First would like to say how informative the videos and readings have been for this week’s blog post!

Consider how you would curate your social media with a critical public audience.

In answering this prompt specifically, I would express extreme caution when forming my identity online knowing a critical audience could be watching. This made me think about when Jody Vance said, “social media complicates things but at the same time exposes your strengths as well”. In Jody’s situation, her presence online and offline are the same. Analyzing that, I can say that I don’t need to partake in online matters through my own lens, unless I choose too. With that being said, I personally would refrain from sharing quite a-bit to a critical audience. This is for the reason of not wanting to cause unwanted discourse online that would potentially harm my own image. I think it’s important to be as neutral as possible and understand that our words online hold significant meaning to people. I would also be very selective in the content I decide to post, publish or re-publish. From that, I would ensure that my presence online isn’t too over-assertive and trying to push any type of narrative that could cause people to become upset.

How do notable individuals use social media?

As mentioned above, Jody Vance articulated this idea perfectly. Jody’s experience talked about how selective she must be at times when/if responded to certain individuals online. This is for the reason that a large number of people online look up to Jody and value her input because of her reputation. Similarly with any notable individual, they must analyze everything they put online as they most likely have a following that will heavily support/oppose what they express. With that being said, it must be used carefully and selectively.

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

The benefits of having a PLN and being in the public eye is the ability to share new ideas with a large group of people. When in the public eye, individuals are able to give out information quite quickly that can help people for a multitude of purposes. Another benefit would be the possibility for opportunities in any sector. For example, many professional consultants have large followings, and from that they are able to post job postings that can be filled quickly.

How do those, who are veteran storytellers, minimize risk in sharing misinformation?

This prompt aligns quite well with the experiences of Jody Vance. Jody being a veteran in storytelling explained that it’s important in understanding the content and knowing when to stop. In general, sharing misinformation can be very detrimental for an individual’s career. I also feel that understanding the true sources of information helps veterans minimize the risk of spreading false information to their audience. By expressing transparency and truthfulness in the origin of information is enough to lower the risk of misinformation.

What is media literacy? & Why is it important?

I would define it as the ability to understand different types of media platforms and the information shared across them. Julie Smith defines it as the constant critical questioning of all the media that we consume. Julie’s definition of media literacy is fantastic because it highlights the continuous questioning all of us when online. Media literacy is important to understand for the simple fact that it enables individuals to analyze information correctly. Being able to understand the overarching idea of sharing information online is crucial.

Why is it potentially dismissed as valuable (fake news)?

I feel that media literacy is dismissed because it allows individuals to objectively analyze information online. As of recently, information online has become quite divided, and individuals tend to dismiss information that doesn’t agree with their viewpoint. For example, the term “fake news” used in political discourse as an accusation against information being promoted by your opponents. Fake news is deployed as pejorative term for any item of news that you disagree with (Hirst, 2018). This reference in politics fits well with media literacy being dismissed. To elaborate, certain individuals believe that being critical to information on social media is often unimportant. Because of that, this leads to people dismissing it as fake news.

References

Hirst, M. (2018). Navigating Social Journalism. The Political Economy of Fake News. https://www-taylorfrancis-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315401263-5/political-economy-fake-news-martin-hirst?context=ubx&refId=3caeb803-bd82-4939-8283-2c9eca1aa2d1

Smith, J. (2021). EDCI 338 – Media Literacy with Julie Smith. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57r3-aEnci0&feature=youtu.be

Vance, J. (2021). EDCI 338 – Media Voices. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-NnpQJdl0A&feature=youtu.be