What are the benefits of being in the public eye and having a PLN? (career development in the public eye) What are the risks for a public figure or person in a position of trust (educator, lawyer, government official)?
As someone who keeps most of her social media platforms private, the idea of having a public account with a large audience seems very daunting to me. Although being in the public eye can offer numerous benefits, including countless networking opportunities, more occasions to connect with people, and a well-viewed platform, there are also several risks that we see examples of daily. Having a large audience, especially when your platform is in connection with your business, can pose a lot of security concerns. For example: in February of this year, three protestors were arrested on the property of British Columbia’s Premier, John Horgan’s home, after banging on his doors, intimidating his family, and refusing to leave (Coyne, 2020). Only three were arrested, but several people trespassed on Horgan’s property that day simply because they disagreed with him. Whether you agree with someone’s opinion or actions or not, harassment and intimidation are not acceptable. This specific instance is also a great example of how an individual’s platform also affects those around you, as Horgan’s family was inside the home while protestors banged on doors and windows (Coyne, 2020).
How do notable individuals use social media? Reflect on how you would curate your social media with a critical public audience.
From what I have noticed, most high-profile people use their social media to promote, advocate, and share pieces of their personal life with their followers. Although social media provides an almost instantaneous method of sharing details, sometimes information can be altered the more times it is shared (Hirst, 2019). Notable individuals with verified accounts are all subject to fake news or clickbait headlines. When a well-known person shares anything, whether it is personal content, work-related, or product-related, third party groups will often manipulate the information one puts out to create a marketable headline (Hirst, 2019). In fact, in an article by Chen, Conroy & Rubin (2015), the category, “celebrity names,” is listed as an attractive technique to lure online users to click headlines that take them to the desired webpage. This is just another aspect of having a well-followed social media account that individuals have to work through.
If I had a notable social media, I would share personal details only to a certain extent. I would never share anything I didn’t want everyone to know – I would especially consider how I would feel if my grandma could see it, or maybe a partner’s parent. In addition to my personal life, I think I would mostly use my platform for social change. I understand that expressing social change opinions can be controversial, however, I believe it is more damaging to sit back and say nothing. Considering this, I would prepare myself for hateful comments from people who disagree with my thoughts. As a woman, I would also need to prepare myself for criticism regarding my appearance or my clothes. As Sophie Lui mentioned in her interview with Jesse, women face a lot of criticism – so much so, that she received a comb in the mail simply because someone didn’t like her hair (EDCI 338). Furthermore, I believe women need to be conscious of what they wear on social media. They must be comfortable with what they are posting because if you wear too little, you are labelled as promiscuous, but if you cover up too much, you are called a prude. It’s often a lose-lose scenario, so women need to decide what they are comfortable with and be mindful that people will always have an opinion.
How would you address negative replies and critiques reflective of your personal values and employer social media policy?
If I were to receive any kind of negative commentary on my social media platforms, I would go by the ever so cliché rule of “kill them with kindness.” As hard as that may be sometimes, I truly think it is the best way to deal with bullying. I would either not respond at all, or only reply with kindness. Similar to Sophie Lui, I would also make use of technology by utilizing the block or mute features when necessary (EDCI 338).
Building community with online tools provided by the employer can be limiting, what are the perceived restrictions and benefits of having social media directly associated with employment? (verified accounts because of employment, accounts that are professional versus personal, hybrid accounts)
I can imagine it might be challenging having an account that is directly related to your profession, as all of your personal values and beliefs may not line up with your employers. In addition, it may be challenging to be personal or relatable while following specific guidelines from an employer, but it would also depend on your job. For example, I imagine a TV personality might have it easier when it comes to sharing personal content than a police officer. Although there are many challenges one would face having their verified social media account related to their career, it would also provide more opportunities for additional jobs, and making connections with important people.
Delivering information in a connected society requires verifiable resources, how does one build a PLN that can be consistently relied on? How do those, who are veteran story tellers, minimize risk in sharing misinformation?
When building a PLN, it is important to choose your mentors or partners wisely. Choosing professionals whose career isn’t based in creating clickbait or getting a headline will ensure more reliable facts and resources. Having trustworthy people in your PLN that demonstrate excellent research skills is a great resource to you as a professional. I also believe, however, that it is your own responsibility to check facts or make disclaimers when you’re not absolutely sure how factual parts of your story are.
References
Chen, Y., Conroy, N. J., & Rubin, V. L. (2015). Misleading Online Content: Recognizing Clickbait as “False News”. Proceedings of the 2015 ACM on Workshop on Multimodal Deception Detection – WMDD ’15. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Victoria_Rubin/publication/283721117_Misleading_Online_Content_Recognizing_Clickbait_as_False_News/links/5644c4b108ae54697fb813d1.pdf
Coyne, T. (2020, May 25). Protesters blockade Premier Horgan’s home ahead of B.C. budget release. Retrieved from https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/protesters-blockade-premier-horgan-s-home-ahead-of-b-c-budget-release-1.4816809
EDCI 338 (2020, Oct 21). A01 Lui, Sophie [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T4jOdKd12I&feature=youtu.be
Hirst, M. (2019). The Political Economy of Fake News. In Navigating social journalism: A handbook for media literacy and citizen journalism (pp. 78-100). New York, NY: Routledge.
Hi! One thing that stuck out in your responses was that you said if you had a notable social media, you would only talk about personal life to an extent. From what I know, that’s absolutely the way to go. I livestream and post videos and several social media apps- one of which my following grew ridiculously quickly- and that makes it all the more important to be careful about what you share. I love talking about some of my crazy work stories and such, but when I do I never say where I work or what store I work at as that could affect my privacy, safety, and employment. I definitely think there has to be a balance because it’s good to be genuine with your audience and show that you’re just like anyone else, but you also have to limit your conversations so you don’t share any personal information that could put you in danger. Great blog post, by the way!
Hi Callie,
Glad to hear you don’t post any details about your work! I’ve heard some pretty scary stories about people showing up at other people’s place of employment. Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply.
Erica
Hello Erica,
I really enjoy reading your blog post! I think your post is very clear, organized, and informative. The example that you shared in this post can help me better know your perspectives directly. I liked how you explained notable individuals use social media and I agree that those people with verified accounts will be affected by fake news or clickbait headlines. Therefore, in my opinion, for notable individuals and their groups, they need to pay more attention to post fake news or information that may cause mislead on their social media tools because most people in public cannot prove the information and will be easily misled by it. Also, I agree that one of the useful ways to address negative replies is to reply them with kindness. Personally, most of time, I only read other people’s comments online instead of commending on the posts by myself. However, when I see some negative comments, I always choose to ignore them. I am wondering if you have read this web article about Ways to Deal With Negative Social Media Comments:
https://www.salesforce.com/uk/blog/2016/08/8-ways-to-deal-with-negative-social-media-comments.html
All the ideas in this article are very useful and effective.
Chunlin
Hi Chunlin,
Thanks so much for your insights. I haven’t read that article, so thank you for sharing 🙂
Erica