Your identity is automatically incorporated into your PLN because what you wright, research and communicate about are done in a way that represents yourself. Everything that you do online is an extension of your thoughts and your feelings. The advantage of of it being online, is it gives you the ability to expand your circle. After listening to the interview with Harrison Mooney he explained that by having this larger circle it allows you to expand your knowledge about the lives and perspectives of others. You get to connect with other thinkers and people that are from the same as well as different cultures and backgrounds from yourself. It gives you the ability to share stories and experiences that you had and realize that others could have faced them as well. It gives you a space to learn and be heard, to make you feel that you are not alone in the world.  

One other interesting thing that came up in the interview was that he talked about how through the improvements and advancements in social media things have changed. Before people did not have at the ready the ability to google people and see what they looked like, learn about their culture or find a history of their background. This could either be an advantage or disadvantage. It gives people the opportunity to have pre conceived notions of what you are going to be like or how you are going to feel about certain situations. Harrison Mooney told a story about how when he would do interviews on the phone people could not tell his race or culture and would broach how they asked their questions in a certain way due to the way he sounded on the phone. He then brought up the fact that he knew as soon as they did a google search on him they would realize that he wasn’t white and would call back and apologize and almost back track on some of the comments they made. One thing this shows is that people can make assumptions which hinders development of thoughts and ideas in public discourse. 

Another aspect to consider is the idea of boundaries. Is it a good plan to incorporate professional or personal boundaries with your PLN? I think that it really depends on the situation. When I consider myself in that position I think that if you are in a very professional setting it might be a good idea to not delve super deep into your personal experiences unless they are relevant to the topic at hand. If you are talking to a group of people about something specific it might not be in your best interest to not just share deep stories or issues. I think that there is a time and place for that. If your PLN is one where you feel comfortable sharing your stories and personal information, I would say that it can be a very useful tool and support network. The only thing to keep in mind is that many people can have access to what you are sharing so it is important to make sure that you have a boundary of what you are comfortable with the masses possibly knowing. 

Reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKNQpz0RrI&feature=youtu.be