Meaning, motivations, and risks & rewards of participating in networked publics

What does it mean to a network using social media?

It means actively engage and connect with others on social media platforms. Networking on social media typically involves activities such as building a personal profile, connecting with others, sharing content with others, participating in some topics, joining in online groups or communities, and so on. Utilizing social media platforms, people can expand their social or professional circle, build relationships and maintain connections, and communicate with collaborators or potential customers.

How are we motivated to participate in networked publics?

Firstly, people use network to build relationships and maintain connections with others, and look out for common ground with others (Rajagopal et al. 2012). When we find netizens who have something in common online, we will look forward to communicating with them every day. The desire for social interaction and connection is one of the most important motivations.

Secondly, people can share or acquire information from network publics. Network publics provide the opportunity to learn massive things, develop skills, and stay updated on various interesting topics. People can gain lots of professional opportunities from network. Network publics can support one’s development and growth of professionals’ careers and continuously support professionals’ life–long learning (Rajagopal et al. 2012).

Thirdly, people can express and show their talents, thoughts, and abilities through the Internet, and then receive feedback from others, thereby gaining more incentives to improve themselves. While satisfying the public recognition needed by humans, it also establishes their own influence, which is also very helpful for personal career development and so on.

Finally, I think most people will participate in online public activities for entertainment and entertainment purposes. Gaming platforms and social media provide countless engaging activities and content, and people will unconsciously spend a lot of time on them. For example, many people get up every day with the motivation of seeing if there are any new posts from the people or animals they follow. There are also many people who stay up late every day because they want to clear a certain game.

What are the risks & rewards of public communications?

Risks:

One of the main risks of public communications is the threaten to privacy (Boyd and Danah, 2012). We actively or passively share our information, photos, stories, etc. every day. Sometimes, while actively sharing our own information, we may unconsciously share others’ information as well. For example, when we share a selfie on the internet, the background will include more or less the figure of passers-by and the appearance of surrounding buildings. Moreover, with the rapid development of AI technology, many large-scale AI tools learn human thinking and creation by crawling large amounts of content on the Internet. These training data contain massive personal information, which may one day be exposed to more people through the decompilation of AI tools. Moreover, threats to personal privacy may lead to more serious personal security issues. After people post personal information online, it is difficult to prevent some people with ulterior motives from discovering their whereabouts and movements.

Secondly, sometimes unconscious misrepresentations on the Internet can affect the reputation, interpersonal relationships, public image, and mental health of individuals or groups. When communication errors occur, negative messages will inevitably spread rapidly, causing a very negative impact on the public. In particular, when online violence occurs, it can have an insidious effect on individuals or organizations that cannot be erased.

Finally, the fast spreading nature of the network may also cause some legal issues. When some sensitive or confidential information is inadvertently released, or when some defamatory or false information is released as a means of personal emotional venting, it can lead to serious legal consequences.

Rewards:

Fast public communications can effectively convey messages to a wide audience for inspiring others, or to target audience for gaining opportunities of collaboration or business activities. Public communications facilitate people’s connections with stakeholders, customers, or the public, providing more opportunities to build trust and credibility. It can help individuals or organizations develop their careers, establish or strengthen social influence.

People or government can guide public opinion and behavior through public communications, which can have a positive impact on social change. It allows individuals or organizations to advocate for causes, promote change, or raise awareness.

References

Boyd, Danah. “Networked privacy.” Surveillance & society 10.3/4 (2012): 348.
Rajagopal, Kamakshi, et al. “Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them.” First Monday 17.1 (2012): 1-12.