Author: nandocov (Page 2 of 2)

Having an online presence comes with different aspects that need to be balanced to ensure a positive and safe online presence. Considering your personal and professional digital identities can be substantial for your future. That comes with watching your digital footprint and maintaining privacy. In this blog post, I want to explore the ideas of digital identities, online visitors vs. online residents, and privacy.  

Personal and Professional Digital Identity 

Your digital identity is how the people who see you only online perceive your personality. Maintaining a professional look online can be extremely beneficial for future career aspirations. In the article “Digital Professional Identity: Dear Internet! Who am I?” by Jawed, Mahboob, and Yasmeen (2019) they define your digital professional identity or DPI as a “professional identity that develops through internet‑based social interactions by utilizing online platforms and communication tools” (Jawed et al., 2019) while personal digital identity relates more to “your presence online” (Stroller, 2016) encompassing everything you do. By definition, personal and professional DIs (digital identities) seem to be fairly similar. So how can we differentiate between the two? It is not an easy task as your professional DI is directly linked to your personal DI through how you behave digitally. While you can build a professional look through online social media platforms such as LinkedIn or Instagram what you do outside those spaces directly affects your professional look. So how can we keep these separate and ensure that our personal DI does not impact our professional DI? If we look at David White’s framework of visitors and residents we can use it as a guide for our online usage.  You see White’s framework  “is a simple way of describing a wide range, or continuum of, modes of online engagement.” (White, 2014). In visitor mode, you “do not leave any trace online” (White, 2014) meaning you do what you need to do without linking it to your DI. In resident mode, however, engagement is socially visible, meaning what you do will be directly associated with your DI. With this in mind, we can use visitor mode to separate our personal DI from our professional DI. Keeping these separate will allow you to have the freedom to be yourself in both Identities. It is the same as your identity in the real world. You have your personal life and your professional life for which you behave differently in both. Maintaining that healthy balance is key to navigating through life.  

Privacy and Digital Footprint

With your DI, you need to consider your digital footprint, privacy, and surveillance. Everything you do online can be tracked. You are constantly being monitored online. For example, when you visit a website that uses cookies, these cookies often are tracking cookies that embed themselves into your computer to monitor your habits and online activities. “Internet privacy is important because it gives you control over your identity and personal information.” (Bitdefender, n.d.). Without protecting your online data, your online identity can be twisted by anyone who is willing to do so. Being aware of your privacy and digital footprint is beneficial to the way the people around you are influenced by your online presence. When reflecting on my own online presence I am cautious about what I interact with and comment on and I usually interact with stuff that will have a positive benefit to my digital footprint. When considering privacy most of my online profiles are set to public which was a conscious decision I made so people have an easier way of seeing the type of person I am online. However, doing this is not beneficial to my online privacy but by being aware of this fact I use caution before I post anything. Practicing good habits such as being wary of what you interact with, comment on, post, and setting your online profiles to private rather than public, these habits can ensure that your DI remains safe and respectful.

Being proactive and conscious of your presence online and understanding the differences between your personal and professional digital identities is vital for navigating the complex digital landscape. Practicing good online habits with an emphasis on privacy and knowing when to use visitor or resident mode can help you maintain a safe, positive, and respectful digital presence.

Sources

Jawed et al. (2019). Digital professional identity: Dear internet, who am I? Journal of Education in the Health Professions, 32(1).

White, D. O. (2014). Vandr. Daveo White.

TEDx Talks. (2016, February 29). How to filter your life [Video]. YouTube.

Bitdefender. (n.d.). What is online privacy? Bitdefender Cyberpedia.

Social Media and Its Role in Education

Growing up as a Gen Z has allowed me to witness the evolution of social media throughout its, in my opinion, largest developmental years. I remember when Facebook started it took over the social media world and built the foundations for the major platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. In the early days of social media, it was mainly seen as something just for entertainment and connection, but social media has now evolved into a space where you can practically learn anything you want. It allows you to expand your knowledge in a way you can tailor to your learning style, which I believe is one of the major benefits of online learning. You can also connect with people you would normally not be able to. For example, if you were trying to learn a new language you can easily find people to chat with in that language to practice with. Without social media, this would not be as easy or accessible to do. Learning through social media does have its fair share of challenges, as you cannot blindly trust everything you see.

Personalized Learning and Digital Literacies

Personalized Learning is extremely beneficial to education. It allows people the freedom to learn how they want to and at a pace that they feel is comfortable. Personally, this has allowed me to stay engaged with the material and helped me retain the information more than I would learning in a “normal” setting. Personalized learning also fosters you to develop digital literacies which is an extremely important skill in today’s world, as almost everything we do involves something digital. For example, we saw a major digital shift in learning and education after the Covid pandemic. Since everyone was isolating at home, education had to shift to online and in that time, this was a very new concept for many. I was in grade 12 during the lockdown and it was very noticeable which Teachers were not digitally literate and how much their digital literacy impacted my learning.

Digital Identity and Online Presence

Your digital identity and footprint are extremely important in identifying the kind of person you are. The stuff you post, interact with, and view all shape your digital identity and how people, who have only seen you online, view you as a person. You need to be mindful about what you post, like, share and who can see that information. Schools and employers will look at your online presence to get a sense of the type of person you are, if they don’t like what they see this could bar you from major opportunities. This ties into the next point which is using online platforms ethically. Having a respectful presence online and being mindful of what you share can show people that you exhibit positive personal traits in your day-to-day life.