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Photo by Daniele Riggi on Unsplash<\/p>\n
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In order to bring social work fully into the digital age it is clear that I will have to bring myself into the digital world first. It is impractical to believe that I can assist others in becoming digitally literate without first engaging in the process of becoming digitally literate myself. \u00a0The move from pen and paper operation to digital operation in the field of social work is much more than digitizing all of our documents or merely training social workers to record data digitally and consistently communicates digitally. Because print is not just a more efficient form of previous writing techniques and the World Wide Web is not merely another way to communicate with one another, the move to a digital environment must incorporate the intricacies of life lived in this space (Campbell, G., 2006, p. 1).<\/p>\n
Throughout this process I will have to contend with cornerstones of social work practice issues like ethics, privacy and confidentiality; all of the pieces that hold up our practice but also hold us back from being fully into the digital world. As Jenkins et al. explains information that is shared online does not always go solely to the intended audience. There is much need for supervision and guidance as it pertains to what should and should not be shared online (Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K., & Robison, A., 2009, p.42). These pieces I will have to navigate very carefully.<\/p>\n
The digital environment makes many resources available to my field, however, these resources or affordances come with realities that must be critically analyzed in order to make informed decisions and mitigate possible pitfalls. Dana Boyd put it very succinctly in \u201cSocial Network Sites as Networked Publics: Affordances, Dynamics and Implications\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Boyd points out four important affordances that must be taken into account prior to forging a presence in the digital world.\u00a0\u00a0 Dana speaks about Persistence, Replicability, Scalability and Searchability.\u00a0\u00a0 All of these affordances come with particular dynamics as well as implications. These implications will be heavily factored into my plan of cultivating my digital identity due to the fact that I realize that I am paving the way for others in my field to do the same.<\/p>\n
The notion of “Networked Publics” puts tangibility and validity to the digital environment as human habitat. As Boyd illustrates, “Networked Publics” are somewhat similar to physically located public spaces that people congregate in. \u201cNetworked Publics\u201d allow for the creation of imagined spaces that are made of “bits” (Boyd, D., 2010, p. 1). Looking at \u201cNetworked Publics\u201d in a similar way that we look at physical locations, we can be better prepared to plan for and prevent unintended altercations that may not have been evident otherwise. The digital environment is a public space in which we are able to expose parts of ourselves that may not be as apparent through physical observation in the physical environment. This realization brings with it the ability to control the observances that can be made; however, who we present ourselves as to our intended audience in the digital environment may not be how we wish to be perceived by unintended audiences or “Controversial Actors” (Boyd, D., 2010, p. 5). Persons who may have power to alter and shape our physical reality may be unwanted guests in our digital environment if we hope to be authentic in this space.<\/p>\n
Because the digital environment allows for information to be posted without intention or permission from the person that the information is about or from, there is a danger in that information being delivered to unintended audiences or altered in a way that was not for the intended context (Boyd, D., 2010, p. 8). This inherent affordance makes knowledge mobilization faster and easier but also brings about some dangers for the creators of content, dangers that may not be apparent. An example of this is illustrated when I did a google search on my name and was surprised to read a news article that I had no knowledge of, was posted online and incorporated a quote from myself that I was unaware was being recorded. The context was a community round table that I attended; however, I was unaware that there was a reporter recording our conversations for an article. I will have to carefully navigate the waters in this digital world in order to weave in safety and confidentiality, understanding that some pieces or \u201cbits\u201d, as Dana point out, that can be duplicated, recorded and archived may not go to the intended audience and also could be accessed by those unintended.<\/p>\n
With all of the above in mind, my overall goal and purpose for cultivating a digital presence and identity is to overcome my discomfort and increase my participation and interaction through this course. Making the decision to create and cultivate a digital presence brings with it a participation requirement that is not present when one simply uses technology for task or goal completion. There is inherent risk in creating and cultivating digital presence, however, as Rheingold notes, creating content whether it is good or bad, valued or ignored is more empowered than standing by while the world around is being created by those who participate. Participating creates a voice, lets you be heard and becomes part of the fabric that is our shared environment (Rheingold, H., 2010, p. 17).<\/p>\n
Some digital usage is completely in the realm of the visitor typology while some usage is more inclined to a resident typology and people’s behaviour can fall anywhere in between, depending on need and circumstance (D’Educacio, D., 2009, p. 7).\u00a0\u00a0 My purpose in cultivating my digital identity, understanding the visitor \/ resident typology as a continuum, is to move some of my current digital identity from visitor toward resident in that I may start to become a creator of content as opposed to only a consumer of content. It is important to remember that the goal is not necessarily to move from visitor to resident in all areas of digital presence but to decide where I best fit within these areas for the presence I wish to attain.<\/p>\n
My approach will be multi-phasic. In the first phase, I intend to increase my digital literacy. Developing digital literacies will involve many modalities such as learning through play, exploring technologies and discovering capabilities, improvising, borrowing and remaking content and knowledge mobilization (Ryberg, T., & Georgen, M., 2010, p. 92). In the second phase I plan to increase my capacity in the participatory culture. Understanding that gender plays a role in creating and cultivating a digital presence (Hargittai, E., & Walejko, G., 2008, p. 15), as a woman who has carefully avoided leaving any digital footprints, I will be diligent in skill development to overcome this barrier. In the final phase I intend to create (or at least begin to create) who I want to be as a digital community member.<\/p>\n
My skills and knowledge gaps seem to be more than moderate. Although I have enough understanding of the technologies that I use on a daily basis to get what I need from them, not fully exploring the full capacity of these tools will keep me deeply rooted as a visitor in the digital world. If this goal is creating and cultivating a digital presence, a critical step is to have control over the space in which the presence is to emerge. Affording an individual to the benefits of a virtual server is one way to allow a digital presence to emerge that is not only authentic but also enables valuable leaning to take place and actualize (Campbell, G., 2006, p.1-2). Creating a domain that will live on after this educational journey is over will not only allow me to demonstrate what I have learned, it will aid others in their learning and add to the community of practice as well as create and cultivate a digital presence within my control (Watters, A., 2015, p. 7).<\/p>\n
My strategies to address these gaps will be to be intentional in my use of technology, exploring more functionality than just my initial needs and wants from the tool. I believe that knowledge is power and the more functionality I can extract from a tool, the more I will be able to achieve with it. This strategy dovetails into the next strategy, which is to increase my capacity to participate. For this gap I intent to utilize my new found knowledge of technological capacity to increase my participatory capacity. \u00a0This strategy will inevitably lead to the bridging of my last identified gap, which is the formation of my digital identity. With increased knowledge, expertise and awareness in the digital world, I will be able to begin the process of forming my digital identity \u2013 who I am, or more accurately, who I want to be as a digital citizen.<\/p>\n
I will measure my success much in the same way that I measure my success in the cultivation of my social identity. I will know that I have successfully cultivated my digital identity when I have established a presence in the digital world that is consistent and expresses my values accurately and authentically.<\/p>\n
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References<\/p>\n
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boyd, danah. (2010). Social Network Sites as Networked Publics: Affordances, Dynamics, and Implications. Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites<\/em>, 39\u201358. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/dmal.9780262524834.119<\/p>\n Campbell, G. (2006). \u201cA Personal Cyberinfrastructure\u201d (New Horizons), 58\u201359.<\/p>\n D\u2019Educaci\u00f3, D. (2009). Visitors and Residents\u202f: A new typology for online engagement | White | First Monday Visitors and Residents\u202f: A new typology for online engagement | White | First Monday. Barcelona<\/em>, 1\u201310. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5210\/fm.v16i9.3171<\/p>\n Hargittai, E., & Walejko, G. (2008). The participation divide: Content creation and sharing in the digital age. Information Communication and Society<\/em>, 11<\/em>(2), 239\u2013256. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/13691180801946150<\/p>\n Jenkin, H., Purushotma, W., & Clinton, R. (2009). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture.<\/p>\n Rheingold, H. (2010). Attention , and Other 21st-Century Social Media Literacies. Educase Review<\/em>, 15\u201324.<\/p>\n Ryberg, T., & Georgsen, M. (2010). Enabling Digital Literacy: Development of Meso-Level Pedagogical Approaches. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy<\/em>, 02<\/em>, 88\u2013100. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.idunn.no\/ts\/dk\/2010\/02\/art03<\/p>\n Schryver, K. (2013). Who are you online? Considering issues of web identity, 2\u20137. Retrieved from https:\/\/learning.blogs.nytimes.com\/2013\/02\/05\/guest-post-who-are-you-online-considering-issues-of-web-identity\/?_r=0<\/p>\n Weir, B. (2016). The Auroran General News\u202f\u00bb News\u202f\u00bb Talk is cheap , but housing isn \u2019 t\u202f: activists and residents Readers, pp. 1\u20133.<\/p>\n Watters, A. (2015). The Web We Need to Give Students. Bright<\/em>, 1\u201312. Retrieved from https:\/\/medium.com\/bright\/the-web-we-need-to-give-students-311d97713713<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo by Daniele Riggi on Unsplash In order to bring social work fully into the digital age it is clear that I will have to bring myself into the digital world first. It is impractical to believe that… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","hentry","category-lrnt521","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0059\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0059\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0059\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0059\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0059\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0059\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0059\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0059\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0059\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0059\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}