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)?

In the course interview with Jody Vance (2021), she mentioned that the biggest benefit of engaging with a public audience in a media space is creating connections with others. These connections can be between anyone! Colleagues, the audience, and even future employers! Jody talks about how employers often reach out to individuals of interest via social media, and she advises that you should always keep your DM’s open. Jody discusses a personal experience where her current employer, reached out to her via social media, and it just happened to be the right time and place for her. She ended up meeting with the employer face-to-face and was offered the job, and she is still working there today!

The risks for a public figure or person in a position of trust can be the idea of oversharing. Once an individual shares something via social media, it is out there forever. This can be dangerous as something that a layer, educator, or government official posted online when they were younger, may come back to haunt them. As well, if someone overshares certain parts of their life, they may regret it and not have the opportunity to take it back. An example of this would be when I was younger, I was obsessed with the band “One Direction.” Because they were so popular and they were so big on social media, it was very easy to find out information about them. I remember other fans showing up to their houses and such, which can be very dangerous.

How to best address negative replies and critiques reflective of your personal values and employer social media policy?

Every individual who is involved on social media platforms will, at some point, will receive negative replies and critiques. How we deal with these replies and critiques says a lot about ourselves. In the course interview with Jody Vance (2021), Jody states that everyone with a PLN should prepare themselves for criticism. Personally, I think it is more effective to not respond to such replies and critiques, or if you do, respond kindly and politely. I think it is terrible, and reflects poorly on yourself and your employer, to respond in a negative or inconsiderate matter. Personally, I think it is a waste of time and it is better for individuals to try and ignore it and move past it.

How do notable individuals use social media?

Notable individuals use social media to put themselves out into the universe, and create relationships with audiences and colleagues. Having a personal learning network and creating and maintaining relationships is so important to notable individuals. In the book by Martin Hirst (2019) they discuss the idea that most notable individuals have publicists that approve their posts beforehand. This is to create a safe environment and to ensure that the notable individual is not posting anything that is controversial or unacceptable.


What are the benefits of being in the public eye and having a PLN?

According to Jody Vance (2021), the main benefit of being in the public eye and having a PLN is engaging with others and creating important relationships between an audience and colleagues. Another benefit of being in the public eye is the idea of being able to influence others, hopefully in a positive way. For certain important topics that an individual might feel is important, like mental health or inclusivity for example, they will be able to share important information and supports. By doing this, they are creating an awareness around the topic as well as providing resources and supports for individuals that might need them. An example of this, is Harry Styles, a worldwide icon that uses his platform to promote LGBTQ inclusivity. By creating content via videos, Twitter posts, and through his music, he is creating awareness.

Building community with online tools provided by the employer can be limiting, what are the perceived restrictions and benefits?

The first thing that comes to my mind when discussing the use of online tools to benefit an employer, is TikTok. I have seen multiple TikTok’s personally that are from business that use the platform to promote their business. An example of this, is Starbucks. Certain Starbucks locations create TikTok accounts to show certain drink ideas, or new holiday themed drinks and merchandise. This allows them to advertise to their specific target audience! A benefit of this is it promotes the Starbucks, as well as entertains individuals. A restriction to this is, say the TikTok account blows up and becomes popular, it can put a lot of pressure on the individual’s running the account. It can become overwhelming and stressful.

Delivering information in a connected society requires verifiable resources, how to build a PLN to rely on?

In the course interview with Jody Vance (2021, Jody discusses the importance of building relationships with reliable and verifiable resources. Both Jesse Miller and Jody Vance discuss the importance of having connections with people you know are always reliable and are not just providing you with lies and incorrect information. In order for your own PLN to be reliable and verifiable, you must build a good reputation by connecting with others who are reliable and verifiable.

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

Minimizing risk in sharing misinformation relates again to the idea of having reliable and verifiable resources within your PLN. It is important for an individual to make sure they are not just spuing out their beliefs and false facts, when instead they should be sharing reliable information. A good way to minimize the risk of sharing misinformation is to make sure your own resources and where you are getting the information from, is reliable, as well as having a publicist or other individual’s go over and edit their work.

References:

Hirst, M. Navigating Social Journalism. New York, Taylor & Francis, 2019.

Miller, J. [MILLER]. (2021. June 6). Jody Vance – Media voices [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-NnpQJdl0A