Diverse PLN Benefits:
Having a diverse PLN improves your learning plus your personal/professional growth by allowing you to have exposure to many different perspectives which enhances your learning by challenging your assumptions and growing your understanding. Through this diverse learning one is able to continue to learn and grow mentally which will allow them to have better connections as they adapt and learn more. With all the different social media platforms I interact on I continue to grow my PLN and my community with who I interact with and what I can learn from them.
Creating an Inclusive PLN:
Steps you can take to ensure your PLN includes various voices and perspectives is you can seek out new people to content and interact with. You can also choose to engage with different platforms which will showcase different perspectives. Personal things you can do are educate yourself on inclusivity and what may be happening in your world that you can then share that information with someone. If you want to be able to speak with more people and hear some more perspectives you could also join multicultural groups online and hear about what they are talking about or even attend inperson events and conferences.
Social Media Dynamics:
Each social media platform seems to offer something just a little bit different. This varies their features and people’s willingness to interact with their platform. Some examples on how features varry are that Linkdn is used for a professional purpose, there is no character limit and people can post their resumes and create a profile for employeers. Facebook is a bit of a crossover from professional and personal life. There are lots of different groups you can join, things you can buy and diverse in the content you are able to share. A very popular one is Instagram which people tend to post photos, videos, stories, reels, and a very high focus on visuals. So depending on which platform I am using, adapt to its features. I may alter what I share, who I am sharing with, how I interact with others, and how I communicate. This allows me to effectively connect and learn from a diverse range of individuals.
Challenges of Inclusivity in Digital Spaces:
Some difficulties that may come across in making your PLN inclusive is you can’t control what accounts interact with you, however you can control who you interact with. So to make it more inclusive you can interact with new accounts that showcase diverse perspectives and allow you to develop your PLN. You can interact with these accounts by following them, liking and reposting their content, sharing their content, starting a conversation with someone else about what they are posting and their views, and much more. This will not only broaden your PLN but as well as the others who are a part of it and who you share content with. However, people interact with who they interact with. And when people go on these social media platforms sometimes they are just for entertainment so being diverse and inclusive might not be their first thought.
