This week’s learning focuses on the study of social media and learning communities and building a personal learning network (PLN). I will focus on trying to learn a new skill and exploring the learning experience with network social media as my career.
I have always been a fan of the SPLATOON series produced by Nintendo, and when browsing the internet, I often find exquisitely drawn fan art, which makes me want to start trying to create fan art. Unfortunately, I have no experience in drawing. The first step in developing my PLN space was to try asking my network directly – I directly asked my real-life friends (I use WeChat, a messaging app that allows you to add contacts and create groups freely) in online community groups.
Art majors recommended x (the original Twitter) and Pinterest to me. As a global social media platform, x has a vast user base, so there are many SPLATOON-related fan artworks to search for. However, due to the network’s automatic algorithm, the server needs some time to push the SPLATOON-related creations I need before it can provide me with a large number of related browsing. Many users are concerned about privacy, so many works need to be tagged, which causes excellent obstacles to my search.
Therefore, my friends suggested that I start with Pinterest. First, Pinterest is a well-known art resource website with a vast database, and it does not require waiting for push notifications. When I search for “SPLATOON,” Pinterest immediately provides many related images for me to refer to. Whenever I open an image that interests me, similar expanded recommendations appear. The interface is straightforward, and the operation is simple. I don’t need to create an account to browse, which can meet the needs of some users who value privacy. However, after creating an account, I can easily add valuable content to my customized bookmarks, making it very convenient to find and revisit later. It meets my needs for collecting reference materials for practice and gathering creative materials.
Pinterest’s advantage is very obvious in terms of the initial convenience of collecting data in a cross-sectional comparison with Twitter and Facebook.
Instagram and TikTok were eliminated in my actual use. The reasons are as follows: Although Instagram and TikTok have a large user base and are very active, the operation interface of Instagram could be more straightforward, and it is more suitable as a social media app for browsing rather than a resource website. Even if I follow the original author and save the post, it is difficult to use in subsequent learning due to the lack of classification and storage. TikTok is also an active social platform with a large user base. Still, the content I want to learn about painting cannot be obtained in video form and entertainment-oriented short videos easily distract people’s attention. I cannot focus on the painting skills I want to learn.
The establishment of PLN cannot be limited to self-learning; communities need to be found where sharing and communication can occur. Discord was first excluded from me because I needed to adapt to its tight communication community style. For me, joining a social group where new topics are constantly being posted makes me feel unsafe. On the one hand, I’m worried about privacy leaks caused by excessive socializing. On the other hand, the topic changes in the community are unpredictable and out of my control, which makes me feel exhausted, like swimming in a flood. Other users are not obliged to reply to my topics, and this neglect can greatly discourage my enthusiasm as a beginner; if I suddenly receive attention, I will overthink and start guessing the possible malice behind the anonymous and may be tempted to reveal my privacy in the atmosphere.
Reddit is a forum-based community with a more unified theme and greater distance. However, since I expect to use a portfolio-style way to record my posts and works, I need to combine pictures with my posts. While REDDIT’s focus is on communication, not documentation, I left REDDIT. (The interface design of REDDIT is not concise, with too much text, making it difficult for me to quickly obtain effective information.)
Finally, considering my language habits, I ultimately chose XiaoHongShu, a social platform that can use detailed tags, has a clear interface for posting tweets, and has a clear personal interface. The platform’s push mechanism is very fast, and I found many creative SPLATOON artists on it. I posted some of my works. You don’t have to reveal your email and phone number on the platform, which allows you to remain completely anonymous.
This is my account
This week’s study allowed me to try out mainstream information sources and social media platforms to learn how to draw. Although this trial will not become my personal future career choice, it is an opportunity for me to expand my hobby. It also allowed me to compare the actual usage experience of different platforms for the first time. The style of different communities can also adapt to the learning platforms of different types of people. What is important is to find a way that suits oneself.
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