I think that there are many benefits to being apart of different diverse PLN groups. This allows you to expand your view on different aspects of your life both personally and professionally. It allows you to be exposed to multiple different points of view on certain topics. This can allow you to receive a diverse set of information. This can broaden your views of whatever PLN you are in. For example, my pod group looked at r/Teachers on Reddit as our PLN. Through this PLN, I was able to see how teachers from different areas communicated with one another. I was also able to see how teachers were able to compare different curriculums with one another. There were many instances where it was helpful to have teachers from different school districts share different approaches to certain topics. Teachers (reddit.com)

One way that you can create an inclusive PLN is to have an open community. By having a public forum that anyone can access can make it very inclusive for people to join, contribute, and learn from your PLN. However, having a fully public PLN can come with some challenges. Monitoring what is being shared on the PLN is another way to make the PLN inclusive. By not allowing people to post hateful comments that make people feel unwelcome in the PLN, it allows a larger audience to join the PLN. This is incredibly important because for a PLN to be accessible to everyone, it needs to be a respectful community.

There are certain communities that provide a better PLN experience than others, depending on what the topic of the PLN may be. Social Media platforms like Instagram or Tik Tok, may not be ideal for PLN’s that want to have high amounts of communication between members. A platform like Reddit, Facebook, or Twitter can allow for more direct communication. A platform like Facebook is harder to remain anonymous on, compared to Reddit or Twitter. Depending on the PLN, this may be more or less ideal. When people have the ability to remain anonymous it can lead to unpleasant interactions. However, some people only feel comfortable interacting with a PLN if they can remain anonymous. This can be both an advantage and disadvantage for a PLN using these platforms.

There are many different sets of advantage and disadvantages to suing an online PLN. By allowing people to remain anonymous, they may be more comfortable interacting with other members of the PLN. Whereas, it can also allow for people to share things that are disrespectful or unhelpful, as they know that they remain anonymous. Online PLN’s can extend across so many different areas of the world which can connect people that otherwise would have no way to contact one another. This can create incredible learning experiences for people who are involved in these PLN’s.