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Two for grading

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This week we have the opportunity to have Mo Amir as our guest speaker. Mo is a podcast host of This is VANCOLOR, a commentator at CKNW, a columnist for Vancouver is Awesome, and a general manager in the forestry sector. Mo talked about how he started in podcast, and how he expending and leveraged his PLNs when he first started in the podcast. Twitter plays an important role to advance his online presence while he first started on the podcast. With Twitter, Mo is able to communicate with many people from the local area and across the country. He mentioned that how to make the correct use of social media is an indispensable part of PLNs development. With a process set in place, you will do much better at achieving quick, quality results. He also explains the importance of online reputation. Establishing credit may take a long time, but destroying credit may be a matter of a moment, so be sure to cherish your credit.

After this week, I think I still have a long way to go on using my PLN to help professional development post-course. I have only created similar network connections on a few social platforms, and I rarely interact with others on the medium. The limitation to consider is the simplex structure of my PLNs. All the connections I have are with people that I have already known for years.

I believe that I can rely on to open professional opportunities with my PLN in the future. PLN contains a huge network and provides potentials for your future development. You could be connected with people around the world, which means there would be more opportunities available to you. To demonstrate, my current PLN helps to know people who are out of school and working in the marketing industry for years. We have mutual friends on Facebook, which allowed us to be connected even we had not met each other before.

Reference

Miller. (2021, October 24). EDCI PODCAST[Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgoDet6pwaI

Giudice, D. M. (2014). From Information Society to Network Society: The Challenge. In Social Media and emerging economies: Technological, cultural and economic implications. essay, Springer. 

Media literacy is the ability to use the mass media correctly and adequately, to use the resources provided by the media to accomplish self-repair, to identify information, to know and understand the society and it includes several literacies such as the public’s motivation to use media resources, the way, method and attitude to use media resources, the degree of effectiveness of using media resources, and the ability to criticize the media.
The importance of media literacy has become increasingly evident as the act of communicating and receiving communication has risen to become the most regular human behaviour. Media literacy has become one of the most important literacies that modern people must possess.
From a practical point of view, media literacy education is defined as the ability to choose, understand, question, evaluate, create, produce and respond to various information in the media. By receiving media literacy education, the public can better acquire the knowledge and skills to use the media. They can maximize the efficiency of the media and better realize their dreams and social values. At the same time, they can effectively avoid being tied to the media and becoming blind followers of the media.
Compared with traditional media, new media have not only media attributes but also social attributes. In addition to information dissemination, the new media are simultaneously used as entertainment and recreation and social service tools. The social attributes of the Internet make many Internet users with very weak self-control indulge on the Internet and cannot extricate themselves, especially many teenagers, who appear pathologized “new media dependence psychology”

In the online environment, information is easily concealed and exploited, causing some young students to lose their way, deviate from the mainstream, lose their origin and distort their humanity in the virtual world of the Internet. Young students use the Internet to express their views and satisfy their interests in the Internet. They must have the ability to correctly interpret and critically accept Internet information. The Internet medium is complex and confusing, and young students need to constantly improve their Internet media literacy and enhance their ability to discern and accept Internet information, which is an inherent requirement for their proper use of the Internet medium.
In the face of the information explosion brought about by new technological development and highly mediated education, the learning process of learners is almost inseparable from the media. Learners need to learn not to be held back by social media and distinguish the truth and value of information. Also, to learn how to get the information they need efficiently and accurately through the media, and even constantly improve their ability to analyze and disseminate information.

Reference

Miller. (2021, June 06). MEDIA LITERACY with JULIE SMITH [Video]. Youtube.EDCI 338 – MEDIA LITERACY with JULIE SMITH – YouTube

Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2012). media literacy. In 21st Century skills: Learning for life in our Times (pp. 66–66). essay, John Wiley & Sons.

In the Information Age, a wealth of knowledge is accessible with just a few keystrokes and mouse clicks. Our way of learning has changed. A PLNs improve the development of thoughts and ideas by spreading quickly through the Internet. It feeds people’s demand for timely information dissemination. The emergence of PLNs has broken the restriction of information dissemination geographically, making the scope of information dissemination more extensive and sending more valuable information to domestic and foreign countries. There is no time limit for the transmission of information, and the audience does not need to wait for a specific time to receive information. Showing its superiority of rapid transmission, it also reveals its defects -fragmentation of information. The information conveyed is presented in a fragmented form. The flow of information and events reflecting objective reality is composed of micro-content from different sources, different times, etc. The more people’s opinions we hear, the less we may get close to the truth of the matter and restore the true picture of the event.

Discourse is not a static, idealized phenomenon or a totalized being, but a form of expression of the meaning of things, a way of thinking, a way of acting, and a way of social practice. It is also a way of thinking, acting, and doing. The understanding of discourse needs to be reduced to the specific context of practice, which controls discourse as a model of communication events. Educators are committed to interpreting educational practice with their theoretical research and discourse systems and propose new concepts, categories, and expressions. Educators keep pace with the times, accurately reflect the requirements of the times, and update their discourse promptly, eliminating outdated discourse and incorporating new discourse.

Coursera is a great online public course platform whether you are interested in a field of science, technology or liberal arts. The courses are closely linked to universities courses. There are both theoretical and practical classes, and the pace of the classes is similar to that of a university.

In a fast-moving digital world, schools can take advantage to make it useful in education. Through appropriate use, social media can enhance student learning and strengthen the connection between students and teachers. Social media is also applicable to research. Students can use polls, surveys, or even post a simple question to get people’s opinions on a particular topic.
Social media extends faculty office hours and facilitates interaction between faculty and students after class. For students who don’t have the opportunity or are too shy to ask their questions in a public classroom. Social media provides a relatively private platform for them. In a higher education setting, social media can be effective in reaching out and communicating with students.
However, with the widespread use of social media in education, there are concerns about its negative effects, such as distraction, the proliferation of irrelevant information, and the temptation of undesirable information. Students are increasingly dependent on social media and the Internet for information. Students’ ability to learn, and research, has declined, as their engagement in these social media distracts them from their studies and makes them spend less time on them, leading to a decline in their academic performance. Social networking is an open platform that provides a venue for the display of our talents, emotional expression, and interpersonal expansion. But at the same time, it also brings some hidden dangers to the physical and mental growth of college students. The diversity, openness and richness of information on the Internet can make college students lose their judgment and analysis ability. They may blindly follow the wrong information, misunderstand the values. And even touch the law and morality in the process of socialization, leading to the path of crime. Since the social network has gradually become a way of life for college students to interact with others, individual college students indulge in online interaction and use it to escape from reality or avoid real human interaction. Long-term indulgence in online interaction leads to various discomforts in real-time interaction and even degradation of interaction ability. This is the drawback that social network brings to the actionability of college students.

Reference

Miller. (2021, June 10). Jesse Miller: Brad Baker EDCI 338[Video]. Youtube.https://youtu.be/C5z8iHxW2n4

Veletsianos, G. (2010). Developing Personal Learning Networks for Open and Social Learning. In Emerging technologies in distance education (pp. 109–128). essay, Athabasca University Press.

In the current era of social and economic globalization, the high development of the Internet and information technology has played an active role in promoting cultural communication. And different types of cultural forms have clashed and merged in the process of development. In the context of multicultural communication, some subcultural forms, which are different from the mainstream culture, are presented in the current online social media in their unique ways. People are both the creators and the enjoyers of culture, and the independent pursuit of different cultural values has objectively enlivened the popularization of subcultures and other non-mainstream cultures. With the support of many advantages such as the sharing and openness of the Internet, social media have gradually completed the development and construction of modernization and informatization while providing people with a virtual network social platform. They have completely changed the way of communication and expression. With the influence of its massive audience, the effectiveness of online social media communication cannot be ignored. Unlike traditional paper-based media such as newspapers and books, people can express their opinions freely in the highly autonomous online media. The content and form of cultural communication are constantly fulfilling the diverse communication expectations of people from different classes, and more and more niche emerging cultures, so-called subcultures, are spreading on social media. With the rapid development of the Internet, the renewal of online social tools, and the openness and inclusiveness of online platforms, the platform and soil for the growth and development of self-media have been given, and the flow of information has become fast and transparent. With Blogs, Facebook and live streaming as the carrier of communication channels, they have gathered information from all directions and have become the most active subject of network communication and the emerging public opinion field. In such a free and open process of rapid development, self-media has satisfied the audience’s curiosity and entertainment mentality, while the mainstream media has become gradually marginalized. In such a situation, the mainstream media still has its irreplaceability authority and credibility and still has to ensure the function of mainstream media in the process of integration with the network.

When we look at our guest, Markiel Simpson, his PLN and political involvement, it is not surprising to see how a variety of forums he gets to be involved and connected with to build his PLN. He knows the need of people of color based on his own experience and has not hesitated to take the chance to stand out and speak for them. He leverages his PLN on social media platforms to spread his idea and gather people who have the same goal. With this strategy, Markiel has been able to expand his PLN, also help others who are out there searching for support and opportunities. Another thing is he decided to not make it as a personal account in the beginning. He uses Hashtags on his social platform: strong together and, together we rise. Both are easy to understand and it’s written to evoke, to make people, the audience have some kind of emotional experiences.

Reference

Miller. (2021, June 1). Jesse Miller: EDCI – 338 MARKIEL SIMPSON [Video]. Youtube. EDCI – 338 MARKIEL SIMPSON – YouTube

Jansen, S. C., Pooley, J., & Taub-Pervizpour, L., 1967. (2011). Media and social justice (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.

As I mentioned in the previous posts, social media is a place where people can expand their PLN. It is the same for famous figure, and they could use to developing their PLN although they might already have a solid network with other notable people. They use social media to post pictures of their daily life and attract more people to follow them. Being a notable person means all your actions are in the public eye, and you would be judged by various people every day on what you are posting online. Famous figures use social media to express their personalities. Influencers drive the development of niche languages-frequently used jargon, preferred labels, key conversations, and overall trends.

Followers recognize the influencers’ expertise in niche markets and follow their social media updates with great interest. In turn, influential people aim to cater to the strong interests of their followers and adjust their positions accordingly, while maintaining a position that represents their values and personality. Social media influencers are early adopters of products that set trends among the wider consumer base. They use their social media platforms to help amplify the information. Some influential people have built enough influence on the product line, and companies have the opportunity to launch their product series. Although some influential people use their visibility on social media to start their own business, some successful celebrities hope to expand their influence on social media and become more influential.

Being in the public eye and having a PLN, create more opportunities to help others know you better. Like Jody Vance described in her real-world experiences, having a PLN in the public eye has led her to several opportunities that she ever dreamed of. Moreover, a solid and healthy PLN can be achieved in the public eye. People often not only focus on what you are posting or sharing, also are curious about the list of people that you are connected with. Therefore, being in the public eye and having also helped on maintaining positive personal networks.
That’s leading to the next topic: risks of engaging with public audiences on social media. Although people built the online world decades ago, cyber law is still underdeveloped compared to the development of cyberspace. I just read the news about an influencer on Tiktok, and she is a teenager who posts selfies online every day. A crazy fan hacked into her account and found all her personal information. She would receive hate mail occasions from people she never met.

Many people try to make work and life separate. The rise of social media provided by the employer has made this line increasingly blurred. The traditional definition of private space is outdated, and the way social networks are used at work is also changing. It is good to interact with colleagues on social networks. Especially for small companies with a great working atmosphere, it is not difficult to turn colleagues into friends. Private space is being increasingly eroded by social networks. Obviously, complaining about work or colleagues on social networks is never a wise move. Especially, when your online social circle includes the person who has been complained of. In the Internet age, it only takes a few seconds for news to spread all over the world. Things sent out impulsively may make you regret it all your life.

The purpose of a professional network is to obtain information, increase your visibility in your field, and establish interpersonal relationships that help your career development. No matter how much you love your job, you should always look for ways to expand your networks. Ideally, your contacts will follow you from one position to another. A strong network allows you to get advice from trusted sources, keep your expertise up-to-date, look for career opportunities and support the careers of others. There should be many types of your network; individuals from different companies, professional levels, and professions can add a range of perspectives. Keeping in touch with university friends who might be in different companies and industries. It is an easy way to build a network. It is also a wise idea to join a professional association in your field, and regularly participate in their activities. Finally, investigate your company’s sponsorship program; many organizations provide individuals with opportunities to build networks within the company. Training activities, management visits, guest speakers, or various types of interest-based activities can generate the same types of connections as external activities.

With the development of Internet technology and the widespread application of social media, it has become easier to obtain or publish information, bringing convenience to people’s work, study and life. However, because the Internet and social media have lowered the threshold for information release, and caused a huge amount of online information to be rumours, misinformation or false information were widely spread. For those veteran storytellers, they spend time searching for reliable sources and information before posting things online. One of the biggest secrets of professional bloggers is that they do not know all the information. This does not mean that all blogs are fake forgers. On the contrary, the natural curiosity of many bloggers makes them good at their work. What enables them to do this and authoritatively write about the topic is knowing how to research blogposts appropriately. If they rely on third-party information to write blog posts, they choose an authoritative source. Official associations, government websites, heavily cited research papers, and outstanding industry experts are examples. However, no one is always right, so the storyteller should contact each source with skepticism about the practice of journalists and question all issues until they are sure that the information is reliable. Everyone makes mistakes, but it is important to avoid such mistakes. And take responsibility immediately and be transparent about them if it is ever happening.

Reference

Miller. (2021, June 6). Jody Vance: Media Voices [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-NnpQJdl0A.

Activities on social media can effectively reach millions of people at a very low cost. As more and more people use social media, marketers of major brands, including cross-border e-commerce, are planning various activities on social media to find more potential customers. If I were going to engage a social media campaign on increasing my brand’s awareness, I would initially determine a meaningful goal. This goal allows your marketing activities to be more focused and will not be affected by other irrelevant things. For example, I would like to create a campaign about the ocean and marine life on social media because environmental protection has always been a hot topic in our community. The targeting audiences are the majority of our society, especially those who care about marine animals.

Prior to the campaign, I would create a PLN to improve the influence on social media. Social media advertising has a huge impact, and the date is important too. I will capitalize on World Ocean Day, which is on June 8 of every year. Use keywords to help potential participants find our brand page and discover our event. In order to increase the traffic of social media activities, I need to share some valuable content. Initially, I would post fun facts about the ocean and marine animals on Twitter and Instagram and building connections with people who have a passion for environmental protection. Selecting the content that the audience is interested in and increases the media visibility of the campaign. Second, cooperating with organizations that have the same target audience as mine is also a good way to increase the influence of my social media campaign. For example, Vancouver Aquarium is a great organization to connect with and promote the campaign. Lastly, using the power of celebrities can make it stand out quickly. In fact, many consumers rely on the recommendations of celebrities. Build relationships with key people in the conservation industry, talk to them about the event and let them participate in the social media campaign. Also, I could encourage my fans to create content and tag our social media campaign, and providing some rewards can more effectively stimulate their creation. Increasing engagement is about ensuring that fans are active and willing to take action. Sharing user-generated content is a great way to connect with the targeting audience and get great content to publish.