Tag: PLN

Replied to Tim Klapdor (@[email protected]) (Mastodon)

What I got out of this week is that we are operating as humans in a world of humans. Everything we do comes back to our relationships with others and how we go about them.

Source: Tim Klapdor (@[email protected])

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There are many things I miss as my work as ebbed and changed over the years, one is the connections and relationships. I am reminded of a post I wrote ten years ago:

Creating new connections is what ALL conferences should be about. Building relationships and expanding your PLN. This sense of people connecting with people, both digitally and online, is what makes them such a fantastic place to learn. To riff on +David Weinberger‘s point, “The smartest person in the conference is the conference.”

Source: Presentations Don’t Make a Conference, People Do by Aaron Davis

Replied to Ex-Twitter by Chris (chrisbetcher.com)

I used to really like Twitter. I was active on it a lot. It opened doors for me. It allowed me to find and meet my heroes. I wrote many posts about Twitter, explaining why it mattered, how it worked, and convincing others to give it chance, even if it seemed like a weird idea. It was the one social network that I felt had true value, and the one I would hang onto long after I let the others go. I believed in the people there, because I saw Twitter as giving us all a voice, democratising our ability to connect and share and learn together.

But enough is enough. I have been hanging onto Twitter/X for nostalgia more than utility. Despite having nearly 12,000 followers I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a proper exchange of ideas or a conversation.

Source: Ex-Twitter by Chris Betcher

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Chris, I appreciate your point about nostalgia. I too have found myself in Twitter less and less in the last few years. Personally, what I miss is reaching out, replying or mentioning people. Just wondering, have you found any other space that fills the space associated with developing a PLN etc?

Bookmarked Performing For, Evolving, Diversifying, and Expanding The People in My Circle (kinlane.com)

As you seek out new ideas, and open your mind to other possibilities, others begin to see you as a threat to the lifestyle they have always known. For me, I am just growing more righteous in what is acceptable or unacceptable around me, and the people I love. For me, it is essential that I continue to keep moving forward for the rest of my life, ever expanding the circle of people I am exposed to, and making sure I empathize and give space to other voices and ideas—-not simply clinging to what I know, or what was handed down to me as part of childhood.

Kin Lane reflects upon his effort to expose himself to people of different backgrounds, including people of colour and voices beyond his childhood upbringing. He explains that so much of it is deciding whether to be a part of the performance or being in the audience.

I believe in the value of the individual, and the importance of me being a free and independent thinker, but I believe in freedom and equality, not just freedom. I am not under any delusion that my thoughts and actions aren’t influence by those around me, and every one of my actions is being shaped by the world around me. The stories I read on and offline influence my thinking. The people I let into my life all influence my behavior, and everything I do each day is part of a performance for the people who know me. I would say that the independent individual part of all of this is really about who I let into my circle and be either part of the performance or join the audience.

This feels like it touches on a lot of Douglas Rushkoff’s work, whether it be Program or be Programmed or Team Human’s effort to find the other.

Replied to

Marten, I am left wondering ‘why follow’? What strategies do you use to avoid ‘echo chambers’? To possibly ‘extend your serendipity surface as Doug Belshaw puts it.
Replied to On the network effect and PLN’s (edtechfactotum.com)

I see my main role in the network right now is to try and provide value-added information to my network in the hopes that someday others may be convinced to begin doing the same. This is how PLN’s are built, one person at a time adding value with intent. Participating. Contributing.

How do you build a PLN? First, it is important to overcome the hesitation around “using” people. If you are building a PLN, you will always be in a reciprocating relationship with the others in the network. Ideally, you should feel that your main job in the network is to provide value-added information to those who can, in turn, increase your learning (Digenti, 1999).

This will be a long process. But then again, relationship building always is.

Clint, I am enjoying your exploration of Mastodon and what is required. Someone else who has challenged me about both Twitter and Mastodon (and Micro.Blog) has been Ian Guest. He asked that question as to what I wanted out of any of these groups. I think that you touch upon this with your discussion of PLN. One thing that I do not think that I have thought about enough is how a PLN can change and evolve. Some people go, others stay. It is all rather fluid. Although I am willing to discuss all the technicals, maybe this focus on ‘EdTech‘ misses the purpose. Maybe this is Douglas Rushkoff’s point about ‘Team Human‘?

Thank you as always for the provocation.

Replied to citizen-learners (jarche.com)

Social learning can help us counter the negative effects of platform capitalism. Collectively we are smarter than any corporation. Learning through communities of practice and knowledge networks enables us to make collective sense.

Harold, I am not disagreeing with the power of PLN, my question though is how this really pushes back on platform capitalism when it is very much ingrained within platform capitalism? I am reminded of Althusser’s statement that we are always already interpolated. Sometimes I wonder if blog comments exist outside of all this, but is WP.com / Automattic any different to other platforms? Lately, I have tried to own my presence by posting everything from my own site. However, I am still sceptical of the maturity of this as a means of pushing back.
Replied to

I had a go at writing (and presenting) my own guide to being a connected educator a few years ago. I really like your point that a PLN is not something you create in an afternoon, for me it is a verb, not a noun.