In my challenge to articulate and reflect on the future of my digital identity and digital presence, I stumbled at the fact that I am yet to really understand my current identity to really understand the strengths and gaps and how I might want to leverage something slightly imperfect to showcase the journey where learning and technology intersect in a personal way. According to popular media, Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” and I like how this can be applied centuries later to provide some practical advice.

Jisc’s ‘Six Elements of Digital Capabilities’ model describes the six elements used to define effective digital leadership and this method has been helpful for me to create some clarity around the six elements and how they are understood together to make up one’s digital identity and presence (Building Digital Capability | Jisc, n.d.). I have chosen to use the six elements as a guideline to help define the art of possibility and promote a plan that is both tactical and measurable.

My approach to achieving my desired digital identity will include the following strategies: Defining who I am and which part of me I am going to share and how much of that will be public. I will furthermore define how and where I will interact with like-minded and interested individuals and a plan that includes cadence, platform, content and the style identified for the audience and specific platform. Lastly, I will discuss how I am going to ensure ongoing reflection and commitment to education, technology, diversity and reconciliation.

Who I am and who I share:

Since I do currently have profiles set up on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and WordPress and because my presence and engagement with those platforms is extremely low, I would like to update my settings to allow for likeminded individuals, colleagues and friends to view my professional profile as a trusted and credible connection to new research, popular thought and industry best practice while remaining approachable, and respectful of different views and opinions. I will choose to be sensitive of barriers to access and the costs of participating so when I explore and share new tools and technologies I will be mindful to share when possible how to achieve similar results in open and low barrier platforms or promote how techniques and comparisons can be used to support learning and create points of entry rather than limits to access.

Shaping the space and style:

I am dedicated to creating a style, space and voice that is reflective of my personal bias, passions and values without losing sight of who my audience is. I will do this through regular contributions during the MALAT program, responding thoughtfully to other’s content and blog posts and other online contributions. I will find an area of interest and build on it while still taking in other and diverse perspectives and information to bring more clarity and knowledge to my voice. The skills I have identified are iterations and modifications of “being an effective digital leader” shared by Jisc (Building Digital Capability | Jisc, n.d.) and offer tangible goals that address the knowledge gaps that I have as I enter this new stage as more than just a ‘visitor’, as a typology described by (White & le Cornu, 2011). I have notable gaps in all six elements as well as a fair amount of general knowledge that I can leverage from my tech background to minimize the learning curve. In particular, the area of  “Creating, innovating Digital research and scholarship, e-learning and professional development” may require the most upskilling and confidence on my part as the personal are professional risks are higher. The other area that I will be closely looking at is the skills needed to be safe and authentic when referring to the element of “Digital identity and wellbeing” (Building Digital Capability | Jisc, n.d.). I expect this to be more of a marathon and with practice, one will become more comfortable in those spaces.

Representing my values within my actions:

I Take my online presence as a responsibility and commit to mindfully choosing what topics to write about and ensure I write about them with an equity lens and one that reflects my commitment to reconciliation that considers not only who the information is portraying but who is being left out. This reflection ties closely into what Jenkins and colleagues (2002) point out which observes, that “exposure to experiences that increase participatory culture and digital literacy are unequally available to individuals regardless of their access to digital media”(Hargittai & Walejko, 2008). This “digital divide”; however, lends to the opportunity for additional work and research as we begin to understand the cumulative impact of the uneven contribution to online content. My reflection process will continuously and regularly take the time to look at all the potential impacts both negative and positive. I will give credit to those who contribute to my formed and forming ideologies as I create online content that can be searchable and read by others known and unknown to me. When looking at indicators of success, I will use the following metrics to rate where my DIDP plan is strong and where it can use more support or a re-assessment of my values and commitments. The metrics are quantity and cadence of blog posts, adoption and review of new applications that can be used and shared in academia, professionally and at an informal level. Confidence and a clearer understanding of how to determine if the information I am reading /seeing /hearing is from a trustworthy source and what questions I should ask myself when critical observation is crucial. The content I share, the image I project and the spaces I share will be my own creation and thought, whether imperfect by design or a new take on an existing idea, it will intentional and thoughtful.

References

Building digital capability | Jisc. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/building-digital-capability#

Hargittai, E., & Walejko, G. (2008). THE PARTICIPATION DIVIDE: Content creation and sharing in the digital age. Information, Communication & Society, 11(2), 239–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691180801946150

White, D. S., & le Cornu, A. (2011). Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v16i9.3171