Xiaoqi Wang EDCI 338 Class

Who Needs To Know About My PLN

November 29, 2020 / / 0 Comments

When I started working on my Personal Learning Network (PLN), it was clear to me that I need to establish my objectives as to why I created my PLN. In the first few weeks of the class, I learned that one of the objectives of my PLN is to help me become a good economist in the future. For this reason, I joined forums created for aspiring economists. In addition to this, I also followed the Twitter accounts of known economists and I also discovered other professional economists because of them. Moreover, as the course progresses, I also learned that I should expand my horizon and use my PLN to develop new skills. I find this convincing because, I should not limit myself to my future profession alone. Also, I wanted to give myself an opportunity to try new things and learn new things especially that a lot of information are readily available online for free. Aside from economics, history is also one of my favorite subjects. Because of this, I also followed contemporary historians in Twitter and join forums created by history enthusiasts. After joining the forum created by history enthusiasts, the members of the forum recommended other forums that they think I might like. This helped me further expand my horizon and I really find this learning journey meaningful.

Towards the end of the course, I thought that I already learned everything that I needed to learn about PLN. However, I was surprised when our professor asked us to ponder on who needs to know about our PLNs for this blog. Looking back, I thought I am contributing to the learning of others wheneve I join conversations and discussions in Twitter threads and forum discussions. Nevertheless, I learned that I must also promote my PLN to others to guide them in their learning journey. Just as Erik Qualman (2012) said, digital leaders like me should inspire awareness and engagement.  To do this, Qualman (2012) recommended that digitial leaders need to provide sufficient information so as not to cause confusion. Additionally, digital leaders should also make people conscious of the situation and guide others to understand it. This is because, it is only when people understand the situation that they become fully engaged to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Qualman’s words made me realize that my PLN, in addition to helping me become a good economist and expand my horizon, should also empower others.

EDCI 338 is one of the subjects I enjoyed this semester because it granted me freedom to rule over my own learning and help others in their learning as well. All my life, I thought that the idea of education is just about teachers teaching the students inside the classroom. This subject helped me understand that students can be responsible for their own learning when given the chance to. Lastly, another thing I learned from this class is that social media can also be an effective tool in building one’s professional career.

References

Qualman, E. (2012). Empower others. In Digital leader: 5 simple keys to success and influence. Retrieved from https://learning-oreilly-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/library/view/digital-leader-5/9780071792424/ch16.html

 

 

Engaging Your PLN

November 22, 2020 / / 2 Comments

If there is one good this about my PLN that is, I will still find it useful even if I am already done with this course. This is because, my PLN make it possible for me to learn various things. Currently, my PLN teaches me how to ace my economics and other classes so every day is really a new learning opportunity for me. For this reason, I believe that this will go on for as long as I keep myself engaged in my PLN. In addition to assuring that I will continually learn in the future, I can also use my PLN to look for professional opportunities. Currently, I joined a Facebook group composed of people who give tips on how to pass online certification trainings like Bloomberg, Quickbooks, and Coursera. I learned a lot of tips from them because they share review notes which are necessary before one takes the exam. This Facebook group could grant me professional opportunities not just today but also in the future because they help me earn certificates that can make my resume impressive.

Since my PLN can positively impact me as a student and as a future economist, I wanted to give something back to my PLN through influencing them as well. To be honest, I have always wanted to share something valuable to my PLN, I just do not know what and how. Although I would say that engaging in group discussions somehow allowed me to influence some members of my PLN, I wanted to challenge myself through doing something bigger. After watching Prof. Miller’s interview with Amber Glauser, I came up with the realization that I could also act like a voice and represent a group of people like Amber and I can start with the members of my PLN. Amber mentioned that there are a lot of misconceptions about American Healthcare System and one of that is the misconception that America has no socialized medicine (Miller, 2020). After watching the video, I realized how networks like PLN can be used to falsify misconceptions on different culture, philosophies, and jobs. In this regard, advocacies like Amber’s is really important today given that some misconceptions can be vicious.

With the rise of network society, I believe that in addition to informing people to avoid misconception, the best practices of different countries can also be shared to other countries. Just as Del Giudice (2014) stated, the multidimensional structure of “network” society can offer a feasible option for results-oriented development strategy for developing countries. In other words, developing countries can adapt the effective strategies that other countries used. This way the developing countries do not necessarily have to do some trial and error in order to come up with the right solutions to their problems. Correspondingly, I would also like to expand my PLN through following economists and aspiring economists from other countries. Different countries have different economies so connecting with different people with different culture and experience would allow me to see different perspectives on economical progress, issues, and development.

References

Del Giudice, M. (2014). From information society to network society: The challenge. In Emerging markets, social network, and the question of legitimacy. Retrieved from https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1007/978-3-319-02490-5_5

Miller, J. (2020, November 15). EDCI 338 A01 – Glauser, Amber [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiWaXNfnHAg&feature=youtu.be

PLN and Communications: What do People See?

November 15, 2020 / / 1 Comment

In a Personal Learning Network, it is inevitable for some users to share their personal identity especially when the situation calls for it. In the case of Harrison Mooney, a journalist and a memoirist, he used his personal identity and experience in a book that he is writing. His book centers on his life as an adopted black kid who used to believe that he was some kind of anomaly (Miller, 2020). In creating this narrative of blackness, it is inevitable for Mooney to refer to his personal experiences because if he did not, that would not be a narrative of his “blackness” at all. Harrison Mooney also share his personal identity in social media to discuss the black identity and it actually enabled him to connect with other people who had the same kind of experience. Nevertheless, even if sharing one’s personal identity help social media users make their narratives more powerful and credible, it should still be regulated. Correspondingly, I believe that when it comes to PLN interaction, users should be vigilant enough to not overshare.

Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) can either help or hinder the development of thoughts and ideas in public discourse. PLN can develop ideas especially when the PLN is composed of polite and professional people who are open to new ideas. In this kind of PLN, even if the members do not actually agree with one another, they know how to strategically present their counterargument in such a way that will not offend others. On the other hand, if the PLN is composed of biased individuals, then expect that the discussion will always be one-sided. To avoid this kind of PLN, users need to curate their PLN in such a way that will expose them to various contents. Just as Meikle (2016) discussed in “Convergence and Limits of Citizen Journalism,” the conjunction of contents can make way for new approaches of storytelling for news and public information. The availability of different contents can also help users cross examine the validity of certain information and verify the information’s consistency as well.

In terms of my own PLN, I would say that I would say that my identity fit into my PLN.  This is because I follow the authors, talk show hosts, and actors that I personally likes. This way, my feed is filled with information that I am interested in. Moreover, even if it is necessary to reflect my identity in my PLN, I believe that I still need to observe professional and personal boundaries. In the case of journalists, teachers, and politicians, their job requires them to be neutral or objective. In other words, journalists, teachers, and politicians cannot just freely state their political bias in their PLNs or else because people will have the tendency to assume that they are biased and therefore not reliable. In this case, even if as a citizen, they are entitled to freedom of expression, their profession demands them to be objective so it is really necessary for them to set their professional and personal boundaries for the sake of their credibility.

 

References

Meikle, G. (2016). Convergence and the limits of citizen journalism. In Social media: Communication, sharing and visibility (pp. 64-87). Routledge.

Miller, J. (2020, November). EDCI 338 A01 – Harrison Mooney [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKNQpz0RrI&feature=youtu.be

On Why Media Literacy Matters in your PLN

November 8, 2020 / / 3 Comments

It is true that media can grant users unlimited access to various sources of information. Correspondingly, this allows them to be informed and it also grants them opportunities to learn new skills. In fact, there are hundreds of universities online that offers wide-range of courses for free. Nevertheless, in order to enjoy the vast resources of information that the internet can provide, users need to have media literacy skills. Media literacy skills, according to Center for Media Literacy, allow people to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in different forms, understand how media affects the society, and develop the necessary skills of inquiry (cited in Trilling & Fadel, 2009). People need this particular skill because not everything they saw online are real. For example, there are news online that are created with the intention of spreading malicious information. If one is media literate, he/she will double-check if this certain news is true before sharing it with others. On the other hand, if he/she is not media literate, he/she will just carelessly share the information with others. Thus, making him/her responsible in spreading malicious lies or fake news.

No matter how important media literacy skills are, especially now that it is already the Digital Age, open dialogues on media literacy and factual information actually create conflict. This is because, not everyone agrees on the concept of media literacy and not everyone sees it as an independent concept. In the interview of Prof. Miller to Prof. Smith, Prof. Smith mentioned that there are some people who are surprised to learn that media literacy is actually different from “literacy” that we know (Miller, 2020). This implies that people have this notion that for as long as you know how to read and write you are considered be literate and that you are media literate too. Consequently, people often dismiss media literacy skills because they think that they already have it and there is no need for them to learn it anymore.

On the contrary people needs to learn media literacy skills because it will help them navigate through the Internet. Also, just as Prof. Smith mentioned, media changes every day and it is not as constant as math (Miller, 2020). For this reason, it is exciting to know what will happen next. On other hand, the unpredictability of media makes others fearful and instead of learning how to use media, they would rather be alarmed and put their walls up (Miller, 2020). For me this kind of reaction is dangerous because this will deprive people of the necessary skills they need. In order to learn media literacy skills, people can build or be a part of a PLN composed of people who values media literacy. People who values media literacy are critical thinkers, they can also be reliable sources of information, and people who are not familiar with media literacy can learn from them. Being part of a PLN will also help users to see varied view of different people on a certain topic. However, users must make sure that factual consensus is present because this indicates that the PLN maintains healthy discussion and harmonious relationship.

References

Miller, J. (2020, October). EDCI 338 A01: Smith, Julie [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_T9RghwJlI&feature=youtu.be

Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2009). 21st century skills: Learning for life in our times. John Wiley & Sons.

Public PLN – Balancing PLN & Public Discourse

November 1, 2020 / / 2 Comments

When people talk about the benefits of social media, majority would actually come-up with a long list of its advantages. Just as Sophie Liu shared in the video interview, back then, they would use brick phones, real phonebooks, and yellow pages if they wanted to connect with someone (Miller, 2020). With respect to today’s scenario, everything can be found in Google and it is easy to connect with people via Twitter or other Social Media. However, even if PLN can be beneficial to public figures, it also has its downsides. In the case of Sophie Liu, there were instances when she will receive letters, or receive phone calls from viewers (Miller, 2020). My personal take on this one is that, the public could easily connect with public personalities because their information is readily found online. For this reason, public figures find it hard to live a normal life once they are done with their duty. Aside from invasion of privacy, public figures are also prone to fake news. Fake news is intentionally fabricated to mislead the audience (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017 cited in Hirst 2019). In the case of public figures, malicious people use fake news to discredit them.

Nevertheless, even if using Social Media has negative effects, this does not mean that public personalities like news reporters and government officials should not use it at all. For news reporters, they could use social media for exposure. More so, being in the public eye will also help them be recognized by people and having the right PLN will help them to be in touch with the right people. In the case of government officials, they could use Social Media for official announcements and dissemination of information. On the other hand, public figures just have to remember that they need to observe some restrictions. For instance, if they are using verified accounts due to employment, they should make it a point that the content of their posts and comments will not harm the image of their employee, does not contain foul language, and most importantly, not some kind of fake news.

Fake news is no longer new; it just happened that with social media, it can spread like a wildfire in seconds. To deal with fake news, Hirst (2019) suggested that Media Literacy shall be promoted. Media Literacy refers to the act of critically evaluating, create, or manipulate media. Promoting media literacy will prevent people from believing whatever they see online. More so, on the side of content creators, if they know what Media Literacy is, they will create contents that are not just consistent but also reliable. In this regard, it is important to point out that veteran story tellers minimize the risk of sharing misinformation through cross checking and cross referencing. This means that if their different sources say the same thing, then there is chance that that certain information is true. Social media users can apply this strategy too. If they have read a certain news, they should consider checking other news sites before they believe that a certain information is valid and reliable.

 

References

Hirst, M. (2018). The political economy of fake news. In Navigating social journalism: A handbook for media literacy and citizen journalism. Routledge.

Miller, J. (2020, December). EDCI 338 A01: Lui, Sophie [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T4jOdKd12I&feature=youtu.be

Community Engagement and My PLN

October 25, 2020 / / 4 Comments

As an avid user of social media, I would say that social media both foster and challenge community-based communications. Social media can foster community-based communications because social media has the ability to put together the members of community in online space. For instance, Mike Russell said that there is a subreddit for people living in Canada (Miller, 2020b). This subreddit allows Canadians to interact with one another and in the case of Russell, since the redditors know that he is a cop, the redditors ask him various question in relation to his job. In this case, Russell brings the community of Canadian redditors closer to the police. This kind of communication rarely happens in face to face because when people see cops, they have the tendency to get intimidated. Nevertheless, social media could also challenge community-based communications simply because miscommunication and misinformation are rampant in social media. Kermer explained that one of the challenges of the online space is that your manner of writing is different from your manner of speaking (Miller, 2020b). This means that whenever one communicates online, there is no way of knowing if the community properly received his/her message. Indeed, social media both foster and challenge community-based communication.

To reduce miscommunication, it would be better if one would always make it a point to be polite whenever he/she wanted to communicate something online.  In public media 2.0, the core function of the publics is to “keep democracies democratic” (Jansen et al., 2011, p. 59). This means that people online have the freedom to share their thoughts and opinions but they have to keep in mind that when they go overboard, they will be called out. To avoid unhealthy situations like these, one must keep his/her opinions in tow through being sensitive to other cultures and balancing professional expectations and personal beliefs. It is true that social media is sometimes used for personal reasons but one has to keep in mind that he/she is still an employee and part of being an employee is being professional inside and outside of the company.

In conclusion, as my online community learns more about who I am, I believe that the best thing I can do is to be polite. This means that I should avoid getting involved in issues that other people might find offensive. In addition to this, I will also refrain from posting very insensitive comments. If I really wanted to communicate a personal or sensitive topic, my best option is to send a private message. This way I could get to connect with people in my community that I wanted to connect with without fearing that other people might see our conversation. Lastly, I will make it a point not to overshare. By saying overshare, I will not share very personal information like my phone number, address, and even my birthday. If I share this information, strangers in the internet can easily disguise themselves as me. These cases are very rampant and I do not want any forms of crimes to be connected to my name especially when I did not commit the crime.

 

 

 

References

Jansen, S., Pooley, J., & Taub-Pervizpour, L. (2011). A new vision for public media. In Media and social justice (pp. 55-67). Springer.

Miller, J. (2020, October 18). EDCI 338 A01 – Russell M [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH_UiTWYYwU&feature=youtu.be

Miller, J. (2020, October 18). EDCI 338 A01 – Kermer, A [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/73KOxy_fMSM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLN in Practice

October 18, 2020 / / 2 Comments

As digital learner and consumer, I can confidently say that podcast is not a new thing for me. I listen to podcast when travelling and sometimes when waiting in line. It keeps me entertained and for me, listening to podcasts is another learning opportunity. However, I have never really considered the idea that I could create my own podcast. It is true that am interested in creating blogs and I actually considered the idea that maybe I could also try creating vlogs or educational videos, but podcast? It never really occurred to me. For this reason, I really enjoyed watching the conversation between Professor Jesse and Mo Amir of Vancolour. The video made me realize that creating networks is necessary whenever you wanted to put a content in the digital world. I also found this week’s readings helpful for it allowed me to discover how I can specifically build my own PLN.

If I were to create a PLN prior to building a podcast, the first thing that I will do is to create a Twitter account that is exclusively created for my podcast’s PLN. In the video, Mo Amir mentioned that Twitter allowed him to directly connect with local journalists and media people (EDCI 338, 2020). In the same manner, I will use Twitter to connect with people who also created their independent podcast. Once I am connected with them, I will ask them questions with regard to putting up an independent podcast and how I could maintain it. Just as Woods (2013) explained, “PLN is an informal group of people who you learn things from on a regular basis.” This means that in creating my PLN, I would like to create a network of people who could help me learn the ins and outs of podcast. I will not jump into promoting my podcast right away especially that I have not aired any episodes yet. Once I learned the ins and outs of podcasts, the next thing that I will do is check the trending topics and follow Mo Amir’s advice to choose a topic that is close to my heart (EDCI 338, 2020). Once I have decided the topic of my podcast episode, I will check Twitter’s L&D community. Woods (2013) explained that through this community, I will be able to connect with various experts. Correspondingly, I could ask for the experts’ help in developing the content of my podcast. Lastly, I will use Twitter to follow people who might be interested in the content of my podcast through searching my topic in Twitter.

With regard to privacy/security concerns, I will make it a point to not follow the people who provided little to no information about themselves. If they are experts or professionals, they could at least provide the organization or institution that they are affiliated with. On the other hand, if the Twitter account is verified, the institutions that a certain Twitter user was affiliated with is indicated in the Twitter user’s profile, and the Twitter user is not following a shady group of people, then that means that it is safe to follow those Twitter accounts. It is necessary to double check the legitimacy of Twitter accounts because a lot of people use the names of famous people so they could have a lot of followers.

References

EDCI 338. (2020, October 10). EDCI 338 – A01 building a podcast [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyODAhviQyA

Woods, B. (2013). Building your own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network. T+D, 67(11). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A348998538/ITBC?u=uvictoria&sid=ITBC&xid=9daf4a31

 

My Personal Learning Network (PLN) and Inclusion

October 11, 2020 / / 0 Comments

One good thing about my Personal Learning Network is that it is very diverse. It is diverse because my PLN is composed of professionals, students like me, researchers, and teachers as well. Aside from being diverse, there is also equality in my PLN because no one has the loudest voice in the room. I would not like it if I would have the loudest voice because that means that I am dominating the discussion. On the other hand, I would also not like it if one of my fellow learners in my PLN would have the loudest voice because that means that he/she is taking over the discussion. Since education is supposed to be democratic and inclusive where everyone has their own roles, responsibilities, and peer connections (Five Moore Minutes, 2018a), I wanted my PLN to be democratic and inclusive.

With diverse and inclusive PLN, I was encouraged to participate in silo of information through sharing my thoughts and opinions on topics like economics, education, and digital learning. The diverse group of people in my PLN enabled me to view things from different perspectives. For instance, teachers have different views on education compared to students and so are researchers and other experts in the field. Because everyone in my PLN has different views on a certain topic and no one is pushing them to think alike, it made me interested in the concept of inclusion. In inclusive education, educators do not force their students to think alike. Like many kids who struggled to fit in the archaic system of education that Shelly Moore mentioned in her video titled “Don’t Should on Me: It’s not easy being NOT green” (2018), I also struggled to fit in. Fitting in is not a good thing especially when you are really different from others. I want the inclusivity that I could feel from my PLN and I believe that engaging in my PLN more would help me see inclusivity in action.

The learning outcome of my PLN is to get the learners engaged and to make them lifelong learners. In order to ensure exposure to diversity and inclusion, I will not be picky in choosing my PLN members, for as long as their profiles are not dummy accounts, I will include them in my PLN. Just as Moore and Schnellert (2017) said, the paradigm shift in education is long overdue. This means that if as a student, I can do something to revolutionize my education, I will take the necessary steps to do it. After reading about inclusion and PLN I realized that education should not really look for the “not wavy” ones and fix them. I believe in finding strength and embracing diversity and this philosophy can be turned into practice. To turn it into practice, Moore (2016) gave a very important advice: Focus on the students that are hard to get to. If educators focus on students who find it hard to keep up, there is a huge chance that they will be able to reach all the students.

 

References

Five Moore Minutes. (2018, October 1). The evolution of inclusion: the past and future of education [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQgXBhPh5Zo&feature=youtu.be

Five Moore Minutes. (2018, November 5). Don’t Should on Me: It’s not easy being NOT green [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeRNhz0nGts&feature=youtu.be

Moore, S., & Schnellert, L. (2017). One without the other: Stories of unity through diversity and inclusion. Portage & Main Press. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/lib/uvic/reader.action?docID=4832579&ppg=6

Shelley Moore. (2016, April 4). Transforming Inclusive Education [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYtUlU8MjlY&feature=youtu.be

 

Personal Digital Identity vs Professional Digital Identity

October 4, 2020 / / 1 Comment

 

 

Above is the V and R mapping that I have come up with. Looking at the map, one could easily see that most of my engagements online are institutional. This is because one of the reasons that I go online is because of my classes. There are sites in the map that I would not discover if not for my classes. For example, I have no idea what WordPress is and I also do not know how it works. Since WordPress is required in one of my subjects so I was mandated to create an account and learn how it works. In the long run, I learned how to use WordPress and I kind of liked blogging so I ended up using it for personal reasons. My V and R mapping got me thinking that if I am not a student, I would not spend so much time online. However, since it is already the digital age, I am pretty sure that when I started working one day, most of my activities online will be work related. Therefore, my V and R map will still be filled with institutional online activities.

With regard to work, some of the digital platforms that students use in order to develop their professional network are LinkedIn and Facebook. According to Johnson (2019), LinkedIn is a “social network that focuses on professional networking and career development.” Users can post their resumes and search for jobs using LinkedIn. Not only that, LinkedIn also allows their users to post updates and interact with other people. In addition to LinkedIn, Facebook also has a feature that allows students develop their personal network and this feature is called Facebook Jobs. Facebook Jobs allow users to search for jobs. Also, just like LinkedIn, Facebook also allows users to interact with professionals.

As a student, I plan to create my online portfolio through creating a WordPress website. In this website, I will create a professional identity that employers would like. I will also publish articles on economics that people can easily relate to. I want people to visit my site whenever they wanted a financial advice or they wanted to know some life hacks on budgeting their money. In order to interact with my audience, I will ask them to leave questions and I will answer them in my next blog. I will also promote my website in my social media so that my personal network can learn about my website. Through this website, I believe that I will be able to create a good digital reputation. This is because my site visitors learn from the articles I write and they may even consider me an expert in the field. Also, if ever a local employer would stumble upon my blog, he/she will be able to assess how much I know about my profession. Also, the blog will be a solid evidence that I am serious with the career path that I have taken to the point that I am determined to share my knowledge to others.

 

 

Reference

Johnson, D. (2019, September 6). ‘What is LinkedIn?’: A beginner’s guide to the popular professional networking and career development site. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-linkedin

OCLC. (n.d.). Visitors and residents mapping app. Retrieved from https://experimental.worldcat.org/vandrmapping/signIn

On Digital Identities

September 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

The concept of Digital Identity is still considered nebulous. Despite this, Eric Stoller, a Social Media expert, simply defined Digital Identity as one’s presence online (University of Derby, 2016). Also, it could refer to how one, shares, interacts, and utilizes digital tools for his/her own benefit. In other words, one’s Digital Identity is basically his/her digital footprint. One could know a lot about a certain person by looking at his/her digital footprints. This is actually the reason that some companies would search for their applicants’ digital footprints to know if they are going to hire a certain applicant or not. Just as Eric Stoller said, looking into the applicant’s digital footprint is like an initial interview. Moreover, one’s Digital Identity could also be viewed as the product of a person’s interaction in the internet. In fact, Spracklen (2015) explained that the internet helps people create their identity.  This explains why one is likely to engage in political activities if he/she belongs in an online community composed of people who frequently share posts and videos on social activism.

The Digital Identity can be changed according to one’s intention. For instance, if one created his/her social media for personal reasons, he/she can share anything that he/she likes. In addition to this, he/she can follow pages and people that simply caught his/her attention. However, if one needed to create a social media because he/she wanted to reach his/her clients or boss, he/she needs to establish a good Digital Professional Identity (DPI). According to Jawed et al. (2019), DPI refers to the personal identity that professionals create online through internet-based interaction. In creating this identity, the professional carefully uses online platforms and communication tools to appear professional. Unlike the personal approach to Digital Identity, the professional approach is more constrained. This is because as a professional, one needs to create an image that will please his/her employers and clients. Hence, in creating Digital Professional Identity, online users leave their “real” identities behind and create Digital Identities that can best fit their profession.

In networked publics, the personal and the professional identities can converge. For instance, Teacher A has two Facebooks accounts, one for his professional account and the other one is his personal account. It is possible for the friends of Teacher A in his professional Facebook account to find his personal account especially when Teacher A did not strategically hide his personal Facebook account. In this case, Teacher A’s friends can check his personal Facebook account, send him a message, or even send a friend request. When Teacher A accepted his students and employers in his personal account, he will have a hard time deciding what to share, what to post, and who to follow in fear of not appearing professional to the clients and students who invaded her personal Facebook account. On the other hand, the good side of this is that Teacher A’s employers and students will feel that they would know Teacher A on a personal level. In connection to this, problems like these will always be part of our daily life. In the World Economic Forum (2019), the economists said that over 60% of the global GDP is expected to be digitized by 2022. This only means that world gets more digitized each year so we need to know how to responsibly create and handle our Digital Identities.

 

References

Mahboob, U., Jawed, S., & Yasmeen, R. (2019). Digital professional identity: Dear internet! Who am I? Education for Health, 32(1), 33. doi:10.4103/efh.efh_232_17

Spracklen, K. (2015). Identity-making and social media. Digital Leisure, the Internet and Popular Culture, 94-112. doi:10.1057/9781137405876_6

University of Derby. (2016). Eric Stoller – What is digital identity? [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0RryRbJza0&feature=youtu.be

World Economic Forum. (2019, February 5). Davos 2019 – Press conference the value of digital identity for the global economy and society [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=326&v=1-V7lyxrOmw&feature=emb_logo

 

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