If I wanted to engage in a social media campaign about a topic of my choice, it would be about building mental toughness in athletes. In order to use a PLN to help facilitate this, I would want to incorporate as many social media tools that I could so I had as much current information as possible. I would use social media to explore and join in as many different communities in relation to building mental toughness skills in athletes. I think the easiest way for me to engage in the short term would be to use hashtags, and follow Twitter accounts of sports psychologists, professional and amateur athletes, and life coaches. As Woods describes, “Twitter has become a key hub in the past few years for the learning and development community world-wide” and there are many ways of using Twitter to build a PLN effectively(Woods, 2013). I personally think there a number of social media sites that are a great way to learn about the latest news and breakthrough innovations. At the same time, social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram can be good places for me to ask questions to followers about their own experiences. If I could be creative and start blogging some my own content like we have done in EDCI 338, then I could start sharing my thoughts on things that I have read and some of the strategies that athletes have had success with. This could generate discussions and build connections to people who have the same interests as me. By following professional leaders in sport psychology, I could potentially meet new friends where thoughts and ideas could be shared and I could expand my audience by using and following hashtags. Using hashtags is a useful tool to make tweets easy to find. I am not sure others on social media would ever consider me a leader in mental toughness, but I could provide insight in a blog format for other USport athletes who are looking to gain valuable mental toughness skills and improve their individual performances. To help raise my profile in this particular situation, tagging Vikes athletics and individual programs at the University, would be a great start.
References
Woods, Bianca. “Building your own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network.” T+D, vol. 67, no. 11, Nov. 2013, p. 70+. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A348998538/ITBC?u=uvictoria&sid=ITBC&xid=1010abdf. Accessed 18 Feb. 2021.
Hi Calli,
First I have to mention how, as an athlete myself, I can greatly connect to the importance of mental strength and mental resilience. That little voice that tries to tell you you can’t is TOUGH. I think you have great ideas on how you could start a campaign to gain knowledge understanding and perspective. When I read, ” I am not sure others on social media would ever consider me a leader in mental toughness” I wanted to add the word YET to the end. You may not be a leader in mental toughness YET, but if you build your network and acquire insight, education and a community around it, you sure can be. You have great ideas here and I hope you aren’t selling yourself short. Once you set up the platforms you speak of in a way that is authentic, inclusive, educated and professional, you WILL be a leader in educating others in no time.
Thanks Jayne! I appreciate your comment.
Thanks Jayne! Adding the word “YET” would definitely be a step in the right direction. I guess it also comes down to being vulnerable like how Brad Barker said in the recent podcast with Jesse. When you are vulnerable, you can expect people to critique you and that can be scary. I think this also speaks to having a growth mindset something that for me, is a work in progress!