Blog Post 1

• What does it mean to network using social media?

It represents the constant interpersonal interaction between people by using social media platforms. This platform can be in various forms, like Twitter, personal blogs, Facebook and Instagram, etc (Gutierrez). Since technology and science develop rapidly,  this platform now can overcome the limitations of different timezones and locations. People can be connected by the network more easily to the internet. People can communicate, share pictures/experiences/stories, and learning from each other(Gutierrez). This connection is especially important during nowadays COVID-19 pandemic situation. People are no longer isolated at home, and get connected by this network in the internet world. Also, the network provides people with a larger range of people to interact with. These people can be different in their countries, ages, and professionals. We can always learn from all these various experiences.

• How are we motivated to participate in networked publics?

There are several reasons for people to be motivated in participating in network publics. First, our society and the global economy changes as technology develops nowadays. AI technology and automatic factories are common methods for production (Rajagopal et al.). Lifelong learning is now a necessary skill for people to practise with. In this learning process, the network can provide enormous resources online for people to learn new knowledge and experiences to achieve their goals and live a better life in society. Learning only from school (academically) is no longer enough for the new changing era. Secondly, participate in networked publics help people expand knowledge from various resources and experts (Gutierrez). It also provides the most recent updates of the field you are interested in from the professionals (Gutierrez). Learning, sharing experiences and interacting with people can be more convenient and efficient for networked publics.

• What are the risks & rewards of public communications?

As previously mentioned, the reward of public communication can include helping people gain information easier and in a wider range. And publics can learn more knowledge with professionals overcome geography and timezone boundaries from the internet. However, the shortcomings of public communication are that sometimes our privacy will be invaded by the network companies (Boyd 2). The advertisements of the network companies show us is from algorithms that can predict and analyze our activities (Boyd 2). Many people chose to ignore the invasion of privacy, but there are potential negative impacts. For example, some companies sell users’ data for money, and users will receive tons of harassment phone calls.

References

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.” https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3559/3131