- What does it mean to network using social media?
To network using social media is to form connections with people across space and time zones with the help of social media platforms (Gutierrez). Networking using social media serves many aims, including accessing information, locating resources, finding support and forming groups (Rajagopal et al.). Each individual forms different network in order to serve different means, and each network people form may change over time (Gutierrez). It is noteworthy that the network we form on social media is generally composed of three layers. The closest layer is made up of people we personally know and have close relationship with (Gutierrez). The outer layer is made up of people who share some common aspects with us, but are not necessarily our closest friends and families (Gutierrez). The final layer is composed of people who we may not personally know, but will refer to for information, such as celebrities and professionals in certain areas (Gutierrez).
- How are we motivated to participate in networked publics?
We are motivated to participate in networked publics for different reasons. Firstly, people participate in networked publics for information, especially if they can form groups. Instead of referring to printed literature, there are always people available in networked publics for information and ideas, which provides a much more effective way to acquire information (Gutierrez). Secondly, people participate in networked publics as a way to support their learning. Networked publics is an integrated part of people’s online learning environment (Gutierrez). Through participation in networked publics, people could interact with people who share common purposes, goals and interests with themselves (Gutierrez). Participation in networked publics is also an important way to support life-long learning. People stay updated by communicating with other people in the same professional field, where they could elicit knowledge by reflecting on conversations and experiences (Rajagopal et al.). Last but not least, participation in networked publics help people to gain support in both their professional realms and their social life. While connection with other professionals supports people through their career development, social interaction in groups also supports people in socially significant ways (Rajagopal et al.).
- What are the risks & rewards of public communications?
Rewards of public communications could also be viewed as factors that motivate us to participate in public communications. As mentioned earlier, people participate in public communications for information, support, and resources for life-long learning. One of the major risk of public communications is the potential to compromise our privacy. It is virtually impossible to control what information about ourselves we want to put onto social media, because when communications are highly networked, it is impossible to monitor and control what others put out there, which may contain information about ourselves (Boyd). Also, since social network platforms could access the data generated through our interaction with others, algorithms are able to make predictions about us, which poses great threat to our privacy (Boyd).
Works Cited
Boyd, Danah. “Networked Privacy.” Surveillance & Society, 22 December 2012. https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/networked/networked. Accessed 20 January 2021.
Gutierrez, Karla. “What are Personal Learning Networks?” SHIFT, 21 June 2016. https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/learning-network-age/0/steps/24644. Accessed 20 January 2021.
Rajagopal, Kamakshi, et al. “Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them.” First Monday (2012).
Hi Heidi
I look forward to interacting with you throughout this course and reading more of your weekly blogs. Good luck in this course.
Hi Calli,
Thank you! The course has been great for me so far and I hope it is the same with you. Looking forward to reading your writings throughout this course!
I like the way you’ve described networking! I agree that it is important to acknowledge that social media connects us to people as well as information and resources. I also think it is insightful that you’ve pointed out that we can have different networks for different purposes! At the time I was writing my post I didn’t fully realize this.
Something that I wondered after reading about the risks of public communication that you’ve listed is whether the data generated through our online habits are ever necessarily used with nefarious intentions, whether companies technically ‘own’ this data when we agree to their terms and conditions as well as what the actual dollar value of this data would be to companies?
Hi Rachelle,
Thanks for replying. You raised a great question. Based on what I have read about data security, companies do not necessarily use our data in malicious ways, but there is always a possibility for invasion of privacy. For example, if you live in New York City, you can pay for subway fares using either your credit card or your debit card through your MetroCard. This means that your bank account is connected with your MetroCard, and every time you ride the subway or make a purchase, you leave a record in the database. People could connect your data to draw a map about where you go and what you do in any given day. And using these maps, people could identify some “high-risk”individuals who poses threat to other people, even if these people are not committing any crimes. These “high-risk” individuals could be put under surveillance without them realizing it. You could imagine how these techniques pose threats to our privacy.
Companies do “own” the data that we generate on their platforms. For example, Twitter generates 12 terabytes of data per day. And companies do keep records of these data because our data does have great dollar value attached to it. One of the biggest income sources for social media giants is advertisement, and it is common practice for these companies to “customize” advertisements based on our preferences and behavioral patterns online. If you search “is google selling my data?”, the answer that Google provides is that “We do not sell your personal information to anyone. We use data to serve you relevant ads”. Companies also use our data for consumer analysis, which is a valuable source of information for businesses.
Hi Heidi. I like your detailed classification of the groups we form in social media. I would say that the outer and final layers are the ones from which we can benefit the most in online learning because they are more professional.
Hi Yiwei,
Thanks for replying. I totally agree with you that the two outer layers are the ones that we can benefit from the most in online learning. I think it also suggests that we use social media for different purposes – we use the closest circle we form online to connect with our friends and families, and we also resort to other people that we are not necessarily familiar with for knowledge and information.
Hi Heidi!
I read your first post on PLN, and I think you brought up some great points on the ways we participate in networked publics! 🙂
We live in a world where information constantly changes, new technology gets introduced, and society expects you to catch up on the trend and changes. For example phones – advanced technology has now forced everyone to own smartphones in a way, and learn how to use them. Reservations and appointments used to be made by phone calls, but I noticed some places require people to do those through a phone app, or online system.
The risk of privacy leakage that you indicated in your post is also very true. For example if you don’t think too much and “enable your locations” on your apps that you are using, people can follow you around, see where you have been, and maybe even detect your address too. This could lead to potential serious incidents. I understand that it is almost impossible to know completely what is being shared and what is being monitored as a general internet/social media user, but I think it is very important for everyone to be aware of that and try to protect yourself from being an easy target by turning off your location services when you are not using your phone, or not accessing to random wifi that could maybe steal all your important information.
Hi Akato!
Thanks for replying. I totally agree with you on what you said about privacy leakage. It is true that it is almost impossible for us to know exactly what is being shared and monitored once we agree to use the services that an app provides. For example, I have had it happened to me for several times where I searched for something using the safari browser on my phone, then when I opened Taobao (the most commonly used online shopping app in China) , I would see what I just searched being recommended to me. I think in these cases it is safe to assume that Taobao has access to a wide range of data generated on my phone.