Hi Violet,
Great post! I completely agree with you that social media accounts are not fully representative of a candidate’s ability to do the job, however, in some ways, I think they can provide a more realistic profile of the candidate.
When employers are selecting employees, they definitely prefer to find a better match for the position, so it is inevitable to be searched for the digital identities, as they will reflect all previous actions of the candidate on the network. As you said, these profiles can be both beneficial and detrimental. A good digital identity can improve employment opportunities for a candidate, however, if the candidate has made inappropriate or inflammatory comments on certain social media platforms, this can certainly reduce the employment opportunities. Also, I looked at your V&R map, both of us have least access to professional tools as a visitor which is very interesting.
Do you think data privacy and security have promoted your use of PLN? Personally, I think yes, it allows us to speak more freely on social media and to expand our PLN. With advances in technology and data protection laws, users can take full control of their data, we can know how our data is being used, by whom and why, data privacy gives users control over how the personal data is processed and used. So with data privacy, the use of personal learning networks becomes more secure and users will have fewer unnecessary worries.