Social vs. Professional PLN
Throughout my undergrad my PLN has probably doubled in size. I have found that university facilitates meeting a wide variety of people in all different contexts. Even if I just met someone at a party two years ago and we followed each other on Instagram, that connection still exists now even if we haven’t spoken since, and if I needed to, I have a way to contact that person and reconnect. However, this course has helped me to realize that my connections on social media exist primarily in social contexts, as opposed to professional. I think this is at least partly due to the platforms I use, namely Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Using Professional Platforms
While I have been aware of LinkedIn for a long time, I have never felt the need to create an account since I have always felt so far from my professional life. In this course, I am continuing to be more and more surprised by the mention of Twitter with the guest interviews. Almost every guest has mentioned Twitter, and more than one (Mo Amir included) have attributed much of their professional success to connections made on Twitter. Amir specifically went into detail, talking about how beneficial it has been for meeting people, since it is, as he states, “a real social network”. I also liked that he mentioned that using Twitter requires a lot of personal boundaries and restraint, but that with that there can exist a confrontational back and forth that Amir really appreciates. This week’s article talks about how social media platforms are not just tools, but are now whole environments. They say that these platforms are so engrained as a part of our culture that it has become a culture in itself (Guidice, Manlio, et al).
Personal Reflection
I think that this course is making me realise two things: one, that I can start using my PLN to help professional development even though my career as a teacher hasn’t started yet; and two, that in order to utilize social media I need to start utilizing platforms that cater to developing a network of professionals.
Works Cited
“EDCI PODCAST – 2021–10-24 Mo Amir.” YouTube, uploaded by MILLER, 24 Oct. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgoDet6pwaI.
Giudice, Del Manlio, et al. “Chapter 5 – From Information Society to Network Society: The Challenge.” Social Media and Emerging Economies Technological, Cultural and Economic Implications, 2014th ed., Springer, 2013, pp. 71–88.
Hi Foster! I completely agree with you, and I am also very surprised about the apparent popular usage of Twitter in interviews from this course. It is shocking to me also that much of their professional success is attributed to utilizing twitter as a part of their digital PLN. This is convincing me to create a professional Twitter account in the future to expand my personal PLN. Thanks for a great post as always!
Caitlin Galbraith
Hey Foster,
I’ve had a similar experience throughout my degree. I have so many connections to students in all kinds of departments and I made unlikely friends in classes years ago that I still keep in contact with. The best connections, in my opinion, are those that I made in person and kept up on social media over the years. There’s nothing like struggling over the same assignment with classmates and forming an unbreakable bond as a result. This is mainly why I decided to move away from home to go to UVic. Not knowing anyone in a new city and school is the best motivator to get out there and meet new people. If I told my 18-year-old self how far I would go in terms of my PLN, I would never had believed it.
Hi Foster!
I enjoyed reading your post. I agree with you compelty, I was also surprised about all the mentions of Twitter with the guests throughout the course! It has sort of given me the impression that Twitter might be a better tool for professional networking and development than LinkedIn. I also don’t use LinkedIn, but my understanding is that it was created for professional development so it is rather interesting that Twitter seems to have overtaken it. I wonder if this is dependant on the field as well because I know a few people who are in computer sciences or business who use LinkedIn a lot.
Thanks again for your post!
I hadn’t thought about the field, but that makes a lot of sense. One of my best friends is in business, and she doesn’t use Twitter but is very active on LinkedIn. This course has definitely made me consider getting both!
Thanks for the comment!