Social media is by far the most dominant outlet of media currently, just as Hirst stated in the video that TV’s and newspapers are now outdated and replaced by Facebook and Youtube. Public figures like celebrities and politicians can use this to their advantage because of their huge following, but there are negatives that come with it. Some celebrities choose to show off their daily personal lives while others choose to show the professional side of things. No matter which way you slice it, more famous people will get ridiculed for what they post regardless. A lot of praise comes with being famous and so do a lot of hateful words. 

But these figures can always become more successful and influential in a sense. Building on their PLN and expanding can help their growth. Once you have a huge following it creates a buzz which makes it easier for your PLN to grow. When figures decide to speak out on situations it could be really helpful for their personal career since they have a huge platform, it can give their influence a boost. As well, if they don’t speak out, or say something incorrectly they will receive a flurry of hate comments. There is a lot of attention that comes with it and sometimes it can be good attention or bad attention some people deal with it better than others like Donald Trump. Trump relies on attention solely to grow it doesn’t matter if it is positive or negative, he gets more popular regardless and it helped grow his PLN and campaign. 

For negative replies, it is always good to accept criticism when it is constructive. If there are personal attacks and hate comments, it is best to ignore it and let it be. For your PLN it is best to surround yourself with people who are like minded so you are sure that they will be giving you constructive criticism to help you out and not put you down. 

References: 

Vance, Jody & Miller, J. “EDCI 338 – 2021 – 03 – 21 JODY VANCE.” 03 Mar. 2021. doi: https://.youtube.com/watchv=dgZOJgJKdyl&feature=youtu.be

Hirst, M. (2018). Navigating Social Journalism: A Handbook for Media Literacy and Citizen Journalism (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.4324/9781315401263