• How does social media use in public discourse potentially challenge advocacy communications?

Social media in public discourse can cause some challenges in regard to advocacy communications. As Markial was saying in his interview he started off with 0 followers (Simpson 14:56-14:58) so to actually make a change becomes harder than someone with a following. The majority of his following is educational-based so when he posts something that isn’t solely based on what his followers want to see, like “political things” (Simpson 20:04-20:06) it becomes harder to reach a diverse audience.

  • How does social media engage in advocacy communications?

Social media, in my opinion, is the fastest way to spread information and gain interaction around a cause to specific groups of people whether it is through hashtags, posting on an account with a large following, or networking with different personalized learning networks.

  • How diverse is your existing PLN?

I would consider my Personal Learning Network diverse but I know it could be even more diverse if I followed more accounts. For example, on Instagram, I see people of all different cultures. I do not follow all of them though. I will see other people repost pictures of these diverse accounts but I have not really thought to follow as I do not follow a lot of people like some of my other friends do. I really only follow people for their content no matter who it is. I am a part of a couple of Facebook groups with people from all over the world where you can ask for advice and share stories and ideas. These groups allow me to diversify my personal learning network and I am able to network with many types of people.

  • In your PLN, are you learning from a variety of voices?

I like to think I am learning from a variety of voices but as I said earlier, on Instagram specifically, I follow only a smaller amount of people. The majority of the people I follow are my friends, family, coworkers, and peers. I also follow numerous fitness accounts as that is what I am most interested in and I also follow teacher-based and special education accounts as I am very passionate about my future career. I also think whenever I have a zoom class or on Mattermost I am also hearing from a variety of voices from peers all over the world. I also think in the Facebook groups I am in I hear a lot of different opinions.

Conclusion-

Overall, I think a diverse personalized learning network is extremely important for inclusion. I think being able to hear and also share stories and opinions about ideas you are passionate about can be so inspiring. As well in Chapter 4 in the book “Media and Social Justice,” states that to allow people from multiple perspectives to work together on a project while asking questions, sharing facts and stories is all a part of public media 2.0 (Clark and Aufderheide 59) which is based on previously, the audience who are now seen as the front line of it all engaging as a community. I also like how Shelley Moore stated in her interview with Jesse that learning started to look different in her graduate degree. She wasn’t just the student but she was also the teacher. Everyone was learning from each other and they were all teachers in a sense and she felt she “absolutely thrived in this setting” (Moore 6:20-6:35). I feel like as a future teacher, working with other teachers to actively take part in inclusion is important in general but to be able to use a personalized learning network to connect with teachers from other places in the world could be even wonderful.

References:

Alidina, Raafi-Karim. “Diversity and Inclusion: How Far Have We Come since 2010?” HRZone, 17 Jan. 2020, www.hrzone.com/lead/culture/diversity-and-inclusion-how-far-have-we-come-since-2010. (image)

Clark, Jessica, and Patricia Aufderheide. “A New Vision for Public Media Open, Dynamic, and Participatory .” Media and Social Justice, 2011, pp. 55–67. UVIC Library, ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=http://www.palgraveconnect.com/doifinder/10.1057/9780230119796 .

Moore, Shelley. “EDCI 338 – 20 Minutes Moore.” Youtube, uploaded by MILLER, 30 May 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeSV0rUl1bA&ab_channel=MILLER

Simpson, Markiel. “EDCI – 338 MARKIEL SIMPSON”. Youtube, uploaded by MILLER, 1 June 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsoDHGaXNNs&ab_channel=MILLER