Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

A personal learning network (PLN) is a great way for someone to connect and stay in touch with people that they would not typically come across on a daily basis. This formation of an informal group can be a rewarding way to foster learning as both sides can gain insight from one another. With this being said, if someone was planning on launching a social media campaign, a strong PLN serves as an advantage. In an article written by Woods (2013), she provides insight on how to do so. Some of her tips include:

• Know that all PLNs are different
  • Everyone has a unique PLN. Your diverse interests and ideas make you unique so don’t feel pressured to follow what others are doing. What works for them may not work for you. 

• Ask and listen
  • • Converse with others and ask them questions. You may learn that they have skills that were previously unknown to you and likewise. Perhaps, you can share something about yourself that they may not be aware of. 

• Leverage technology
  • • Technology is a great resource for meeting people and broadening your PLN. It’s also an effective way to stay in touch with people.

• Try out Twitter
  • • Used for sharing ideas and engaging in debates and conversations 
    • Follow people on twitter that fit your interests
    • Make sure your tweets are appropriate and reflect how you would like to portray yourself in the media
    • Start conversations on twitter by commenting, retweeting, and asking questions

• Look outside of L&D
  • • There’s lots one can learn from others outside of their field. You may find different approaches that could be useful to your line of works. 

Social media campaigns have many uses. From politics to advertisement to attempting to foster connection, it can be altered to fit an individual’s goals (Wood, 2013). I am currently the vice president of UVic Science in Society and part of my role as VP includes working with the social media team to produce professional advertisement. We post on Instagram predominantly to advertise club events, meetings, and volunteer opportunities. Part of having a decent following involved spreading the word about our club during “Clubs and Union Day”, mentioning it to classmates, and sharing it on my personal Instagram account so close friends can check it out. As we’re a new club we’re constantly brainstorming new ways to improve and expand our club in the UVic student community. We open the club to students within all faculties as our club constitution is to expand science education, collaboration and communication and to do this successfully it’s important for us to also consider different faculties outside of science as well. If you’re interested in checking it out our Instagram handle is: @uvic.ssc.

Reference

Wood, B. (2013). Building your own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network. American Society for Training and Development. https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=ITBC&u=uvictoria&id=GALE|A348998538&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon