·       How do notable individuals use social media?

  • Develop and grow their personal brand
  • Monetize their image
  • Promote and monetize their platforms in the forms of partnerships and advertisements

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

  • Able to capitalize on your image/brand and receive unique opportunities because of your outreach and PLN.

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

Restrictions

  • Your employer always is watching you.
    • Take caution in voicing your opinion. Although your employee might recommend you speak your mind freely in your work PLN, you should always take caution.

Benefits

  • Connecting with your colleagues and promoting communication
    • In a post-pandemic world, many employees feel isolated or lonely working from home, so a PLN is a great way to stay connected with each other.

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

  • Utilize platforms that offer verification symbols next to users’ accounts for obtaining information, such as Twitter and Instagram’s blue check marks.
  • Look out for fake users
    • When establishing a PLN on a platform such as Instagram, if connecting with an IRL (in real life) friend online, make sure that is their real account and not an impersonator, as bots (computers, robots, etc.) are built to impersonate individuals with substantially large followings in hopes of scamming users.

·       How do those, who are veteran storytellers, minimize the risk of sharing misinformation?

Professional storytellers such as podcast hosts, have large teams behind them to support them and the information they provide their PLN’s and followers. Although it might seem on their show, they are doing everything themselves, there are paid staff behind the scenes helping them tell a story

Blog Post #8

·       Explore the video provided and reflect on the themes and questions above, reflecting on how you would curate your social media with a critical public audience.

  • After watching the video, Sophie changed my opinion on how I would use different PLNs and platforms for different uses. Similarly, I too interact and use Twitter and Instagram very differently from each other. Twitter is more of an informative, news and discussion-oriented platform for me, whereas Instagram is a lot more social and casual. If I was a public figure, I would have two accounts on Instagram. One where I have a team to put thought and effort into maintaining a professional public image accessible to any user of the platform. I would also have a second account under an alias, exclusive to my close family and friends that is on private mode. Distinguishing boundaries to what you feel comfortable sharing online is important when creating a profile for a public audience.

·       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)?

  • Your life revolves around your image and personal brand
    • Notable public figures are always being watched, judged, and observed for their actions. No matter what you do or say, people will try and spin it in a negative way to hurt your image. A good analogy I like to make about an online presence for public figures is to imagine they are being followed around online by a private investigator, attempting to cancel them or find dirt on them. For government individuals, this can be even more exacerbated. For example, a government member may comment on an old friend of theirs’s post on Twitter, thinking nothing of it. However, if say this “old friend” works for a company that directly opposes the government’s current policies, the media could potentially spin this comment to say or hurt this person’s public image and brand.

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

  • Learn to use filters
    • Workplace:
      • When using a PLN in the workplace, individuals are addressed and treated differently than they would be treated in a non-workplace environment.
      • When receiving replies from co-workers, individuals should not get offended or take these responses to heart as most of the time they are only work-related.
      • If one feels that they are unable to express their opinions appropriately in their work PLN due to their employer’s social media policy, they should reach out to their Human Resources department to provide clarification, as failing to comply with their rules can have severe penalties at times.