A complex question how do you cultivate an identity? I think of myself as two separate online presences personal and professional. Digital spaces are not my native home, as I did not grow up with in the information age. I think this is why I adopted social media platforms with considerable lag. They are places to be scrutinised for safety and as such to be entered with caution.
My new goal is to become more fluent and adventurous within these domains. I wish to participate at an increased level. “When you participate, you become an active citizen rather than simply a passive consumer of what is sold to you, what is taught to you, and what your government wants you to believe.” (Reinhold 2010, page 18). This means overcoming my apprehensions and participating by posting and commenting on my various social media sites.
Approach
Coursework in my MALAT blog and use this learning opportunity as a sandbox to gain practice and confidence. Duplicate platforms in professional & personal areas of my life as not to alienate friends with my new approach where applicable. Use LinkedIn as a vehicle to publish content within my areas of expertise. Be an early adopter of new platforms as they emerge, and look for ways to link them to exponentially grow my online presence.
Skills and Knowledge gaps
Skills I have a vast network of professional contacts in LinkedIn from being personable and approachable in professional settings .Adaptable and in this context I mean the ability to learn new digital skills. Curiosity and the ability to bridge gaps between large diverse populations. Gaps that I have identified are the writing skills to produce interesting and engaging content, and technological knowledge in RSS feeds network public etc.
Strategies
Jump in and start producing content. I am going to use skills obtained in the MALAT program to structure and produce content in a more thought out way pledging to contribute at least one substantive communication or response daily. Move from a visitor mindset ( White, 2011) to an internet resident.
Measure of succeess
I will measure my success on the social technographic ladder as described in Groundswell (Li, C., & Bernoff, J., 2011). I plan to check my growth at regular intervals as I progress up the rungs.
References:
Li, C., & Bernoff, J. (2011). Groundswell, expanded and revised edition : Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
Rheingold, H. (2010). Attention, and other 21st-century social media literacies. Educause Review, 45(5), 14. s
White, D. S., & LeCornu, A. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9).
July 29, 2018 at 10:33 pm
Hi Lorne,
Excellent plan to move forward in your digital presence. I can relate to your comment on apprehension. That is a big challenge as we each have to decide for ourselves how much to share on each platform. I am curious if you are more willing to share publicly on your personal or professional platform as they each leave a different digital footprint?
August 2, 2018 at 7:53 am
Hi Lorne, great post and I really liked the graphic representation of the social media ladder you linked to. It was interesting to reflect on where I fell on their ‘ladder’. I’m curious if you are brainstorming ideas for integrating digital literacies and tech acceptance queries actively into your work yet? Costa and Torres (2011) mention “…there is a growing awareness to the need of fostering new forms of learning, collaboration and dissemination of one’s work as part of
one’s digital and professional footprint” (p.47). Do you have thoughts on how this may progress and integrate into your professional network? Any hesitations?
Best regards,
Christy
References:
Costa, C., & Torres, R. (2011). To be or not to be, the importance of Digital Identity in the networked society. Educação, Formação & Tecnologias, n.º extra.
August 13, 2018 at 12:44 pm
Hi Lorne,
Your comment about taking time to adopt social media platforms rings true through my experience as well. I’ve also come to realize that my preferred mode of online interaction often mimics face-to-face communication. That is, I adopt more readily to technology that allows for synchronous communication! Your plan is inspiring me to reflect more consciously on how to move forward in developing my digital presence, and the social technologies tool is a great measure of how to do this!