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)?
The benefits of engaging with a public audience in a media space are numerous, Jody Vance goes on to say that this allows for connections to grow with your audience as openness leads to an increase in mutual understanding. This also opens the door for support from your audience as well as helping you to establish new professional contacts, growing your future opportunities that are made available. The risks associated with this is that you have to be very conscious of what you post as whatever information you choose to share is open to criticism from every angle and as such you should screen your posts to make certain you do not place yourself in a compromising position. If you don’t take measures in screening what you post and you’re a public figure/person in a position of trust you risk losing credibility and there’s also the possibility of souring your public image (e.g., when celebrities get ‘cancelled’ for off-color tweets that get brought up from the past).
How to best address negative replies and critiques reflective of your personal values and employer social media policy?
I feel that the best way to address negativity and criticism directed at your posts is to not respond as in most cases the reason for ‘pushback’ on your posts/online activity is to get a reaction out of you. Similar to how paparazzi act as instigators towards celebrities in order to get a reaction out of them for the shock-value headlines. However, it is a good practice to be aware of critiques that are more substantial and are made in good faith as they are opportunities for growth. If you shut out all forms of criticism you remove any opportunity for growth in your page and end up creating an echo-chamber where you only hear what you want to hear.
How do notable individuals use social media?
Notable individuals use social media for growing their own personal brands, an example of this would be any professional athlete. If you have a large following on a social media platform like Instagram it’s much easier to get a paid sponsorship from a notable sport affiliated brand (i.e., Nike, Adidas, Puma, etc.) as a form of supplemental income. Public/Government officials and celebrities use social media for promotional purposes as well as public outreach in bringing awareness to prevalent social issues that affect the general public.
What are the benefits of being the public eye and having a PLN?
The main benefit of being in the public eye and having a PLN is that it offers you many more opportunities to grow your PLN through contacts made from the public interacting with your online activities. You would also be in a better position to raise awareness for issues/topics that are important to you as it would be much easier to reach out to the public.
Building community with online tools provided by the employer can be limiting, what are the perceived restrictions and benefits?
The biggest restriction associated with using online tools provided by an employer is that there is no semblance of privacy as all of your activities using these provided tools can be easily monitored. This results in individuals placing self-imposed censors on what they choose to share, stopping them from saying what they really feel. This stifles creativity in the workplace and can result in ideas being regurgitated as they would fit the established status quo. A benefit of using online tools provided by an employer is that there is no extra work needed to grow a community as you are folded into the existing workplace community, this makes interoffice communications and idea sharing more streamlined/ideal.
Delivering information in a connected society requires verifiable resources, how to build a PLN to rely on?
In order to build a PLN with information you can rely on you have to first be proactive in fact checking any posts and statements you make so that you don’t end up making a blanket generalization that is inaccurate or rooted in bias/prejudice. Essentially just be sure that the information that you are sharing has a reliable source otherwise it may be damaging to your image and your PLN (i.e., lead by example).
How do those, who are veteran storytellers, minimize risk in sharing misinformation?
They are able to minimize risk through verifying the information they share with primary sources (first-hand accounts) to ensure that there is no ‘watering-down’ of the truth.
Hey Gurbir,
Great post! I agree with the steps you suggest to take when sharing information in your PLN to assure it’s accurate and error free. However, I find that errors are bound to happen as it is just apart of human nature. I feel like when being in the public eye, critiques can capitalize on these mistakes and spread negativity. I also agree with your way of not responding to the negativity, but I feel that when a mistake is made by an individual, they may have to address the critiques to explain themselves and rectify their mistake. Do you think that is a good approach? If not what are your thoughts?
Great Post again!
-Musab
Hey Gurbir,
I enjoyed reading your post! I agree with you that it’s important to not shut out all forms of criticism and create an echo chamber of only hearing what you wish to hear. This is why it’s important to be able to filter through critiques and identify those made in good faith. I also enjoyed your paparazzi example, some internet “trolls” really do resemble the paparazzi as they instigate to only create a reaction.
Looking forward to reading more from you!