In the interview by Jesse Millier and Brad Baker, Baker mentioned how social media being a great tool for aboriginal people in different areas (from Canada and Australia) to share their stories and history with the world. Aboriginal culture is a great part of Canadian history, but nowadays many people still don’t know or understand their culture and impact. We found out that lots of Aboriginal women gone missing but society is paying less attention to it. Therefore, the aboriginal community can share their thought directly with the public through social media. And this message is original and represents the aboriginal community, and not edited by the mainstream media (which sometimes can be biased). Jesse also talked about a story of an Inuit girl who shares pictures on Instagram to promote her hometown. These stories demonstrate how social media becomes the connection for the community to share their message.
As an international student, I found it pretty difficult to live in a foreign country at the beginning of my study. I was lonely and helpless, so I stayed at home most of the time and watched a lot of TV dramas. I watched every season of Friends, and I loved that show. Then I went to Instagram’s hashtag of Friends and find out lots of drama reviews. I saw people inspired by that show and how the show is related to their own life. I started to share my review as well, and by sharing those reviews I made some friends with many people. And they all have different backgrounds and by talking with them, I also improved my English skills and felt braver to talk to my Canadian classmates in the classroom. Social media provides a wider platform for people who share similar interests to talk and engage. It practised my social skills as well, and by reading other people’s comments, I gained lots of positivity and encouragement from the online community, and I am also more adapted to communicate with others. I was a socially awkward person before, but social media helped me to find a comfortable way to communicate with others.
Social media is a great tool for education by expanding our PLN. I previously registered for a gender study class as an elective, and I was quite interested in feminist ideas. Our professor introduced several professional feminists to us during class, and I followed them on Twitter and check their daily posts. I checked their following list as well and pay attention to who they retweet from. This process expanded my PLN by knowing more professionals and the most recent updates from them.
However, as Baker mentioned in his interview that it is important for the community to share first-hand information, or it might show differently by other media reporting. Sometimes social media can be so biased by using “clickbait” which can possibly misinterpret information. It is important to keep thinking critically online because there is massive information there and we need to learn the original story to understand it comprehensively.
Reference
Miller, Jesse. “EDCI 338 – BRAD BAKER.” YouTube, uploaded by MILLER, 04 Mar. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy63SmEpvCw.
Emerging Technologies in Distance Education, by George Veletsianos, AU Press, 2010, pp. 128–138