Blog Post #1

1. What does it mean to network using social media in an educational or professional context? How might building a Personal Learning Network (PLN) benefit you?

Networking through social media in both educational and professional contexts means more than simply collecting contacts online. It involves intentionally creating connections that support learning, growth, and collaboration. In education, social media platforms are increasingly used as tools for collaborative learning, peer feedback, and motivation. Research shows that students using Tencent Docs for writing tasks improved their performance, motivation, and self-efficacy compared to students in traditional classrooms (Bui Phu Hung et al., 2023). Similar interventions with Telegram and Instagram  reduced anxiety, enhanced grammar learning, and improved willingness to communicate (Bui Phu Hung et al., 2023). These findings show how digital networking spaces can create supportive and personalized learning environments.

From my own experience, I’ve found messaging apps and Instagram especially useful for collaboration on projects and making connections with classmates. Group chats often become spaces for sharing resources or organizing study sessions, while Instagram, when curated carefully, can expose me to perspectives that validate my thoughts or highlight important global issues. Though it is not reliable for scholarly information, I have found it productive in supporting collaborative learning and building community with peers.

At the same time, social media has clear downsides. The research cautions that while students often report greater engagement and confidence, social media use can also lead to stress, anxiety, and depression, especially through unhealthy social comparisons or the pressure of constant connectivity  (Bui et al., 2023). Teachers, too, report difficulties with increased workload, adapting to new technologies, and ensuring assessment reliability (Bui et al., 2023). These findings resonate with my own experiences. Social media can feel toxic and overwhelming, with misinformation, propaganda, and sensational news fueling fear or division. It is also a space where racism, hate speech, and band wagoning thrive, making it easy to get distracted or discouraged. In this sense, I don’t believe social media belongs fully within academia as a direct learning tool. Instead, it should be studied critically to understand its influence on society and to imagine ways it could be redesigned as a healthier, more intentional tool for learning.

In professional life, networking through social media takes the form of building a Personal Learning Network (PLN). A PLN is a deliberately cultivated set of ties identified as strong, weak, and very weak (Rajagopal et al., 2012). Professionals build, maintain, and activate these ties to support evolving learning needs. Strong ties provide collaboration and mentoring, while weak ties bring in new knowledge and opportunities (Rajagopal et al., 2012). Importantly, networking is not just a skill but also an attitude. A reflective mindset that treats each connection as a potential resource for learning (Rajagopal et al., 2012). Professionals act as “orchestrators” of their networks, shaping them according to personal interests, collaboration opportunities, and workplace trends (Rajagopal et al., 2012).

Bringing both perspectives together, social media networking extends learning beyond classrooms and workplaces, allowing access to wider communities of support and knowledge. For me, the value of building a PLN lies in its ability to connect me not only with peers but also with diverse voices and opportunities that broaden my learning. Still, balance is key. Technology can make connections accessible, but it cannot replace the reflective effort needed to transform them into meaningful, sustainable learning relationships.

References

Bui Phu Hung, Ulla, M. B., Tarrayo, V. N., & Pham Chien Thang. (2023). Editorial: The roles of social media in education: affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1287728

Rajagopal, K., Joosten–ten Brinke, D., Van Bruggen, J., & B. Sloep, P. (2012, January 12). View of Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them | First Monday. Firstmonday.org. https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3559/3131