Would you recognise the ‘online you’? This week is about who you are online and how you appear to the world.
During Week 2 you explored the range of skills that contribute to being effective in a digital world. You started to develop your own plan for the skills you want to work on. This week you’ll think about your ‘
You will also be introduced to some ways you can create a positive impact online to help you achieve your goals, whether they relate to work, study or other aspects of life. Throughout this week we refer to your ‘digital profile’. By this we mean how you appear to others online.
You’ll start the week by reflecting on your own ‘digital journey’: that is, where you are now and where you want to get to. As you go through the week the focus will move from your own personal digital identity to interacting with others and becoming a ‘digital citizen’.
By the end of this week, you should be able to:
Digital identity has become a very important part of 21st century life. It’s about how you present yourself online to ensure you make the impression you want. Even if you don’t feel you want to spend a lot of time online, it’s still useful to think about what others can see of you. Your digital identity is not something completely detached from the rest of life. It can be a way of expressing who you are in a meaningful and engaging way, to people and communities you want to connect with.
When considering your digital identity, keep in mind what motivates you to get online and be active there.
You will come back to the inspiration for your digital journey later in the course. For now, start by considering your digital footprint.
You may have heard the phrase ‘digital footprint’ before. This is about the traces you leave online. It includes information about you and your online activity such as:
Your digital footprint can be shaped by what others put online about you. This may not always be within your control. However, doing this course will show you how you can ensure that your digital footprint is what you would like it to be. The following activity will help you to find out what your digital footprint currently looks like.
Take a moment to think about the places where you have been or are currently active online. Even if you are not very active online, it is still worth doing the activity to establish your starting point for developing your digital identity.
Put your name into a search engine and see what comes up. Any surprises?
Make a note in the box below of anything you want to change or improve.
Look at the discussion when you are ready.
When you googled your name, you may have found:
On the other hand, you may have found very little about yourself or, depending on how common your name is, you may have found mentions of other people who are not you. This is a good starting point from which to develop your digital profile. In the rest of this week you will have opportunities to think about what is important to you and how you want your digital footprint to reflect that.
If you are fairly new to life online, it is natural to feel cautious about what you disclose to others. On the other hand, you may be used to sharing quite freely without giving it much thought. By learning a bit more about how to manage your digital footprint, you will be better equipped to stay in control of the information about you that others can see online.
Being in control of your own information is becoming more and more important when applying for jobs. Many employers look at the digital profile of prospective employees and the recruitment process itself increasingly takes place online. In the UK one blog author suggests that 89% of recruiters have hired someone through LinkedIn, and that 73% of 18 to 34-year-olds found their last job through a social network (Medved, 2014).
In real life, you probably behave differently with your friends and family than you do at work. Online it’s important to think about the image you are projecting to others and who might be reading what you put there. The following activity will help you to see the sort of information that can show up in someone’s digital footprint.
In the next section, you will think further about how you can learn online and interact with others while maintaining your privacy.
It is possible to find all sorts of material freely available online. Using digital technology and media, you can learn what you want, when you want. The opportunities are immense, both to build up your own knowledge and to share what you’ve found with others.
Open collections bring together particular types of resources. For example, YouTube is a large collection of videos and Pixabay contains hundreds of thousands of photographs, uploaded by many different people. Anyone can view and add material and it is also possible to interact with other users of these resources.
Free educational resources are known as open educational resources or OERs. These are often provided by reputable institutions, like universities. Examples include OpenLearn and FutureLearn. Individuals are now able to license their own work easily and at no cost. You will learn more about this in Week 4 of this course. Online communities of learners may form around OERs or subjects of study. These provide valuable opportunities to learn together and benefit from peer support.
There is, however, a downside. One of the things you will be realising as you explore your digital footprint is that your actions online may be visible to others in ways that you did not realise. There is a tension between learning and sharing openly online and maintaining an acceptable degree of privacy. Part of the aim of this course is to develop your knowledge and skills to make the choices that are right for you, whilst gaining maximum benefit from online learning and communities. Activity 2 will help you to develop your digital identity and keep control of your digital footprint.
Once you understand how important your digital footprint is, you can start to think about how you might improve the way in which you come across online. Watch the video about improving your digital footprint.
Once you understand how important your digital footprint is, you can start to think about how you might improve the way in which you come across online. So let's see how you can do this. One of the first things you can do is to delete or deactivate all those online accounts that you don't use anymore. Doing this will mean that you won't need to worry about them, they can't be scammed, and it will leave you time to concentrate on the accounts that are most useful to you. There are tools available online that can help you do this.
For the accounts you choose to keep, think about who has access to them and filter out people you don't really know or no longer keep in contact with. For example, Facebook tends to be more personal, so you may only want family and friends to have access to the information you put there. However, if you use LinkedIn, you will want to connect with a professional network and be considered for jobs. If you want to be noticed, your settings should allow greater public access.
However, the information you provide is likely to be professional rather than personal. Now is the time to delete all those photographs that don't show you in a good light. Also, delete any posts that you're not proud of. Social network sites will provide you with information on how to do this. Sites like LinkedIn are great for showcasing your skills and knowledge.
If you want to get noticed, you'll need to ensure that you build up your profile to include your achievements, skills, qualifications, and knowledge. Consider your profile as your online CV. Employers or employment agencies frequently search LinkedIn for people with specific skills. When you think about the words you use on your profile, think about the words for which employers might search in order to find people with your skills.
There are a number of ways you can connect with others in your profession or field of interest. Twitter is a good place to find connections. Being active on Twitter will make it more likely that people will notice you. Stick to professional content and think about what your tweets are saying about you in a professional sense.
Blogs are also a great way of showcasing your knowledge. Think about starting your own professional blog, or find expert blogs that will keep you up to date. Adding your own comments will enable you to be part of the wider discussion. Discussion forums are also good places to meet professionals in your field. They are great places to learn from others and share good practice.
Here some tips about shaping your digital identity.
Top Ten Tips to Improve your Online Presence
Make some notes of the steps you might take to reduce any negative impact of your digital footprint and to create a positive digital identity, particularly for career purposes.
It is worth thinking about who is shaping your digital footprint and digital identity– is it you or your friends?
You may have come up with some of the following:
It’s possible you have thought of other things too. For example, remember that Google will remove your information if you request it under the ‘
You will have the opportunity to put what you have learned into practice in the next activity. In the meantime, add anything you want to follow up to your reflective journal.
In the next section, you will explore what is meant by digital citizenship and how you can contribute positively online.
We live in a global society, where it is increasingly possible to connect across continents and cultures using technology. As well as being confident going online, it’s important to show awareness of the needs and feelings of others, and to be sensitive to cultural differences.
Citizenship in general refers to the way in which individuals contribute to society. The term ‘digital citizenship’ has now entered everyday language and is defined as:
‘A person who develops the skills and knowledge to effectively use the Internet and other digital technology, especially in order to participate responsibly in social and civic activities.’
Digital citizenship includes:
It is part of the ‘understand and engage’ aspect of the Digital skills framework you were introduced to in Week 2.
As a good digital citizen, it is important to treat your digital footprint, and the digital footprints of others, with respect. Bear in mind that:
Another essential aspect of digital citizenship is being able to communicate online. The notion of ‘netiquette’ refers to the guidelines for appropriate behaviour when communicating with others online in writing. The conventions are likely to vary, depending on the context in which your online communication is taking place. You may find it helpful to observe how others are interacting before you launch in. There are also some general principles to bear in mind:
These principles essentially mean treating others as you would want them to treat you.
a.
Don’t fire off a hasty reply if someone sends you an email that upsets or annoys you.
b.
Smile and make eye contact.
c.
Keep your communications brief and to the point.
d.
Don’t write in capital letters when writing in English.
e.
Acknowledge what other people say in their messages or posts.
f.
Keep in mind who you are communicating with.
g.
Acknowledge others’ points of view when disagreeing with them.
h.
Be aware of who may be reading what you write.
i.
Use appropriate body language.
The correct answers are a, c, d, e, f, g and h.
Some of the suggestions require participants in a conversation to be able to see each other, which of course isn’t possible with many forms of online communication. This is why it’s really important to be clear in what you say and to think about how the communication will be received. If you don’t know who will read it, imagine how someone relevant to the context would respond, for example, your boss, client or best friend. Edit it if you think that person would not understand your sentiment.
Digital citizenship is about using technology for positive benefit. Social networks and online communities can be powerful forces for good, for example,
Record anything you want to follow up in your reflective journal.
Remember that everyone’s digital journey is different. Just as your personal identity may change over time as you have different experiences and learn new things, the same is true of your digital identity. Learning new skills may encourage you to become active online in new ways, shape your digital identity and enable you to move forward in your digital journey.
Also, as you have seen, it’s not just about ‘digital me’, it’s about ‘digital us’. What we each do online has an impact on other people. Even if you found that your digital footprint has room for improvement, be reassured that, over time, you can take control of your life online and develop the digital profile you would like.
During the week you have been making notes in your reflective journal of how you want to develop your digital footprint and shape your digital identity. Now is a good time to review your plan and prioritise what you will do first. Putting these steps into practice will help to ensure that your digital journey is enjoyable and goes in the direction you would like.
Here are Kyaw Win’s reflections about this week.
“I like to share photos on Facebook and Instagram and to see photos of me with my friends there too. Sometimes they post a photo of me that I don’t like and mostly I don’t mind. But I’m really not happy with the photo of me from the Thingyan Water Festival. I look so wet and bedraggled. It would be better if that were private because I don’t want people to get the wrong impression of me.
I’m a bit embarrassed about some of my Facebook posts. I said things and I wasn’t really thinking about what I was doing. I don’t really want people to see them, because the way I think now is so different so I will take them down.
I managed to tighten up my settings on my Facebook account so now I know exactly who can see what I put up there. First, I un-friended all the people I don’t really know or keep in contact with. Then I deleted all those old posts and photos I don’t want people to see. I had to do that on Instagram as well. Then I made my Facebook private so only my friends and family can see what I write, unless I choose to let the public see it. I never knew you could do that. Makes me feel so much better. I feel like I’ve really achieved something.
Oh, and I’ve joined a Facebook group. They’re all cyclists and I’ve picked up some really good information. I think it’s great because they’ve been really helpful, offering me advice. In fact, I think I could even write my own cycling blog. That could be really exciting.
I didn’t know that my friend had written about me in his blog. I’m really flattered and I don’t mind because he didn’t use my name or write anything personal.
My friend introduced me to YouTube, and now I use it a lot to look things up quickly. I find it easier to watch how to do things than to read about it. Increasingly there are videos in Burmese which is great.
I’ve never really been sure about Twitter. Isn’t it just people posting photos of what they’re eating or saying nasty things about others?
I really don’t know what
Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week quiz.
Open the quiz in a new window or tab then come back here when you’ve finished.
This week you have looked at the area of digital identity and how to ensure your digital footprint reflects you in the best light. You have:
You have learned:
In the next week you will look more closely at e-safety, security and other aspects of digital well-being. You will also learn how to stay within the law when using other people’s original work, and how you can protect your rights when sharing your own material online.
Now continue to Week 4.