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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?

A PLN helps in the development of thoughts and ideas through sharing of relevant information on social media platforms such as Facebook, Reddit and Twitter. The communication that takes place between individuals who share the same knowledge also allows for diverse opinions which enhances development of thoughts and ideas. However, the issue on privacy might hinder the development of thoughts as only unreliable information becomes available for engagement by the public.

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

A PLN can be curated to allow for sharing which enables the knowledge of lives of others and to allow for privacy which minimizes the risks of bias of trying to find meanings of content while linking to the personal identities of an individual. Besides a PLN can be curated to reflect a rich diversity of the minds and opinions of the community through active engagement.

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

In a community that is constantly interacting and networking, it becomes integral that one indicates their personal identity of who they are and what they are doing to establish a digital presence. Identity therefore fits in one’s PLN as a reflection of their personal and professional life as researchers. It is through this identity that another individual will identify the owner of certain perspectives in a type of media, more precisely the author of a message conveyed to the public.

Do you include professional and personal boundaries?

It is important to create professional and personal boundaries as one may accidentally post personal message to a professional account that could cost them their job or ruin the brand of a company. Besides having professional and personal boundaries help us manage our emotions and ourselves thus making us to avoid incorporating emotion and stresses that may drain work.

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

Media literacy refers to the ability of identifying various types of media as well as the messages that they are sending. It is the responsibility of an informed audience to forts be able to identify a particular media and decipher the kind of messages that the media is conveying. It is worth mentioning that media literacy allows for the diversity of opinions regarding the depiction of a particular media. However, in as much as diverse opinions are allowed, factual consensus is highly maintained to enhance reliability, objectivity and relevance. This is where media literacy comes into conflict with factual information since there is a clear distinction between diverse view and factual information.

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

There are several benefits that are attached to a PLN that values media literacy. First, it enables learners to think critically in the process of evaluation of the type of media and whether the messages conveyed makes sense. Secondly, it allows for the recognition of a point of view. Precisely, every creator of a media has their own perspective in which evaluating a media and its message helps in identifying the point of view of the author and subsequently appreciate diverse perspectives. Thirdly, a PLN that values media literacy the art of sharing various sources of media responsibly.  Further to that, valuing media literacy by a PLN helps the audience to verify the information presented to them as either reliable or unreliable, factual or not factual. Lastly, on a broader context, a PLN that values media literacy is able to make its audience develops essential skills of self-expression and inquiry.

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)?

Benefits include increasing reach with a wider demographic of people rather than face to face events and creating a dialogue which adds input into engagement ideas. Some of the risks include misrepresentation of content by the public audience and trolling. The risks for a public figure or people who are trusted is reputational damage.

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?

I would respond positively making sure to prove to my audience that I am actively working for their own good and that I value their perspectives and therefore will make necessary modifications. For instance, I would contact a commenter privately to listen to their views and make necessary changes to my values and policy.

• How do notable individuals use social media?

Notable individuals use social media to communicate, promote brands and stores, shop, find weather, check news, among others.

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

Developing career in the public eye has the benefit of creating room for collaboration of ideas through teaching and learning from the public audience. In addition, it enables the sharing of valuable resources that help in levelling complex topics of interest by connecting to the public.

• Building community with online tools provided by the employer can be limiting, what are the perceived restrictions and benefits of having social media directly associated with employment? (verified accounts because of employment, accounts that are professional versus personal, hybrid accounts)

Perceived benefits include aid in recruitment, professional networking, marketing the employer brand, and so on. Perceived restrictions include not using the private details of an employee such as race, religion to either qualify or disqualify them for a job.

• Delivering information in a connected society requires verifiable resources, how does one build a PLN that can be consistently relied on?

A reliable PLN makes use of the most current information and the thinking from researchers and practitioners. Utilizing expert knowledge and other valuable resources also helps in building a reliable PLN.

• How do those, who are veteran storytellers, minimize risk in sharing misinformation?

Those who often tell stories are usually more likely to find themselves trapped in sharing misinformation to the public. The risk in sharing misinformation is minimized since one cannot tell whether a certain information is a fiction or a real event.

How social media help engage in community-based communications

Social media help in engaging community-based communications by offering a means to engage, request, and promote input and response from the community with regard to its requirements, priorities, and interests. Additionally, social media can help feedback organizations to train, educate, recognize, and share out resources appropriately. Consequently, this enables them to leverage the available community structure and networks effectively in the event of an incident, thus providing a way for people to take part in their own safety and preparedness.

How social media challenge community-based communications

Social media challenge community-based communications by questioning the issues that usually arise, which may include security, privacy, harassments, scams, bullying, time wastage, cyber-attacks, and control and access.

When engaging with the community through social media in an attempt to solve work-related issues, I should always ensure professionalism. I should also ease participation by creating many access points for the online community and using actionable language to prompt the observers to contribute in the discussion.

Cultural sensitivities

Cultural sensitivity is the ability to recognize that there exist cultural similarities and differences between people without performing valuation. Within the community engagement, I should consider cultural sensitivities by acknowledging the existence of other cultures as well as their cultural identities.

My PLN are my group of mentors, colleagues, and professionals that I connect with to improve my learning and be able to control my own professional development. This global online community enables me to tap into a wide wealth of knowledge and concentrate on what I consider most crucial to my learning. As I communicate to the public via social media, my PLN should share my ideas, learning materials, and resources with the online community.

Balancing professional expectations and personal beliefs

To realize my career development, I need to balance my professional expectations and my personal beliefs. I can achieve this by having reasonable expectations, whereby I get to be logical, sensible, and realistic. I can demonstrate reasonable expectations by expecting that my online community and I perform our jobs, honor our agreements, and are respectful and honest. However, I should believe in the habit of accepting and moving on in the event my expectations are not met in a bid to attain new spaces and opportunities since it is not a guarantee that things must turn out as I had hoped for.