My Digital Identity and Digital Presence (DIDP) Plan

In this blog post, I’ll discuss a strategy for cultivating my digital presence and digital identity over the next two years as I progress through the MALAT program. My overall goal and objective in cultivating my digital presence and identity is to establish myself as a “digital resident”
(White & Le Cornu, 2011)  through increased digital presence, “one-to-many” (Dron & Anderson, 2014, p. 10) engagement and active participation in online communities. In my previous blog post, I examined my digital footprint by plotting my technology usage against White & LeCornu’s visitor-resident typology model (2011). This activity uncovered the fact that the majority of my digital presence is concentrated in the visitor quadrants.

Additionally, I learned the value of participatory culture, a setting in which everyone participates, learns together and feels a sense of social connection with one another (Jenkins, 2013). This has piqued my interest in developing my digital identity and presence online, as well as increasing my engagement with my audience. The pandemic has increased people’s reliance on digital technology, and they are using it more than ever to connect with their friends, family, and network in order to share ideas, contribute, learn from, explore, and connect. 

My Strategy for Building a Stronger Digital Identity and Presence

To cultivate and expand my digital identity and presence, I will take the following concrete actions:  

RRU WordPress Blog:

I will build my RRU WordPress blog with the intention of continuing this platform and writing blog posts to reach out to my audience, share resources, engage in online learning, and contribute to the “participatory culture” (Jenkins, 2013)  within my MALAT cohort and the broader global EdTech community after the MALAT program. This is something I can take with me and use as a learning portfolio. This will be a component of my “personal cyberinfrastructure,” (Campbell, 2009) over which I will have complete control. 

Expand Twitter Engagements:

I’m going to boost my Twitter engagement. Since April 2009, I’ve maintained a Twitter presence. I’ll use this platform to connect with the EdTech community and learn and share information relevant to my audience, thereby increasing knowledge, critical thinking, and creating an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas. My Twitter account will be used primarily for professional purposes. 

Activate LinkedIn’s Creator Mode:

I currently maintain a LinkedIn profile through which I communicate with members of my network of healthcare and education professionals. I’m going to use LinkedIn to expand my network of contacts in the EdTech world in order to gain knowledge and stay current on industry trends. Additionally, I’ll activate creator mode on my LinkedIn profile, which currently has 400 connections. This would give me access to creator tools and analytics that would aid me in creating unique content. My LinkedIn account will be used to share articles that I believe will benefit my LinkedIn audience.

I will, however, exercise caution in not over-posting on LinkedIn; I want to strike a balance between posting and being selective about what is shared. I will increase my knowledge of EdTech through the MALAT program and collaboration with my cohort, and will share some of that knowledge with my LinkedIn community as appropriate. 

Build Presence on TikTok:

I intend to establish a presence on TikTok by creating short educational videos. I’ll begin by raising awareness about various drugs and the critical information that users and prescribers should know about them, such as possible interactions. If this experiment is successful, I intend to use this platform to create additional TikTok videos for educators and professionals in the field of education technology. 

Experiment with Instagram and/or Flicker:

I’m going to create an Instagram and/or a flicker account and begin experimenting with these platforms to determine which ones I prefer for connecting with my audience. 

Existing skills, Knowledge Gaps and Action Plan

I have some experience creating social media content for corporations utilizing a variety of graphic and video editing technologies. These skills would help me expand my digital identity. 

Here are some of my shortcomings and how I intend to address them:

Gap: Enhance my writing abilities, as this will help me to share confidently on social media.
Action: I’m going to use the RRU Writing Center to improve my writing skills

Gap: Limited knowledge in the field of educational technology.
Action: The MALAT program will assist me in acquiring expertise in this sector as I progress through it.  

How Will I Measure My Success?

I’m going to utilize my present twitter and LinkedIn stats including my current average activity and current followers/connections, as a baseline and see how I can further develop and cultivate my digital presence and identity over the following two years as I proceed through my MALAT program.

My success will be defined by the following criteria:

1. Is my platform producing and sharing more original material than it did in 2021 and previous years?
2. In comparison to 2021 and previous years, am I able to develop my network and interact with a larger audience in the EdTech world?
3. Have I been effective in establishing a digital media presence on additional social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, or Flickr?
4. Do I feel safe sharing my blog postings outside of the MALAT program with my network?
5. Have I been effective in developing a more engaging writing style for my audience?
6. Am I reflecting and thinking more critically before developing and sharing material with my audience?

If the majority of the above questions are answered affirmatively, this indicates that I am on the correct track. If not, I’ll need to evaluate my strategy and make any required adjustments to grow my digital identity and presence.

References:

Campbell, G. (2009). A personal cyberinfrastructure. Educause Review, 44(5), 58-59.

Dron, J., & Anderson, T. (2014). Teaching Crowds. AU Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781927356807.01

Jenkins, H. (2013, May 7). Henry Jenkins on participatory culture (Big thinkers series) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gPm-c1wRsQ

White, D. S., & LeCornu, A. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9).