Post on 22-Jan-2018
Building a professional digital identity
By @lisaharris for #UptakeICT 16/5/2017
Plan
Building your digital identity Growing your networks the value of proactive
contribution Managing personal v professional identities What employers are looking for Useful resources
Is the glass half empty?
How can we be effective learners/researchers in a world where we are:
increasingly swamped with data
restricted by our filter bubbles to engaging with people who are like us
concerned about privacy issues, identity theft, trolling?
Or is it half full?
By actively developing and managing our digital footprint we can:
showcase our work
build our networks to stand out from the crowd and enhance our employment prospects or new business development
Promote digital citizenship by
behaving responsibly online to set a good example
Sharing useful resources with our networks
Raising awareness of, or support for, good causes
Calling out fake news, or alarming trends which favour opinion over fact
Online Identity
Lisa Harris, Digital Educator. Connect @lisaharris / L.J.Harris@soton.ac.uk
Finding me online:
TwitterLinkedInSlideshareWeb Science Institute
Innovation in HE blog
mailto:L.J.Harris@soton.ac.ukhttp://www.twitter.com/lisaharrishttp://www.linkedin.com/in/lisajaneharrishttp://www.slideshare.net/lisaharris/edit_my_uploadshttp://www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi/about/staff.page?https://www.efolio.soton.ac.uk/blog/innovationinhe/
About.me/lisa.harris
6
http://www.about.me/lisa.harris
Academic digital networks
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/03/04/academic-profile-services-many-mirrors-and-faces-for-a-single-ego/
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/03/04/academic-profile-services-many-mirrors-and-faces-for-a-single-ego/
Which network/s to focus on?
LinkedIn (seems obvious but see this Observer piece - The Death of LinkedIn )
Mendeley reference management and network building
Orchid links you to your networks via a single identifier
Academia.edu over 50 million members world-wide
Others?
http://observer.com/2017/04/the-death-of-linkedin-social-media-sales-marketing-facebook-business-relationships/https://www.mendeley.com/https://orcid.org/https://www.academia.edu/about
Linking your networks with ORCID
Social networks
Commmunicating Your Research with Social Media: A Practical Guide to Using Blogs, Podcasts, Data Visualisations and Videoby Amy Mollett, Cheryl Brumley, Chris Gilson, and Sierra Williams
create and share images, audio, and video in ways that positively impact your research
connect and collaborate with other researchers measure and quantify research communication efforts for funders provide research evidence in innovative digital formats reach wider, more engaged audiences in academia and beyond
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Communicating-Your-Research-Social-Media/dp/1412962226/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485270908&sr=8-1https://www.amazon.co.uk/Communicating-Your-Research-Social-Media/dp/1412962226/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485270908&sr=8-1
Give before you receive
Developing a digital footprint which demonstrates our skills is not an overnight task. Chris Brogan talks about paying it forward meaning we should give before we receive.
Long term benefit comes from focusing on the value we bring to our network, not what we take from it.
Dont connect with someone on LinkedIn just when you need a recommendation. Share useful information with your network, and you will benefit when you need help in return.
Watch the discussion with Southampton PhD students on paying it forward here
http://chrisbrogan.com/feeding-your-system/https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/social-media/3/steps/168902
Identity is complex- what is really new?
(1) actual or objective self the way a person actually is
(2) self-image the way a person sees themself
(3) ideal self (self-actualisation) the way they would like to be seen
(4) social self the way they think others regard them
Onkvisit, S., and Shaw, J., 1987. Self-concept and Image Congruence: Some Research and Managerial Implications. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 4 (1), 13 23.
Questions for you
Which social networks do you use professionally? What specific value do they provide to you?
Single or multiple digital identities?
A single identity is easily identifiable as us across all platforms.
Multiple identities may be used for different contexts (such as professional and personal) or on different platforms
Whichever we choose, we make active choices over what we: create, post and share,
contribute to communities and social networks,
like and comment on,
respond and reply to or repost/retweet
Some views on this topic from Southampton students
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/learning-network-age/1/steps/178922
Single IdentityAdvantages:
Consistent presentation of image (good personal branding).
Trustworthy (no separation of personal and professional, nothing to hide).
High levels of integrity / authenticity.
Easy for others to find and connect
Disadvantages:
The personal and professional, formal and informal are mixed up, which can lead to unintended negative effects.
Is it really possible to be authentic online? Check out this Guardian summary of the key issues.
Higher risk of identity theft. (Cifas, the UKs fraud prevention service, recorded 172,919 identity frauds in 2016)
Lack of privacy (you leave a traceable digital footprint).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/22/pr-exec-fired-racist-tweet-aids-africa-apologyhttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/19/online-identity-authenticity-anonymityhttp://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/identity-fraud-reaches-record-levels-mar17https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_footprint
Multiple identities
Advantages:
Can separate the personal from the professional
Improved privacy and security
Can manage your identity to suit your contexts
Less risk of unintended negative effects
Disadvantages:
More profiles and accounts to manage and check
Higher risk of appearing inauthentic or of lacking integrity
Anonymous identity
Advantages:
Increased freedom of self-expression
High levels of privacy and security
Can provide a voice to oppressed or threatened people whose safety may be compromised if their true identity is revealed.
Very small risk of unintended negative effects
Disadvantages:
Untrustworthy
High risk of appearing inauthentic or of lacking integrity
Enables Catfishing, Trolling, Cyber-bullying and abuse
A question for you
Which is your preference single, multiple or anonymous digital identities?
The challenge
A standard CV is no longer sufficient to stand out from the crowd in a global and rapidly evolving job market.
We are currently preparing students for jobs that dont yet exist, using technologies that havent been invented, in order to solve problems we dont even know are problems yet.- Karl Fisch, Did You Know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmwwrGV_aiE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmwwrGV_aiE
Recruitment in a digital world
According to a 2016 study by Jobvite:
96% of recruiters use social media in the hiring process
80% had been positively influenced by a candidates professional social network profile
78% had been negatively influenced towards a candidates inappropriate use of social media
More input here from Southampton students on employer expectations
http://www.microsoft.com/privacy/dpd/research.aspxhttp://www.jobvite.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/RecruiterNation2016.pdfhttps://www.futurelearn.com/courses/social-media/3/steps/168905
Employer branding its not all about you!
The best candidates might not be actively looking for a new job (up to 90% of the workforce at any time)
Social media can identify the best talent , encourage conversation and build relationships between prospective employees/employers
Enables recruiters to promote their company as a great place to work
Some student examples
These students studied a Flexible Learning interdisciplinary modulecalled Living and Working on the Web
Building their own professional digital profiles and blogging about the experience is a key aspect of this course.
Haley Fairclough, 2016 Psychology graduate.
Vicky Gilson, 2016 Modern Languages and European Studies graduate.
Ellie Hamilton, 2016 Web Science graduate.
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/cip/interdisciplinary/modules/index.page?https://onlinewithhaley.wordpress.com/2016/03/13/using-the-internet-create-your-best-chance-of-employmenthttps://vickygilson.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/topic-3-authentic-online-professional-profile-development/https://ellietalksblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/topic-3-building-a-professional-digital-profile/
Finally
We are now in the transitional stage of employers gradually reducing their prejudice in the hiring of those who studied at a distance, and moving in favor of such graduates who, in the workplace, demonstrate greater proactiveness, initiative, discipline, collaborativeness because they studied online.
Fredric Litto, Professor Emeritus of Communications, University of So Paulo, in a recent Pew Internet Report, The Future of Jobs
http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/05/03/the-future-of-jobs-and-jobs-training/
A final question for you
In what ways will you enhance your professional digital profile after this session?
More Resources
Learning in the Network Age MOOC starts July for 2 weeks
Power of Social Media MOOC started 8/5 for 2 weeks
A detailed First Monday review of Facebooks position on authenticity of identity
This BBC report discusses the nature of the dark web and the advantages and disadvantages that anonymity offers.
Harris, L. and Rae, A. (2011) Building a personal brand through social networking, Journal of Business Strategy
These two 30 minute BBC Four radio broadcasts explore the possibility of Online Identity Crisis and what online Authenticity involves.
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/learning-network-age/1/https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/social-media/3/http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/6791/5521http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z9j6nbkhttps://eprints.soton.ac.uk/182817/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07tqvvphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08m9kvl