Diverse PLN Benefits: How does having a diverse PLN improve your learning and personal/professional growth? Share any experiences or examples you have.

Having a diverse PLN has been paramount to expanding my personal/professional growth and overall learning. Connections in my life with individuals with diverse backgrounds, abilities, and barriers have greatly influenced how I interact with others, as well as my worldview. Further, having a diverse PLN encourages me to be mindful of my privileges, broaden my perspectives, and have greater empathy.

Image by Daniel from Unsplash

A colleague of mine with cerebral palsy relies on automatic doors to enter rooms, as she uses an electric wheelchair. She revealed to me that she had to wait nearly 6 months for accessible doorways within our work building. I was devastated to hear that she had to wait so long just to have her basic accessibility needs met at her workplace, especially working at a healthcare facility. This has caused me to continue to be mindful of the accessibility features in public and private spaces. Rather than waiting for an individual with accessibility needs to have to advocate for themselves, I aim to identify concerns as I see them. This equips me act from a disability informed lens, rather than assuming everyone has the same mobility capabilities.

Image by Mercedes Mehling on Unsplash

A friend of mine was sharing with another friend of ours about how she had starting dating someone abroad. My other friend instantly asked, “where is he from?” This immediately made my friend feel uncomfortable, as she had to correct our other friend by sharing that her partner was a woman. Watching how quickly my friend’s excitement turned into discomfort motivated me to ensure I use gender neutral language when talking about someone I don’t yet know. From that point forward, I also made a mental note to use the word “partner” when asking about who an individual may be in a relationship with.

Advantages of a Diverse PLN

1. Promotes inclusive language: Knowing individuals from different backgrounds, experiences, and identities promotes the use of inclusive language. For example, some folks without trans friends or families may not recognize the power of using one’s proper pronouns, as well as sharing their own to promote feelings of inclusivity. Using inclusive language fosters an environment of respect, leading those around you to feel safe and comfortable.

2. Discourages living in an “echo chamber”: When exclusively interacting with those with the same experiences and views as you, it’s possible to fall victim to misinformation that simply validates one’s preexisting ideas (Gao et al., 2023). Conversely, having your opinions challenged with different perspectives can contribute to better learning by providing more varied information.

3. Encourages you to check your privilege: Being aware of your positionality and how it may benefit you is important for personal and development growth, as it contributes to an understanding how others can be disadvantaged without such positions. This article and embedded video illustrate the reasons for which many struggle to see the positions of others. I found it important, as it relays the basics of equity, and encourages inquisition in relation to one’s privilege.

Creating an Inclusive PLN: What steps can you take to ensure your PLN includes various voices and perspectives? Think about actions you can take to promote inclusivity.

I believe it’s crucial for me to reflect on whether I’m inadvertently contributing to a lack of continued diversification within my PLN. I believe it’s important to ask myself whether or not I’m interacting with individuals out of convenience, and consider why I’m not putting in more effort to diversify my PLN. I find it especially easy to connect to those who are close in age, within my field, and extroverted. Consequently, many of the people within my PLN share these attributes.

There are various ways I can provide opportunities for voices and perspectives that may diversify my PLN, including:

  • Branching out from my work bubble. I could make a greater effort to connect with colleagues not within my field or department.
  • Asking questions to those who may otherwise not feel sharing on their own, in order to foster feelings of comfortability. These may be individuals who are shy or are newly learning English and are hesitant to start conversations.
  • Making a greater effort not to always gravitate to someone simply for sharing similar outward qualities.
  • Continue to use inclusive language. When someone hears another use exclusionary language, they’re unlikely to feel safe around that person. Thus, when I use inclusive language, I signify to others that I am an ally and that I respect them/their voice/their perspectives.

This video prompts viewers to reflect on the diversity of their networks. I find this video valuable because it simplifies the benefits of having a diverse network and how different perspectives can enlighten you. I can personally attest to these benefits, as stated under my first prompt.

Challenges of Inclusivity in Digital Spaces: What difficulties have you faced, or do you think you might face, in making your PLN inclusive? Consider ways to overcome these challenges and build a supportive and inclusive PLN.

Many of the digital spaces in which I exist are inherently exclusionary. There are specific barriers that exist to access and engage with these spaces, therefore making it challenging to keep my PLN inclusive at times. I’ve noticed that an individual I knew from high school provides image descriptions on his Instagram posts and closed-captioning in his videos, as he is both blind and an advocate for inclusion. I greatly admire this feat of inclusivity and strive to make similar adjustments to my own content.

Image from @blindhipsterdave, a blind Paralympian, providing a photo description for his set of posts from a trip to Paris. I respect this accessibility feature, as it promotes inclusion for viewers who are visually impaired, leading to a more supportive PLN.

The algorithm on various social media platforms shows you content that you’ve previously engaged with and shown interest in. This means you’ll likely continue to encounter the same kind of content unless you make an effort to seek differently. I would consider the content I see on TikTok very curated to my specific interests, such as mental health. There’s one creator in particular who ends up on my feed frequently who goes by the username @TherapyJeff. I watch many of his videos, meaning I’m likely to share them or the information they contain with members of my PLN. As previously mentioned, solely engaging with those with the same view as you, especially on social media, increases your risk of falling victim to misinformation (Gao et al., 2023). This likely encourages me to seek information that validates my previously held beliefs and share it with people I believe will agree with it.

How to Promote Inclusion →  The nature of algorithms and follower suggestions can actually be used to diversify my PLN. For example, I can see videos from anyone with a public profile, not simply those I follow. This means that even if I put in minimal effort, I can engage with a variety of perspectives, broadening my PLN. By following hashtags that represent diverse communities, I can directly access content from different voices, enhancing my network. For example, when exploring content about mental health, I can search for perspectives that reference intersectionality and how racism, sexism, and ableism can nuance discussions related to mental illness.

References

Gao, Y., Liu, F,. Gao, L. (2023). Echo chamber effects on short video platforms. Scientific Reports. 3(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33370-1.