For this activity, I created a visual map of my digital network to show the different communities, platforms, and spaces I interact with online. One thing that stood out while building it was how much overlap exists between different parts of my digital life.
A lot of the tools and platforms I originally thought of as academic or professional now cross into other areas as well. GitHub, LinkedIn, ChatGPT, and my WordPress blog all connect into teaching, technical development, academic learning, and professional identity at the same time.
I also noticed that some parts of my network feel much more interconnected than others. My Royal Roads learning network overlaps quite a bit with my teaching and technical communities, especially through online collaboration tools and shared digital spaces. At the same time, personal areas like family, soccer, travel, and friends remain somewhat more separate.
Rather than focusing only on people, I decided to create more of a socio-technical network map that included platforms, communities, tools, and institutions. I felt that represented my actual digital presence more accurately.
I created the visual using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and the vis-network library. Building it manually actually made me think more carefully about how connected these different parts of my digital identity really are.
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