How likely individuals are going to continue with their created content and their network?
Individuals are much more likely to continue with content creation and building their personal learning network if they are receiving support from others around them. This can act as a source of motivation if their presence on social media is stagnant for a while and can help deter any insecurities that come along with starting to present yourself and your passions on social media. It will also be more motivating to continue if the individual sees that goals are being achieved, even if they are small ones, as this will make the dream of amassing a large following to share your content to much more attainable. Setting goals also provide a specific purpose within the larger movement that one can work towards, as it may be overwhelming or daunting to work to the vague larger end goal of creating a large network of individuals. However, like Jesse and Olivia discussed this week during our learning pods, the era of influencing does not have complete longetivty, especially as the market right now has become extremely saturated with thousands of ‘micro influencers’ all attempting to become larger. As Jesse said, many of these influencers will end up falling off the map when their content becomes unrelatable or repetitive, especially as there are many influencers doing the exact same thing as one another. Olivia also expressed that these individuals, even the extremely successful ones, will be unable to remain an influencer for the entirety of their career and into late adulthood. Most of them are in their late teens and early twenties, and will probably be unable to remain at the same level of popularity on TikTok or Instagram as they reach adulthood.
Are the skills that they developed applicable in professional practices?
In some ways, the skills that social media influencers develop are applicable in professional practices. Especially if influencers want to remain successful in the long term, it is common to see many branching out into other business ventures outside of content creation, including working with brands, and even creating their own businesses. These management skills are extremely useful for professional practices, as they are in charge of meeting with executives, curating a brand image, promoting, creating a product. One example that comes to mind for me is a youtuber named Ashley Alexander that I’ve been watching for a few years. She started out vlogging her life and built up quite a big following, then recently collaborated with a swim company to release her own line of bikinis that she had designed. Now, she just announced that she’ll be starting her own Matcha company in the coming year, as she has been vlogging herself making matcha for years and it is a signature drink of hers, making it a great business move to branch out into production of the tea.
Using your PLN to engage business, career opportunities, and relationships.
Your PLN can be a great tool to engage and boost your professional opportunities and relationships in many ways. By connecting with peers and meeting new individuals, you are able to hold powerful and productive discussions on your business sector of interest, promote yourself or your company, get advice, develop new ideas and learn from those around you who may be more advanced in the field. With the advancement of social media and the internet, this can be done way easier through virtual events, webinars, online courses, podcasts, instagram lives and more. LinkedIn can also be a great way to seek out career opportunities, as it compiles all job offerings in one place and allows you to market yourself professionally to potential employers, as well as engaging in conversations with them.
Take your PLN from local community to global community.
Social media is a great way to advance your PLN from the local community level to the global community. Engaging online opens up discussion space with so many individuals who may not be from your direct vicinity, and allows you to reach out and create connections with people all over the world that would be impossible to connect with face to face locally. It also allows you to get informed on issues that are happening around the world, not just in your own community, and you are able to contribute through social media by raising awareness, signing petitions, sharing important information, raising money and learning from those abroad who are being affected. This allow allows your PLN to gain a more worldly and cross cultural perspective, as you are not only receiving information from those around you who may have similar customs, values, belief systems and backgrounds. Diverse perspectives and backgrounds allow for a deeper understanding to be had, as you’re not just thinking from one perspective, but many.