paths I’ve been looking into: teaching being the realistic career I’m looking to pursue, and live-streaming where I do earn a small amount of money but could potentially make a living off of with enough consistency and activity on my social media.

Now it’s pretty clear that post-secondary education is essential for many career paths, however, it’s unlikely that my connections within my learning network will always be there. For instance, I no longer talk to the people I shared insights with in my first year of university because we were giving each other insights specifically for one course we were all taking. This course, being an earth sciences course, is somewhat useful for teaching as I could end up teaching sciences, but I’m more so looking into teaching French or math at an elementary to secondary school level. These peers didn’t have the same career interests as me, and we stopped talking once we no longer had the course.

The connections I have made with other people who have similar academic interests will surely come in handy. One thing that has proven rather useful is the French Undergrad club, which hosts various social activities that you would do outside of school, with the only difference being that we speak French. My French speaking has never been great, and the French courses necessary for my major don’t focus on pronunciation and instead focus on grammar, reading, and creative writing. Every professor I have had a French course with has recommended we come to one of those club activities as it’ll help us to become more comfortable and fluent in French. The reason why this is so important for me as someone who would like to be a French teacher is simple: if I’m supposed to teach French, I should be able to speak French. From my experience in French immersion from Kindergarten to the time I graduated high school, you also have to learn science, math, and social studies in French up until later in high school where each year one of those academics is no longer done in French. This means if I become a French immersion teacher, there is the possibility that I will be teaching a different subject but in French. That means I would have to broaden my capabilities in speaking French because it’s in the context that we’re not learning French, but instead something else except in French.  With this in mind, the French Undergrad club is an essential part of my PLN and will help me in the future as well. Even though it’s unlikely that I’ll keep those connections after graduation, there are plenty of insights I’ve gotten in how to speak French confidently and fluently which is key when teaching in French.

• Can your PLN be relied on to open professional opportunities and on which platform does your emerging expertise get good exposure?

I almost got a job in tutoring before I had even gone to university, thanks to my PLN. The platform I used to put myself out there professionally is Indeed. This website, much like LinkedIn, allows users to post their resume for employers to look at. Additionally, you can look or the jobs yourself and hand in your resume with ease. Because of this, I almost already got a job in my ideal career path, though I had to decline due to my course schedule overlapping with work hours. I used this website again to find my current job as a cashier where the hours are relatively flexible as I only work on days that I don’t have class.

• With consideration to the reading and video interview, how do you ensure that you expand your PLN via social media platforms into spaces that may be outside of your comfort zone?

Amber Glauser explained in her interview that she hadn’t planned on having a career related to technology as she wanted to work in cardiothoracic surgery but was recruited to work in her local hospital’s i.t. department. This resulted in even more recruitment and changes in her career and she was able to have a larger impact on patients and medical workers. Amber explained the importance of keeping an open mind to things and people so you can connect with more people. Doing so results in more opportunities, as she experienced. She also said if people don’t like her or are critical of her, that helps her understand where she can improve and gain more insights into why these people don’t like her. Criticism can be cruel but it also helps those being critiqued to understand what they can improve in. Sticking with those who like you doesn’t give you as many insights on what you could be improving upon.

References

EDCI 338 (2020, Nov 15). A01 GLAUSER, Amber [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiWaXNfnHAg&feature=youtu.be

This blog focuses on a video interview with Harrison Mooney, a journalist, blogger, and memoirist.

• Community communications go beyond blogs and social media shares, how does a PLN help and hinder the development of thoughts and ideas in public discourse – especially when addressing our differences?

I believe I mentioned in a previous blog how important it is to have a diverse PLN because of our differing opinions. Everyone has their different beliefs and although as mentioned in my 8th blog post, we can correct one another by pointing out flaws in information they believe in, it’s also important to simply look at and respect one another’s views. We have differing experiences and those can help us understand why people see life the way they do. There are many things we won’t perfectly understand. Harrison Mooney (2020) explains that when people say “I’ll never know what it’s like to be black” but hearing and empathizing with those of differing backgrounds helps people understand what other people mean when they talk about prejudices they’ve experienced.

• How can a PLN be curated to minimize bias and expand knowledge of the lives of others?

Having a diverse PLN with people of differing cultures, races, backgrounds, and careers allows us to minimize bias and expand our knowledge of one another as we hear insights from people with differing thoughts and experiences. As a white person, there are things that I don’t experience that those of different races do. On the other hand, as a woman, there are some things I experience like cat calling and other inappropriate behaviour from strangers and coworkers that generally wouldn’t happen if I were a man. Sharing our experiences with one another helps us to empathize and better understand what it’s like to be in those situations and as a result minimizes bias and allows us to see one another as good people instead of cruel stereotypes and prejudices we may have grown up hearing. As we minimize this bias and listen to each other’s stories, we also expand our own knowledge about what it’s like to be in the other person’s shoes.

• How does the identity of who you are, fit into your PLN?

Harrison Mooney explained that he has had experiences where people made racist remarks while talking with him on the phone, and didn’t know he was black until after the fact simply because of his voice. In a similar way. Our identity in our PLN is different from our identity in real life. As we interact with and share information in our PLN, we develop an identity based around those actions. This can definitely be a good representation of who we are, but usually isn’t the big picture of our true identity.

• Do you include professional and personal boundaries?

It’s my personal belief that we should create boundaries before actively sharing information and communicating with PLNs. We have to consider what we are comfortable discussing and what would be acceptable to discuss, with our employment and the safety of those within our PLNs in mind. I’ve mentioned previously that although we can create differing identities on different online social media accounts, these can be linked and people can discover who you are in real life and what your beliefs are. If you say something offensive and this is linked to your professional life somehow, you put your employment status at risk. Additionally, away from our professional lives, although we should be honest within our learning networks in order to properly learn, there are limits to what should and shouldn’t be said online based on what is appropriate and what is acceptable to have online or in your PLN based one who sees and interacts with the information you share.

References:

EDCI 338 (2020, Nov 8). A01 Harrison Mooney [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/elKNQpz0RrI

Before we look into the main questions this post is focused on, what is media literacy? According to Kaiser Moffat, media literacy is “the ability to identify different types of media and the messages they are sending”. Viewers of certain media should be able to decipher messages that are being conveyed in the media they are exposed to. With media literacy, we can determine for ourselves whether something is reliable or not. One way media literacy is used is in determining whether an online store is reliable or not. Without media literacy, we wouldn’t be able to decipher the content of websites and determine their reliability or lack thereof.

• Open dialogues about media literacy and factual information can create conflict, why does this happen?

With the overwhelming amount of technology and growing media sources, we are discovering new things, connecting with people in new ways, and enjoying new technologies. However, Julie Smith (2020) explains that with the access to so much information, it can sometimes be impossible to figure out what is valid and reliable. With this firehose of information, people don’t like that it’s on us to fact-check things.

During this time where COVID-19 has changed our way of life, we are bombarded by even more information through all sorts of online media. During this time, we see plenty of information and statements made by millions of internet users, with many statements that could be deemed false. This abundance of information makes it difficult to navigate and determine what is truthful.

Although I typically avoid discussing politics, I felt like this would be relevant to the topic. The US election had many people posting information related to the election, real or not. Even the current president of the United States was spouting false information, claiming he won the election before the winner was announced. Twitter kept fact-checking Trump’s twitter posts. Although this is useful, it’s important to know that in most cases we don’t have someone else to fact-check things for us and give us evidence of why something is true or false. That is typically information you need to find for yourself.

Julie Smith explains that one reason for the conflict between media literacy and factual information is a “familiarity backfire” effect (2020).  She explains that we put our shields up and when that occurs, any information we don’t want to hear won’t get through. In the past we were limited in news sources and we didn’t have as much freedom in choosing what news outlets to hear from, but now we have thousands of news sources and we choose which sources to hear from. As humans, we typically don’t like being wrong. We like to find information that justifies our opinions and our knowledge. Because of that, people look at news sources catered towards our beliefs. We don’t want to be told we’re wrong, so we listen to news outlets that justify our thinking and make us seem smart and like we are the better person.

Another note Julie Smith makes is the visual appearance of people and the influence that has. The Fyre festival is a prime example of this that I remember seeing dozens of videos about, where celebrities and people who are just visually appealing and are deemed “influencers” were featured in video ads for the festival, showing a dream vacation. What ended up occurring was people who paid to go to a Coachella-style festival and rent out villas and other wonderful living spaces were met with poorly made tents and cheese sandwiches. Many people were stranded there as well. (And although it’s not necessary for this blog,  I thought I’d mention that the people who paid to go there got something in return as an apology for the mess: free tickets to the next Fyre festival. That’s hilarious.)

• What is the benefit of having a PLN that values media literacy?

In our PLNs, especially nowadays, these are made up of online sources, online personalities, and people we connect with solely online. All these online connections could easily spout false information, which doesn’t benefit our learning network even if it benefits our opinions. Having a PLN that values media literacy means you and your learning network put in the work to fact-check any information shared amongst one another. Having media literacy as a top priority in your PLN allows for trustworthy connections in which we are safely able to fact-check the information people share and respectfully call out any mistakes in information shared. As long as we are comfortable enough to not only call people out for sharing false information, but also own up to our mistakes and understand why our information is wrong, our PLN grows to be trustworthy and our own media literacy improves. This benefits all parties in the PLN as we know that our PLN is one that generally shares truthful information, and on the off-chance that it doesn’t, we are comfortable learning from our mistakes and correcting one another.

References:

EDCI 338 (2020, Nov 1). A01 Smith, Julie [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_T9RghwJlI&feature=youtu.be

Explore the video provided and reflect on the themes and questions below by reflecting on how you would curate your social media with a critical public audience.

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)?

Sophie Lui explained that from her experience as a journalist for GlobalBC, she believes that without the public audience on social media, the general public wouldn’t see the challenges faced by the journalism business. However, having easier ways to communicate with one another, including public faces, means there is less effort that has to be put into saying something mean to someone else.

Further your thoughts by exploring how employers use social media policy to hire, terminate or suspend individuals who use social media inappropriately or contrary to employer expectations – how would you address negative replies and critiques reflective of your personal values and employer social media policy? Can you provide notable examples?

Sophie Lui shared a story about how someone sent her a comb in the mail, because at the time her hairstyle was one that people either loved or hated. Now it is much more easy to communicate with public faces. Sophie explained that sometimes people will say “idiotic stuff” and that although sometimes she doesn’t care, other times some insults can really be taken to heart.

Also being a public figure means you have to be careful what you post as some things can be controversial, even to the extent of being something you could lose your job for. Sophie said she has had to refrain from saying things because of the way people could react, and she does stop herself before posting certain things on twitter. Having accounts associated with your job, as is common for notable individuals, means there is a limit to what you should and shouldn’t be posting on that account, or even what you should or shouldn’t be posting online in general, since although people can have alternate accounts, there is the possibility they could end up being linked later on in the public eye, and depending on what is posted that the public typically wouldn’t see, this could result in job termination.

Even jokes should be taken seriously to an extent. Although this story doesn’t focus on a public figure, it’s one that I never forget, as it is a joke that shouldn’t have been done, especially on public social media.

A 14-year-old girl once tweeted a post aimed at American Airlines, claiming that she was in fact a man from Afghanistan who was a part of Al Qaida and was “going to do something big”. Although it was evident by the fact that her twitter showed that she was a girl named Sarah, tweets like this should always be taken seriously. With that in mind, American Airlines responded and said they take this very seriously and sent her information to the FBI. She immediately regretted this was arrested for “posting a false or alarming announcement”.

This story is an extreme scenario, but it did happen. With that in mind, it’s always important, no matter what the joke may be, to consider your audience. For public faces, your audience is very broad. Although you can’t please everyone, it’s important that you don’t offend your general audience or say anything that could be seen as a threat or unfair breach of another person’s privacy.

●  How do notable individuals use social media?

Depending on the social media application, notable individuals use it in different ways. In Sophie Lui’s experience, she uses twitter to retweet other’s posts that she agrees with or has something to say about. These posts often express her views on politics or ongoing issues in the world. For instance, she has been frequently retweeting info about the BC elections and does her own posts discussing the importance of voting. She also retweeted a tweet from Kamala Harris, who said she would fight for women’s rights, as there is an ongoing issue in the United States regarding pro-choice and pro-life, a topic which really shouldn’t be up for debate as these are essentially either controlling women’s decisions or giving them the freedom to choose how they live their lives.

Sophie’s instagram has a great contrast from her twitter. She explained in her interview that her audience on instagram is far less critical of her posts there than her audience on twitter is on her tweets. Although she does post about ongoing events in the world, like her occasional posts reminding people to be safe during this pandemic, she also posts pictures of her everyday life, including time with friends and family. One of my favourite posts she made recently was showing off a drawing that a child drew for her.

●  What are the benefits of being in the public eye and having a PLN? (career development in the public eye)

Being in the public eye and having a learning network means you have a larger audience, which also means you can connect with people who could benefit your career or give you insights on things you agree with or insights that lead you to change your view on the world. You may even find potential employers through social media.

Sophie Lui said she found many like-minded writers on twitter and follows many people on twitter so she can have more insight on relevant information related to ongoing events in the world. As a journalist, having access to the differing opinions of the public allows for more insights that could either justify your thinking and views on ongoing events, or could have a major impact on your views, which allows you to develop more insights that may be beneficial in journalism.

●  Delivering information in a connected society requires verifiable resources, how does one build a PLN that can be consistently relied on? How do those, who are veteran storytellers, minimize risk in sharing misinformation?

It is the individual user’s responsibility to choose who to trust online. If someone spouts false information, that can be fact-checked by doing your own research on the topic using trusted, unbiased resources.

Hirst (2019) explains that although it has existed in the past, “fake news” has become extremely relevant ever since the term became popularized by Donald Trump (although let it be known that just because he claims anything against him to be fake news, it is entirely possible and has been proven that he makes false statements, as well). Believing in a select few sources without fact-checking statements means you may share false information and therefore lose credibility. There is a chain of credibility when it comes to public figures and sharing information. Let’s say you find a news article spouting false information. Many people may realize that this news is incorrect and therefore that news source is no longer deemed a credible resource. But let’s say you choose to believe it and then share statements that were shared from that source. As a result, the public may either believe false statements that you share, or they may see you as not being credible anymore. With this in mind, public figures should be mindful of what they share and make sure the statements are properly fact-checked.

References:

EDCI 338 (2020, Oct 21). A01 Lui, Sophie [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T4jOdKd12I&feature=youtu.be

Hirst, M. (2019). The Political Economy of Fake News. In Navigating social journalism: A handbook for media literacy and citizen journalism (pp. 78-100). New York, NY: Routledge.

Explore how using technology can provide real-time engagement and include answers to the following. 

• How does social media help engage in community-based communications?’

As Jessica Clark and Patricia Aufderheide(2013) explained, public broadcasts and media like newspapers were essential in  connecting to the public and sharing information with citizens, until the Internet was created, which resulted in the creation of social media further down the line. These innovations have changed the way people learn about everything and has also resulted in user s going from “being an anonymous part of a mass to being the centre of the media picture”. Before social media, people could only connect to those they already know, like family, friends, teachers, and any other person they may meet in-person. Now social media can not only be used to easily connect with those we may be physically separated from, but can also be used to discover and connect with new people, thus creating more connections and our own online communities. Not only does social media and allow us to text or message people we’ve never met and publish photos and videos online, but it also allows us to communicate face-to-face in real-time using applications like Discord or Zoom.

• How does social media challenge community-based communications?

One issue with social media and community-based communications is keeping the attention and participation within your community. As social media allows us to connect with virtually anyone, it also means we connect with those of differing situations, such as race, gender-identity, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status. This also means people within this community are likely to have different thoughts and opinions than you. These differences in opinions can lead to interesting and insightful discussions, but they could also lead to arguments and a disconnect between users.

Considerations when communicating via social media

Are there cultural sensitivities that should be considered?

as previously stated, it’s important to be sensitive of other people’s experiences and background. This definitely includes cultures. Doing or saying anything culturally insensitive is incredibly disrespectful to others and if your social media identity is connected to your professional identity, this can affect your employment in the future. Even so, it’s important that we avoid saying insensitive things to others not because of the risk of unemployment, but rather the risk of offending those in our communities and causing a rift within the community.

What should your PLN say about you as you communicate to the public via social media or communication tools?

The way you behave towards one another and the way you’ve built up your PLN can have an impact on your online identity. By connecting with those of differing backgrounds, you can learn from a point of view that you would never have learned from otherwise. Additionally, having a culturally diverse group within your PLN allows you to learn about more than whatever topics you have in common. You can learn about cultures you are unfamiliar with and then that gives you even more insightful information on differing topics.

What does it mean to balance your professional expectations and your personal beliefs in curating a PLN for the purpose of career development?

Let’s say you have personal beliefs that can be seen as racist or homophobic, or that make you out to be a bigot. Portraying yourself online as a terrible person and spouting out cruel things about other people can give you a poor reputation both online and offline. When putting yourself out there and creating a PLN, you have to understand that you are learning and should be open to learning from different perspectives. Being stubborn and biased and sharing your personal beliefs on what is meant to be a  professional account can lead to detrimental effects on your career and the way people see you. In your learning networks there should be a balance between being open about your personal beliefs and keeping things as professional as possible. Yes, it is good to share what you believe so people can have insightful conversations on personal topics, but it’s also important to keep things civil (and of course, don’t be racist or homophobic).

What do you think you need to reflect on (in regards to your PLN or development of a PLN) to adapt evolving social media communication expectations as a community learns more about who you are?

Although I believe I have been welcoming to those of differing backgrounds than me, I feel as though I could do more to connect with my community on another level. I could definitely improve at the balance between sharing personal beliefs and keeping things on the same professional topic. Sometimes sharing information about my personal beliefs can change the beliefs of others, or can result in conversations within my learning network that could greatly change my point of view.

References

Clark, J., & Aufderheide, P. (2013). A New Vision for Public Media – Open, Dynamic, and Participatory. In J. Pooley, L. Taub-Pervizpour, & S. C. Jansen (Authors), Media and social justice (pp. 55-67). New York: Palgrave.

First off I want to begin this post by saying the topic of growing a podcast and building a PLN prior to creating a podcast is something that really interests me, so I felt like I could share my experience with something similar to that.

I don’t do podcasts, but I do livestreams on YouTube for entertainment purposes, since the topic of my livestreams is gaming. I also post videos teaching people how to play certain games and increase the chances of unlocking or obtaining things in game that are usually incredibly rare. The channel has only just reached 800 subscribers, which when looking at other, much bigger channels, isn’t much, but it’s difficult to get to that amount in the first place.

What really helped for me was building a community before creating this channel. I used to post pictures on instagram of some of the rare encounters I would have in my games, which then gained a decent amount of attention. From there, people started asking me how I got so many of these rare things and so quickly. So I created a brief tutorial on how to play the way I do. Then people started suggesting that I make a YouTube channel and make a video tutorial on there.

So with those suggestions in mind, I created the channel, which quickly gained 50 subscribers, all who were following my instagram. Since then, my most popular videos have all been tutorials on how to play the game the way I do. All of those videos gained at least 1000 views, and up to about 3000 views. I then started doing livestreams where I played those games and demonstrated what my tutorials did, but in a live format so viewers could ask questions.

Do I want to share what the channel name is? Not really. But if anyone comments and wants to know, I’m willing to share.

Building a network

So the reason why I shared this story is because I believe before starting a podcast, after choosing a topic, you should build a network based around that topic. In my personal experience with my YouTube channel, I used Instagram to post about a specific video game franchise and soon people interested in the same topic started following me and from there we discussed the said topic in detail, looking at the odds of obtaining rare items in the game and how to increase those odds or find those items as quickly as possible. I shared what I knew about the topic, and others shared what they knew, which added to my knowledge on the subject. I also used an app called Amino, where users can pick specific topics and join groups based on those topics.

Another tool that can help in building and growing your PLN is Twitter. Bianca Woods (2013) shared several ways to use the app, two points of which stuck out to me:

• “Follow your favorite industry experts”. Having people you look up to who focus on the same topic as you would like to in podcasts is a great way to both develop a PLN and draw inspiration from them and use it in your own work. By following them, seeing what information they share, and what people they retweet, you can learn more from them or find more people to follow, which as a result grows your learning network.
• “Start conversations”. Connecting and interacting with other users on twitter helps in building connections. Sharing insights on posts other users have made can result in conversations with the user that could build connections or insights on a given topic.

How to emulate success stories and create a good podcast

Similar to the first point I shared from Woods’ article, following “industry experts” or those who have made successful podcasts on similar topics is an ideal way to create a podcast with similar success. It’s important to note that although sometimes discussing a relevant topic that is being shared by many users can be useful, it can also leave you buried underneath more popular podcasts. Choosing a unique topic or discussing a topic in a unique manner can spark interest in those looking for podcasts to listen to.

Additionally, advertising within your learning network is a great way of marketing. In my situation with doing livestreams on YouTube, I like to post on my instagram story, saying what time the stream is at and sharing my enthusiasm on what we’ll be doing live on the given day.  I also create a countdown on the same story so those in my time zone know how much time is left until I’ll be live on YouTube. This countdown also doubles as a notification for those who are interested. Tapping on the countdown gives viewers the option to be notified when the countdown is over, which means the instagram users are notified of my livestream on YouTube even if they don’t receive notifications for my YouTube channel. This can be used the same way for podcasts. Having grown a PLN, you have people who see what you post and read what you have to say, which means they’ll see when you’re doing a new podcast.

Collaboration is also key in growing an audience. Let’s say you have one user with an audience of 100 people, and you have an audience of 100 people as well, with no overlap. Doing a podcast together means their audience and your audience are listening, thus potentially doubling your audience, as those who came from the other user might enjoy your podcast and follow along. This collaboration tactic is used for all sorts of media forms, from podcasts to videos to music.

Privacy and Security

Before I delve into this topic, we have to first acknowledge that there will always be a privacy concern with podcasts. Unlike some social media platforms where you can choose who sees your posts or whether your account is public or private, podcasts are always public. Anyone from anywhere can watch them.

Podcasts can be about all sorts of topics, and people can share all sorts of stories and anecdotes and opinions. This means you could say something that’ll potentially put you in danger. Although it’s important to be genuine in your podcasts, it’s also important to filter out personal information that may put you at risk of a privacy or security breach. For instance, if your podcast discusses food and you share an experience you had with a local restaurant, this gives viewers the opportunity to find this restaurant location, and gives viewers an idea of where you live. This could also put the restaurant in a bad space if you had a poor experience. Viewers may give the business a bad review just because you didn’t have a good experience with it.

References

Woods, Bianca. “Building your own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network.” T+D, vol. 67, no. 11, Nov. 2013, p. 70+. Gale OneFile: Business, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A348998538/ITBC?u=uvictoria&sid=ITBC&xid=9daf4a31.

I decided that the PLN I would focus on for this course would be education, as most of my life right now is currently focused on schooling. With this in mind, I’ll be looking at my learning networks from this course, EDCI 338, along with two more courses I’m taking: EDCI 335 and EDCI 339, because I think it would be interesting to compare them.

• How diverse is your existing PLN?

I’d say it’s rather diverse from what I can tell. I have classmates from all over the globe. In all three of my courses, there’s a fair amount of people from Canada, China, and the United States, with everyone generally being from different places within those areas, and all having different experiences and genealogies.

• In your PLN, are you learning from a variety of voices or are you the loudest in the room?

I’m generally a listener, so I am typically quiet in class. During group discussions in EDCI 338, I feel like I should contribute more and that’s something that can be improved upon. In EDCI 339, we don’t have assigned groups or any groups in the first place. What we do have are tasks in which we have to engage with threads from other students. The ones we choose are up to us, which allows us to engage with threads based on our interests. In that situation I contribute a lot, although it is quite forced.

EDCI 335 I was brought into a group to work on a project. This group of 5 people had very few active voices, and as a result I felt inclined to make my voice heard so we could get things done. Unfortunately the person who brought me into the group dropped the course and now I’m the only active participant. I feel like had things gone well, we could’ve been an active and engaged group where everyone shares their thoughts, but now I’m the loudest voice in the group due to communication issues. Additionally it’s difficult to engage in discussions due to time zones, as the rest of the group members are in china and usually don’t say anything until 1am.

• Do you participate in a silo of information sharing (similar themes or wide-range of interests)?

My classmates in all of my courses have very different interests. I have classmates who are interested in psychology, computer sciences, engineering, and economics. The one thing that many students have in common in my EDCI 335 course is a minor in education, like myself. There are also a large amount of students doing a major in either psychology or health information sciences. EDCI 338 also follows a pattern of having students in psychology, health information sciences, and education. EDCI 339 has many students doing a minor in education. Aside from the similarities in educational interests, there isn’t much else in common.

• How can you use a diverse PLN to broaden your views of inclusion?

Becoming familiar with and actively engaging in coursework and collaborating with classmates who come from different backgrounds can break barriers that come from biases and stereotypes. When you know nothing about a person aside from their race and gender, it’s easy to make biased and unfair assumptions about a person. Working with people who are of different races, sexual orientations, gender identities, and religious backgrounds can help you realize how much you might have in common with others. Knowing more about a person helps you to be able to relate to a person despite the differences you may have.

These online courses seem significantly more diverse than the courses I took in-person and, although it’s unfortunate that online courses mean I don’t get to work with my classmates in-person, it allows me to collaborate with people from significantly more varied backgrounds. As we learn together, we also learn more about each other and can see people for their unique personalities and the good attributes they have rather than look at them as a person of a certain ethnicity, gender, or sexuality.

• What is the learning outcome of your PLN and how are you ensuring your exposure to diversity and inclusion?

As all three of the courses in my learning network require collaboration in order to complete assignments, it’s important to me that everyone can feel comfortable in voicing their opinions and sharing whatever information they would like with the group. If we don’t allow some people to have their voices heard or if we behave in such a way that might make people uncomfortable to share, then people won’t participate and can’t be included in course discussions, which may worsen learning outcomes for all parties, as we could miss opinions that could greatly change the path we take in our learning and limit the potential outcomes of our work.

• How has your thinking about inclusion and PLN evolved after reviewing the videos and readings?

One thing I noticed in the readings really caught my eye because it shares an opposite opinion from what I learned in a class last year. In a class I took on teacher education, we discussed inclusivity and how we shouldn’t simply look at everyone as the same. Yes, they should be included, but we need to recognize their differences because we need to recognize the unfair treatment some people have had based on their backgrounds.

When Shelley shared a diagram meant to represent inclusion, a student expressed her opinion on the topic, saying she didn’t believe that was proper inclusion, as it showed some of the circles in the diagram as being different, and meant they were bringing “the others” into the circle, when in reality there shouldn’t be “others”. In the end, they’re all students.

I feel like these two viewpoints, although polarizing, can both be used. It’s important that we see everyone as being the same in a learning standpoint, but we also need to remember that some students are treated differently based on racism, sexism, and various biases others may have. We need to recognize the differences but acknowledge that race, sexual orientation, gender, and other backgrounds does not change the personality and work ethic of a student. In essence, we need to acknowledge that there are biases against people and we need to not feed into those biases.

References:

Moore, S., & Schnellert, L. (2016). Introduction & Part 1: What Is Inclusion? Debunking the Myths. In One without the other: Stories of unity through diversity and inclusion (pp. 6-12). Winnipeg, Manitoba: Portage & Main Press.

●  What digital platforms are students currently using to develop their professional network?

When it comes to careers, there are plenty of websites used to help people find jobs within their professional interest. Indeed is a well-known website where anyone can search for job postings near them and under categories that interest them. Additionally they can post their resume online to make it more accessible to potential employers. I used this website in order to find my first job and the setup was simple and I got hired very quickly.

A similar website to this is LinkedIn. Like Indeed, this website helps people build a professional network and find jobs that might interest them. The website also has an option to learn new skills that will benefit the user in finding the right job for them.

Social media like instagram can also be used professionally. Although it isn’t a typical job, there are many influencers who earn money for posting photos online. Influencers will do sponsored posts to advertise a product to their viewers and make plenty of money off of it. The type of content you make doesn’t matter as long as it gains an audience and the interest of companies that could potentially sponsor you.

Another way of making social media a part of your professional network is monetization of videos on websites like YouTube, twitch, and tiktok. These three websites all have different requirements in order to earn money. Youtube requires you to have a minimum of 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time within the span of a year. Twitch requires you to have streamed for at least 500 minutes, have streamed on at least seven separate days, have a minimum average of 3 viewers, and have a minimum of 50 followers. Tiktok’s “creator fund” is possibly the most difficult monetization system to work with, as it requires a minimum of ten thousand followers, along with a minimum of ten thousand views in the span of a month.

●  What can you (as a student) consider to expand your professional learning network?

Depending on what I would like to do in the future, there are plenty of options. I can join MOOCs (massive online open courses) to learn more about things that benefit my career path, engage with other students participating in those courses if possible, join online groups on Facebook focusing on topics that make up part of my professional interests, use websites like Indeed and LinkedIn to share my resume and put myself out there, and simply use google to find more ways to engage with others and learn more within my field of interest. I can also use websites that allow me to ask and answer questions on topics that interest me and further engage in discussion on the subject matter. Websites like Yahoo Answers and Quora can be used in this manner and allow anyone to answer questions you or someone else might have.

●  In your network, how can you create a digital identity/reputation?

As mentioned in my previous blog post, our digital identity is how we represent ourselves online. We can have as many identities as we would like by creating separate profiles for different topics and different audiences. This concept is also used in our everyday lives, even offline. Most people talk to their friends in a way that is very different from how they would talk to others. We may speak very casually with friends, but depending on who you’re speaking to, you may filter your words differently. For instance, you likely wouldn’t use vulgar words around a young innocent child. You also likely wouldn’t complain about your job while you’re at work, knowing that your employer might hear you. These filters are also used online.

I know from my own experience using instagram, I can talk openly about some things on one account but can’t say a word about it on the other. A good example of this is my original instagram, which I used to post about some enjoyable times I had throughout high school. My audience was made up of my friends and classmates. As I preferred to look good in their eyes, I kept things simple, posting about some of my dance and choir performances and also some big trips I took.

Not a single person who follows that account knows about my other, more popular account, which focuses on video games. Throughout high school I felt like my classmates had something against girls playing video games, so I chose to keep the obsession to myself until I made an account using a different name and no face to post about these games. Here I speak very differently with my audience, as we engage in discussions about these games instead of stuff related to my personal or professional life.

●  Consider what a local employer would do if you applied for a job with them – can they search the content, is it of benefit to the career path, does it hinder the opportunity of employment?

Using online forums, I can develop a more professional digital identity separate from the identities I have created previously, but there’s always the risk that these identities will be discovered to be the same person. If I say anything inappropriate or unkind, this could affect decisions made by employers, and can therefore affect my career. With this in mind, no matter the subject matter of my accounts, I make sure to behave in a similar manner on each of these accounts. Although I’m sure I won’t find any potential employers through my gaming account, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t treat people with respect. Even with friends offline I treat them with respect because I don’t see any point in bullying my own friends, even if it’s lighthearted. Sure, there are some things I wouldn’t say online that I might say offline or think to myself, but it’s important to filter things out and keep things mature and professional, even on the most obscure accounts you might have.

References:

OCLC. (n.d.). Visitors and Residents. Retrieved from http://experimental.worldcat.org/vandrmapping/signIn

We’ve all heard the word identity, or the term “secret identity”, often used to refer to the person behind a super hero’s persona. We can take Superman and Clark Kent as an example of this. Clark Kent is Superman, and Superman is Clark Kent, but these characters seem to be separate people to the general public.

We can see digital identity in a similar light. Our digital identity is how we represent ourselves online, which can be very different from how we act offline. Jawed, Mahboob, and Yasmeen’s article (2019) defines digital professional identity as a “professional identity which develops through internet-based social interactions by utilizing online platforms and communication tools”. 

Now much like the fictional characters we all have heard of, we too can create our own secret identities or personas to cover up our real identities. One advantage of interacting on social media platforms is that we can be as anonymous as we choose to be. Our actions on social media build up personas for each separate account.

I have a lot of experience with this sort of situation as I do livestreams online and I have a rather large following that doesn’t even know what I look like. Additionally I don’t go by my first name on my public account. On the other side of things, my personal account mentions nothing about me having this public persona. I share things on one account that I would never share on the other. 

That being said, people have to be careful what they post and where they post it. As mentioned in the Mahboob et al., (2019) article, not having a face to match to your online presence means some people may feel more inclined to bully others, as the target likely doesn’t know who is behind the account.  The way you behave on the internet can be kept secret to an extent, but that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be careful what they do on the internet. Even the most personal and supposedly most protected information can be revealed. If your real identity is revealed to be linked to accounts that behave maliciously, this could affect your employment status or likelihood of being employed in the future. 

Additionally, the way you behave online also affects what is shown to you. As mentioned in my previous blog post, algorithms can essentially figure you out and advertise different things based on what you say and what you interact with online, which can limit what you’re able to access in networked publics.

With all this in mind, we are able to create new identities online that can greatly differ from one another. However, we should always be careful online, as there is the risk of anonymous accounts no longer being anonymous, and our different personas all being linked to one another. Basically if all these identities are discovered to be linked to one person, that means if we behave poorly in real life or on any of these accounts, the person behind these accounts could receive great backlash both online and in real life. To put it simply, even if we create different personas, no matter how anonymous they are, we should be careful about what we say.

References

Mahboob, U., Jawed, S., & Yasmeen, R. (2019). Digital professional identity: Dear Internet! Who am I? Education for Health, 32(1), 33. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=39e42f65-1a93-4d35-9450-0dfa15be47a8%40sdc-v-sessmgr02

Not mentioned in this blog post

Spracklen, K. (2015). Identity-Making and Social Media. Digital Leisure, the Internet and Popular Culture, 94-112. Retrieved from https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/book/10.1057%2F9781137405876

Stoller, E. (2016). What is Digital Identity? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0RryRbJza0&feature=youtu.be

World Economic Forum. (2019). The Value of Digital Identity for the Global Economy and Society [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-V7lyxrOmw