Analyzing the literature provided on digital presence and digital identity has allowed me to take a step back and evaluate how I utilize my digital space. Several years ago, I made the decision to remove myself from social media, specifically, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. These spaces were initially communities where I enjoyed sharing and connecting with friends, family and acquaintances but eventually they had a negative impact on my mental health. I have since joined Twitter again and spend most of my time on there following sports news. With the shift in our extremely digital society, I can certainly appreciate the importance of sharing, learning and communicating digitally; which is why I’ve designed what I see as a very transformative DIDP plan.

Helen Beetham (2015) shared six elements of digital capabilities. After exploring the six elements, I decided to focus on “Digital Creation, Innovation & Scholarship”, “Digital Communication, Collaboration & Participation” and “Digital Identity & Well-Being”, as I believe they are the most essential aspects to an effective digital presence and are the areas that I’ve struggled with most. I broke down these elements of digital capabilities into my three goals, which are to create, to participate and to keep in mind my well-being. I hope these goals will allow me to discover & share new ideas, create my own content, create positive connections, reach shared goals through collaborating with my cohort and most importantly to remember to have a work-life balance.

Create

Part of my digital presence plan is to share and create. Based on the theory of White and LeCornu (2011), I would be considered a “visitor” on both Twitter and LinkedIn, but I’m motivated that I will become more of a “resident” on those platforms within my professional networks throughout the MALAT program. I will approach this by sharing information that my colleagues, cohort and overall network may find valuable and to begin to create and share my own content. Although I’m not confident in my capabilities in collecting or analyzing research and in my academic writing, I will use the resources available to me including the library and writing centre at RRU to enhance the quality of the work I share online.

Participate

Communication and Collaboration are the two main factors to what makes an effective digital community. It has been said that “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” (Rheingold, 2010). I no longer want to be “passive” in my involvement with the digital world. I know that my commitment to improving my academic writing will allow me to communicate effectively and with confidence. I trust that continuing to work with my cohort and various collaborative tools will help me effectively collaborate over the next two years and beyond.

Well-Being

What I consider to be the most important goal of the three is my Well-Being. It was never a priority when I first entered the digital world but I’m going to make sure it’s my main focus. Creating balance will allow me to be more effective when I’m online and give me the opportunity to shut down when needed. To achieve this, my plan is to create a schedule that allows me to step away from my phone and laptop, ensuring that I manage my “digital stress and workload” (Beetham, 2015).

I have no doubt that this will be a long journey in growing my digital presence. I believe that just contributing to my digital networks and learning from the tools available to me, will help me build a stronger digital identity.

References

Beetham, H. (2015, Nov 10). Building capability for new digital leadership, pedagogy and efficiency. Jisc. https://digitalcapability.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2015/11/10/framing-digital-capabilities-for-staff-deliverables/

Rheingold, H. (2010). Attention, and other 21st century social media literacies. Educause Review, 45(5), 14. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2010/10/attention-and-other-21stcentury-social-media-literacies

White, D. S., & LeCornu, A. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9). https://firstmonday.org/article/view/3171/3049