My motivation and goals for cultivating my digital presence and identity:
‘Those who share their content publicly have the ability to set the agenda of public discussions and debates’ (Hargittai & Walejko 2008, p. 2). It is this passage, more so than anything else I’ve heard or read in the past weeks, that has ‘sold’ me on the idea that I should want to develop and hone my online identity in a meaningful way. My reason for the work I do as an instructor, and even in the pursuit of my master’s degree, is to have a voice, a platform, and the opportunity to affect change. The awareness that this possibility could be reduced, or lost by choosing to remain a lurker in the digital world, gives me purpose to push forward in practicing and improving my digital literacies. My goal, is to see noticeable, positive change in my own use of networked technologies, and to absorb as much experience as I can during my time as an RRU student. By the by the end of this program, I hope to have set myself up to be an ongoing contributor, and content creator, with audiences that are meaningful to me.
Skills, gaps, and a plan:
I intend to dive head on and immerse myself in digital technologies and spaces throughout the MALAT program. Ryberg & Georgsen made a strong case for positive learning outcomes that can arise from a problem-based learning pedagogical approach; where there are noticeable improvements in digital literacy when the use of technologies are built-in as being necessary to complete a given task, as opposed to the technologies being explicitly taught as ‘discernable, operational and functional skills’ in their own right (2010, p. 26). It is my hope that by taking this approach, a personal increase in digital competence will emerge as a by-product of solving the greater problem; in this case – achieving the learning outcomes of the MALAT program.
Examples of this immersion will be challenging myself to embrace functional online tools. Currently, when hearing lectures, or reading academic literature, my instinct is to grab a binder, a pen and a paper. I intend to push past my need for familiarity, and challenge myself to make use of digital tools (that I’m told will make things easier), such as Excel and a citation manager to organize my literary references, and Feedly to stay on top of my reading.
I also imminently intend to create a LinkedIn profile. After considering the thought provoking questions brought up by Kelly Schryver, in “Who are you online? Considering issues of web identity”, I feel that LinkedIn will be a good place to start experimenting with my own digital identity and participate in a professional networked public (Boyd, 2011) that might fall outside my circle of Facebook ‘friends’ (which is where my digital participation is currently limited too). It will also allow me to challenge my own preconceived notion that social networking should be reserved for personal use, in light of all of the knowledge I have taken in thus far in the program.
Apart form these immediate plans, and combined with making regular use of my own ‘personal cyberstrucure’ (Campbell, 2009) that is my MALAT student blog, I intend to set myself up challenges on an ongoing basis. By being persistent in pushing my own boundaries, I hope to explore the potential of mobility on the visitor-resident continuum (White & LeCornu, 2011). I will keep in the back of my mind a newly learned belief that digital residentship can be acquired, and that being a resident is indeed not something that you either are or are not.
How will I know when I’m there?
In the near future, that is by the end of this course, I will know I’ve met some goals by observing the following outcomes:
- Having a LinkedIn profile established, and demonstrating my desire to embrace networked environments by having formed some connections on LinkedIn, and by having engaged with other members of that collective.
- My MALAT student blog will more polished, and more in sync with the student and professional self I that I want to portray (once I determine what the ‘self’ looks like).
- There will be less paper in my binder, as I make use of digital tools meant to ease the burden of collecting and storing mass amounts of information.
Long term, I will re-map my digital usage on the Visitor-Resident map, and (hope to) see that the immersive, problem-based learning experience I underwent was effective, and that not only was my usage trending to the right, but that I appreciated why this was a positive outcome.
References
Boyd, D. (2011). Social network sites as networked publics: Affordances, dynamics, and implications. In Z. Papacharissi (Ed.), A Networked Self (pp. 39–58). New York, NY: Rutledge.
Campbell, G. (2009). A personal cyberinfrastructure. Educause Review, 44(5), 58-59.
Hargittai, E., & Walejko, G. (2008). The Participation Divide: Content creation and sharing in the digital age. Information, Community and Society, 11(2), 239-256.
Ryberg. T., & Georgsen, M. (2010). Enabling digital literacy. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 2(5).
Schryver, K. (2013, February 5). Who are you online? Considering issues of web identity. The New York Times
White, D. S., & LeCornu, A. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9)
May 2, 2019 at 8:51 pm
Hi Laren! I think re-mapping your digital progress a few times through the process is a phenomenal idea! I think I’ll do the same. Thanks for the idea!
May 4, 2019 at 9:31 am
Thanks for sharing Laren, I enjoyed reading your post and it has caused me to reflect even further on my own digital presence moving forward. I agree with your thoughts on what Hargittai & Walejko said about those who share (online) can bring about change by opening up discussions and debate; it is a good motivation to be more active and be a positive force in the digital world.
I also plan to use LinkedIn to further participate in a professional networked public (Boyd, 2011). Let me know when you are ‘up and running’ and we can connect.
See you there,
Dan
May 5, 2019 at 1:44 pm
You bet Dan! I surely will. Thanks for the comment.
May 5, 2019 at 10:53 am
Hello Laren. I enjoyed reading your post. I found it easy to follow and your goals clear. One of my goals is to become a contributor by asking more question, instead of just lurking, and hopefully I can learn to ask good questions throughout my development over the next two years. I will be curious about how it goes for you developing your LinkedIn profile. I began to work on mine a few years back, but have neglected it recently. I would like to continue to improve my writing style on LinkedIn. Would you be willing to share with me any learnings you come across as you develop yours?
Thanks for sharing, Tracey
May 5, 2019 at 1:42 pm
You bet Tracy! It’s on this week’s to-do list. I shall keep you updated. I agree with the asking questions – we’re all here anyways, we might as well soak up as much we can. 🙂
May 5, 2019 at 8:53 pm
Hi, Lauren. I was also motivated by the comment from Hargittai and Walejko (2008) that “those who share their content publicly have the ability to set the agenda of public discussions and debates (McCombs & Shaw 1972, 1993; Iyengar et al. 1982; Rogers 1993)” (p. 240). It wasn’t until starting the MALAT program that I felt the desire, ability and need (both in my professional capacity as a teacher and as an individual) to consciously be a more active participant, or ‘Resident’ (White, 2011), on the Web. I encourage my students to be active learners and participants in their lives and, as such, I need and want to practice that myself to a greater capacity than I have in the past. I share your ambition to “have a voice, a platform, and the opportunity to affect change”.
“Journalists and agenda setting scholars have long understood there is a relationship between what media say on a daily—or even minute-by-minute—basis and the mental pictures of civic life absorbed by citizens” (Vargo et al., 2016, p. 126). However,
from the audience point of view, traditional/vertical and social/horizontal media are intervening, not independent variables. This is a reverse of the way communication scholars –indeed all of us—normally think. Traditional/vertical of course remain powerful, so long as anyone is listening. Fewer of us are, as we attend to our own [social] accounts…. From an historical point of view, we are in a period of paradigm shift, certainly not for the first time in human history. (Vargo et al., 2016, p. 138)
I believe we owe it to ourselves, our students and future generations to actively participate. Perhaps we are starting with only a master’s student blog or a LinkedIn page, but it may play a pivotal role in contributing to the common good. Best of luck to you in the journey!
References
Hargittai, E., & Walejko, G. (2008). The Participation Divide: Content creation and sharing in the digital age. Information, Community and Society, 11(2), 239-256. doi: 10.1080/13691180801946150
White, D. S., & LeCornu, A. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9). Retrieved from https://firstmonday.org/article/view/3171/3049
Vargo, C. J., et al. (2016). The Agenda Setting in the Digital Age: How We Use Media to Monitor Civic Life and Reframe Community. Jordan Journal of Social Sciences, 9(1), 125–139. doi:10.12816/0030052