As a secondary school teacher, I have been a part of many conversations with our students about the dangers of posting on social media. We used examples such as losing jobs, or not being hired, and losing scholarships. As a university student training to become a teacher, I was also lectured about the dangers of posting personal pictures and being fired from my job.
When it comes to social media use and our instructions with our students, we heavily rely on fear and consequences (Schryver, n.d.). We often lecture about what not to share, but rarely do we speak about what to share and what benefits it may lead to. This model has lead us to using closed and more private methods of online technology and a lack of digital presence in some of our students (Waters, 2015). This has also rubbed off on me and my own practice; choosing not to post personal items and keep my personal and professional lives separate. Rheingold (2010) stated “that participating…gives on a different sense of being in the world.”( p. 18)
As I begin to ponder on what cultivating my digital presence may look like, these are some of the main topics that weigh in my mind.
Goal and purpose
- Become more visible as an educational professional and learner.
- Improve my own media literacies: attention, participation, collaboration, network awareness and critical consumption (Rheingold, 2010) focusing primarily on collaboration and network awareness.
- Become a model for my students on how you can share yourself publically, but to do so in a safe manner.
Approach
- Maintain and use conversations on the MALAT blog to gain confidence and experience.
- Share my responses and prompt conversations via twitter.
- Follow hashtags and participate in professional development discussions virtually.
- Coming to terms with not everything having to be perfect to be shared.
- Embrace the opportunities sharing online can bring.
Skills and Knowledge gaps
- Skills
- I am comfortable with using the technology needed for twitter and blogging.
- Gaps
- I am trying to stay current with competitions for my attention on digital platforms.
- I am trying to curate my own digital presence combining my personal and professional lives.
Strategies to overcome the gaps.
- I must build a routine to regularly monitor certain content creators in the field of education (via twitter, blogs and hashtags).
- I must build my comfort level for sharing. To start, keeping a log of my thoughts as I am consuming social media content. Posting my thoughts, when I feel like I can add to the conversation.
- Hopefully as I slowly start to share more, I will become more comfortable and it will become easier. I will set a goal of 3 posts/tweets a week for the first few months and hope it grows from there.
- Reflect continuously on what I am sharing and if it will benefit me or someone else. Become comfortable with the ebb and flow that happens as I transition back and forth from a visitor and a resident ( White, 2011).
Measure(s) of success
- Routinely use my media presence as a way to expand my social network.
- Feel more comfortable posting online and doing so quicker (ie. less time second guessing myself).
Overall, I am excited to see what this challenge will do for my online presence. I am nervous, as I know that I will be anxious with putting myself out there. I would probably be content with being a visitor for the rest of my life. However, I am up for the challenge, and will keep you posted on how things are going.
References
Rheingold, H. (2010). Attention, and other 21st-century social media literacies. Educause Review, 45(5), 14.
Schryver, K. (2013, February 5). Who are you online? Considering issues of web identity. The New York Times.
Watters, A. (2015, July 15). The Web we need to give students. Bright.
White, D. S., & LeCornu, A. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9).