This week, my classmates and I were tasked with reading two articles, reflecting on our personal and professional identities, and discussing some prompts regarding digital identity.
My blog post will highlight what stood out to me during the readings, what I identified within my own digital identities (personal and professional) during the group discussion, and my responses to the prompts.
Reflections from this week’s readings
Firstly, what caught my attention during the readings was from the work of Jawed et al. (2019) in particular, who, through their research study, realized that medical students, and young professionals in education alike, should be required to learn about digital identities, including what goes into them and how their careful management will dictate whether it benefits or harms their professional careers. From face value, I think this information would be extremely beneficial, however, upon further reflection, I have come to believe that it is only one piece of the puzzle and that, yes, students should be presented with the opportunity to learn about the ‘dos and don’ts’ of digital identities, but so too should they be taught about other aspects that involve professionalism, such as public speaking, and how to use Excel. In sum, yes, the concept and execution of curating professional digital identities should be echoed within the walls of universities, but that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to nurturing well-rounded professionals.
Identifying my own digital identities
Secondly, this week’s activity of identifying and reflecting on my own personal and professional digital identities encouraged the following thoughts.
Regarding my personal identity, I have a small personal presence on social media platforms, primarily Instagram and Facebook, however I am working toward scrubbing off my personal presence from the internet, for privacy’s sake. For instance, I am deleting my Facebook account, and have made my Instagram account ‘private’. I do understand, though, that once someone has entered the metaverse you cannot fully delete your digital trail, but I at least hope to limit my footprint from here on out.
Regarding my professional identity, I have a larger professional presence on the internet through platforms such as LinkedIn and biographies on websites owned by companies I have worked for, but this image is much more filtered and tailored to my professional network than that of my personal identity. I am also heavily involved with professional software platforms, such as Brightspace, Gmail, etc., which inevitably contributes to my digital footprint, however, I am comfortable with the digital trail I have created. I think that curating an online professional image can be highly strategic when it comes to networking and building a personal learning network (see Blog Post 1 for more insights).
In both cases, however, I am fairly detached from the various online communities that I have joined, as I don’t have the time to engage with posts and whatnot, nor do I wish to become overly involved in the digital world, as I think it can seriously impact your mental health if not closely monitored.
This week’s prompts
Thirdly, please enjoy my thoughts and beliefs in response to this week’s prompts, which stemed from previous readings throughout the course thus far.
What is a digital identity?
Based on what I have learned thus far, I think that digital identity is an accumulation of your behavior on the internet, including everything from your posts and profile picture to how long you linger on a certain advertisement. I think that digital identities can be tailored and rarely encompass the whole image of an individual. For instance, my digital image within the EDCI 338 course likely conveys a ‘keener’, whereas my digital image on Instagram is much more relaxed.
How do personal versus professional approaches to digital identity affect social media use?
I think that the intent behind the interaction, being personal or professional, affects social media use through deciding to what degree the behavior of the individual is filtered. For instance, where someone might use foul language while booing their away-team on an Instagram Live feed, they might think twice before using said dirty words on a school blog post.
How do digital identities converge in networked publics – what are the impacts and/or benefits?
I think that personal and professional digital identities can converge when both realities demand use of the same platforms, but through different lenses. For example, I have used Facebook for sharing family photos with friends, but I have also used Facebook to communicate with classmates in private pages. I can’t identify too many benefits for converging the two identities, aside from being able to paint a fuller image of who someone truly is as a person, whereas I can easily identify the risks. I think that requesting professionals to use commonly personal platforms, such as Instagram, to communicate with their network is unreasonable and unnecessary, because people often intentionally curate professional identities that are vastly different from their personal identities and they would like to keep those two separate. There is a reason why people have two identities to begin with.
References
Jawed, S., Mahboob, U., & Yasmeen. R. (2019). Digital professional identity: Dear Internet! Who am I? Educ Health, 32(1), 33-35. doi: 10.4103/efh.EfH_232_17. PMID: 31512590.