BLOG 6 Who Needs to Know About My PLN?

1) Who needs to know about my PLN?

At first, I think PLN is just my personal thing. Like nobody really care. But after this course, I feel it is not fully private, because what I follow and what I share can show my thinking and my values. If I apply a job or join a team, people may look at my online footprint, even just a little. So I think the people who “need to know” are mostly future employers, classmates/teammates, and maybe communities I work with. Also, I start to realize sharing is not neutral. Hermida says sharing matters because it shapes what gets attention and what spreads in public (Hermida, 2014). So even if I don’t post a lot, my actions still say something.

2) Do I keep my current content and network?

I will keep my current network, but I don’t want to keep it in the same lazy way. For me, YouTube is super important because I watch course recordings there. I use it for review, or sometimes preview before class, and also I can see comments or discussions with classmates/people in the course space. It helps me learn faster, like I can pause and re-watch. Reddit is different: I use it more for tutorials and project help, like when I’m doing a project and I need a guide or an example idea. But the problem is, if I only watch what I already like, my PLN becomes too comfortable and too narrow. So my plan is: keep YouTube for course learning, keep Reddit for project learning, but be more careful about what I trust and what I repost (Hermida, 2014).

3) How I use PLN skills in professional practice

Before, I think PLN is just networking. Now I feel PLN is also a working skill. Like I need to filter info, pick good sources, and communicate in a decent way. For example, on Reddit, not every tutorial is good. Some is outdated, some is wrong, some is just confident but not correct. So I need to compare, double check, and not treat “upvotes” as proof. On YouTube, I also need to choose good channels and not get dragged by random recommendations. Qualman talks about “empower others,” like using your presence to help others, give credit, and support people (Qualman, 2011). I think I can do that in a simple way: share useful resources with classmates, explain what I learned, and credit the person who made the tutorial instead of acting like it is my idea.

4) Personal vs professional social media (my change)

Before this course, I separate personal and professional online life in my head. But now I think the line is real but not strong. People can connect things. Even if my YouTube is just course videos, it still shows my learning habits. Even if Reddit is just tutorials, it still shows what kind of projects I do and what I’m interested in. So I don’t need to be fake online, but I need to be consistent. If I want to look professional, I should avoid sharing things without checking, and I should reply in a respectful way. In the end, I feel social media is a tool, not automatically good or bad. The key is: how I use it and what I amplify, because sharing changes public attention and trust (Hermida, 2014), and also how I treat others online matters too (Qualman, 2011).

References (APA)

Hermida, A. (2014). Tell everyone: Why we share and why it matters. Doubleday Canada.

Qualman, E. (2011). Digital leader: 5 simple keys to success and influence (Ch. 16, “Empower others”). McGraw-Hill.