I consider myself a private person. To my discredit, this has translated into texting habits that are less than ideal - I have a very slow response time to messages, and am hard to reach by phone. Many friends and family members have attested to this - and it is something I am working on.
I do not "leave people on read" out of malicious intent or disrespect, it is more of a personal weakness in my ability to adapt to the changing social standards surrounding communication. Communication has gotten faster, and in many ways, this means we can get more things accomplished. However, I feel this puts pressure on us to be constantly available and constantly communicating, which has never quite felt natural given my personality.
My Digital Footprint
I am making efforts to be more comfortable with this change in communication style, because I do not want to get left behind in the digital dust. Admittedly, this has come with mixed results in the past few years since beginning this personal quest.
My struggle to communicate in a timely fashion online stems from my initial resistance to social media. I was one of the last in my friend group to get a phone, to sign up for Facebook, and was never the one glued to their phone texting 24/7. Frankly, something about that level on connection always scared me a little bit.
Some people have been forming their digital brand from day one, posting photos, status updates, their location, videos, personal confessions, the works! My social profiles are rather tame, dare I say dull. I was always a bit fearful of how much information others could find out about me online, because frankly I favour in-person communication and the nuance, texture, and beauty that comes with face-to-face communication over a coffee. Digital branding is something I never really took to or cared for.
Staying Personally Private, But Becoming Professionally Public
I have made strides in my comfort with digital branding. Social media was never something I was big on. I would post a status update or a photo to Facebook on the rarest of occasions, and these days, my social media use is pretty much limited to Facebook groups and LinkedIn networking. About a year ago, I decided it was time I entered the digital world more professionally, and to begin generating a digital brand for myself. I cautiously but usefully embraced the idea of developing my own website, and you are here right now scoping out how well I have done!
I came around to the idea when realizing that maybe, just maybe, I had some inkling of high-quality content to contribute to the online sphere. Aligning this with a professional, as opposed to personal, digital brand felt more acceptable to me in terms of how I want to engage with the online world.
The design intent was to form a hub for my online activity. I wanted to consolidate good online resources that I have found, be they video, image, text, articles, etc. I wanted to link great sites that I enjoy, be they for education, design, marketing, etc. I wanted to showcase my own teaching style and methods, and offer my support and collaboration to other professionals in education. And finally I wanted to showcase my own talents in the hopes that this could lead to collaborations with others in the future.
What Are We Comfortable Sharing?
Boyd (2014) discusses how youth have changed what they deem to be private and public, and this change has come to light in the shadow of the online world. As youth become more comfortable sharing more about themselves online, this does not mean they have done away with privacy. They are still very cautious about what exactly it is they share.
The kind of content that youth are becoming comfortable sharing to the public has simply shifted from what it once was. Now, sharing pictures, personal stories, even videos of them at their highest and lowest emotional moments are commonplace on feeds. And in many ways, this online social journey leads many adolescents to discover the power of vulnerability, support networks, and honesty.
There remain concerns. As an educator, I found it bewildering that my students would have no problem making an Instagram story about their commute to school that morning and their morning routine, yet would be sheepish to speak up in front of their classmates to answer a question - let alone express an original thought or opinion.
And in my regard, this was an indication that adolescents are choosing to showcase things they feel are light-hearted (in a sense). Online, they refrain from delving too deeply into philosophical or creative aspects of their inner mind, but willingly sharing physical or concrete examples of who they are on a slightly more manageable scale.
My Concerns As An Educator
As we all navigate the social politics of social networks together, and learn as we role out and update these platforms, there are grave concerns. The CNN Special Report - Being thirteen: Inside The Secret World of Teens (2015) discussed the idea that the digital identity many students assume can be completely alternative to who they truly identify as, and the creation of fake social media profiles mimicking a false identity has become increasingly problematic.
I can't help but relate this back to Virginia Shae's (1994) 10 Core Rules of Netiquette which I discussed in a previous article. As youth redefine what they determine to be safe to share online, we need to reinforce the importance of Rule 5 : Make yourself look good online. I think subconsciously, this rule has always been at the back of my mind whenever engaging with the online world. And it may very well explain why I have been so hesitant to begin sharing aspects of who I am and what I can do online. Students need to understand that while it can feel liberating to share publicly online, they need to be mindful of their security, and how this may reflect on them professionally.
And in many ways, this is exactly what I have done with my own digital brand. I was slow to adopt social media, and took my time not to jump headlong into the world of online sharing and communication. In due time, I have grown more comfortable in the online world, and have made compromises on what I am okay to share, and where I draw the line.
As an educator, I hope this site can serve as a model for students. If they try and find me on social media, their results will be few and far between. And anything they will come across will be rather boring and dry. I think this approach properly exemplifies ethical social media and online content sharing for someone in my position. I have put time and effort into what information about me is publicly available, and I hope students realize this and acknowledge the importance that goes into a digital brand. This website is my digital brand, and it is a constant work in progress. I am not fully satisfied with the various corners of this site, and in due time they will change and be revised to reflect a change in my identity.
Identity changes, your digital brand will change, but always be mindful of Rule 5.
References
Boyd, Dana. (2014). It’s Complicated: the social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press.
ConstantlySporadic. (2015, October 5). CNN Special Report - Being Thirteen: Inside The Secret World of Teens [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-9LtTtkg04&t=2s&ab_channel=ConstantlySporadic
Shea, V. (1994). Netiquette. Albion Press
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