A Digital Identity

(The following post is my reflective thinking piece required for my EDES 544 Discussion #5 assignment. This piece allowed me to create a 10 minute podcast. It is a little long but it allowed me to seriously reflect on who I am online, how I became that person and who I strive to be.)

The term digital identity was one I heard about three years ago from a colleague on staff.  When I first met him he impressed me with his technological skills, and his comfort with being very much a digital native so when he started talking about computers, tools, being online I would tune him out. It seemed way above me, my skills and my technological comfort level (Charles Paul if you ever see this I’m sorry) However, one thing in particular did stick with me: he stated that once anything is put online it will always be there for the masses to see, view and comment on. Naively I thought, well then, I won’t put anything online and I did exactly what Julia Hengstter describes as “shutting my eyes to the web .“

However as much as I stayed off line, friends, colleagues, community groups and even students were posting comments, tagging, or describing things I was involved in or doing. I had let my digital identity develop in a very passive, inactive manner letting others post things and being unaware of who was reading it and the impression it may have been leaving.  When I discovered these comments and/or pictures it upset me, not because they were embarrassing or offensive but I am a private person.  I have a few, close friends that I choose to confide in, I work hard, I like to think the best of people and I didn’t need/want the whole world to know my business.  Maybe it’s my age, maybe it’s the profession I work in, maybe it’s just the way I was brought up, maybe I am just “old school” or maybe it’s a combination of all of them; but it was my opinion that nobody really cared what I had for breakfast and if they really wanted to know what I was doing or had been doing, they would call me and ask me themselves and not have to check Facebook.

 But speaking of Facebook I was completely appalled when I found out that other parents from my kid’s school were Facebooking and Googling the teachers to find out more about them. My first reaction, althought never shared out loud, was “Really? You really have that much spare time and nothing better to do?” They were laughing and thought it completely appropriate but I got to have a little giggle when they seemed just a little embarrassed when they found out I was a teacher too. As a sidenote, I have not Facebooked or Googled any of my new colleagues, my classmates or even my professor. I like to create an opinion based on my interactions with you rather than the interactions you have had with someone else, so it’s kind of like getting to know your students first before looking in their cumulative records.  However, this conversation that I happened to be a part of did make me take another look at my Facebook page,  just to make sure that there was nothing there that I would be embarrassed about.  But even when doing that I thought to myself, I shouldn’t have to do this. Should I not be able to have a forum where I can be myself and not completely under the microscope? I guess I do, it’s called my home and if I want things to stay private I share them in the comfort and sanctity of my own home but despite it, some conversations are still oddly prefaced with “just between you and me” or “don’t tell anyone”.

Regardless,  with the realization that my name, pictures or descriptions of what I was doing, would be online whether I put it there or not I made a very conscious decision to be more active online, more aware of the sites I visited and the resources I collected, and how to set up my accounts so they were more private. I began to understand what Lisa Nielsen says when she states “everything we do online should represent who we are and what we stand for and we must have the knowledge that this representation will stick with us potentially forever.” The process to establishing a professional reputation whether it be real or digital, still requires the same steps: be thoughtfully engaged and positively proactive however, a digital reputation requires  a little more “active work.” If you really want to know how visible you are online you can use www.webmii.asia which statistically represents how visible a person is online and compares you to other web users.

So in saying that, I often Google myself, (it’s surprising what you find really). Now I am Googleable and my digital footprint may give the impression that I am a little boring and l’m  someone who may work too hard (and people who know me well would agree with that) because my results pull up quite a few professional links. Facebook, Twitter (I can’t believe people have the time to assess a value to it), Diigo and if you look really hard my wikispace and blog, my Pinterest account, plus all of the collegial sites I belong to Middle School 544, LibGuides, etc. If someone wanted to look more deeply they could check out  Pipl,  123 People, Social Mention, Spokeo, Klout, Me On The Web , Persona  or even archive. org  but they turn out more of the same.  Who needs personal references on a resume , when you have these types of sites to use? So, because I don’t have anything offensive or rude posted on the internet does that mean I have a positive digital identity?

The more I think about that, the more questions I have.  First, I need to consider the various definitions of the word positive. If I consider the meaning of positive as the opposite of negative then yes, I do have a positive digital identity. However, if I consider the definition of positive from the Encarta Dictionary as “producing good results because of having an innately beneficial character” then maybe not so much. My professional work has not very transparent, and in 17 years of teaching I can only find one reference to a student based project I did and that was a couple of years ago already and  I didn’t even post it.  I have not been very open, and I have not shared any evidence of my learning/teaching or the learning of anyone else for the benefit of others.  So is that being private and guarded or does it mean I lack initiative, creativity and I am selfish because I don’t share?

So being visible on the web means I need to manage my own online reputation but as Larry Kuehn states it is “our professional responsibility to not only own our professional online identity and reputation but to understand enough that we can provide advice and be an online model for our students”. I think it is important to educate students about their digital identity especially in light of what has been going on with regards to Amanda Todd. Amanda is not the first and will probably not be the last victim of a negative digital identity but it spurs the need to educate young people better.  So what do we do?

First we have to recognize that students are already online and the question “is not whether you will leave a mark but what kind of mark are you leaving? (www.MyFootprintsd.org)  We need to emphasize to students at even a young age that their online reputation matters! My experience has been that most students aren’t aware of their online reputation until it is pointed out to them and the effects that it may have in 10-20 years. Students in this day and age may be digital natives but they are unsure what the consequences of their online activity may be. I would think that many are unaware of sites such as archive.org that allows digital information to be retrieved even if information, posts and pictures have been deleted. In my experience it often takes a police officer or an “expert” to really get the message across (because what do we know?) about internet safety to middle years students and then many are in a panic to remove pictures and posts.

Secondly, educators/parents/general public need to be more proactive rather than reactive. Are there conversations being had as to what is inappropriate and appropriate material that can be online? I hope there are and I hope they occur even when a story like Amanda Todd’s doesn’t hit the news.  Do we take it for granted that students do not post personal information, ever? Do parents/teachers know when students are online and what they are doing? Do students understand the difference between private and public information and do they want to? Do students ask themselves the question : would I want my mother, father, grandmother, future employer to see this post or picture? Would I talk about this issue around the dinner table without being embarrassed? If the answer is no, then why would you allow the world to see it?

Ensuring the safety of children has always been the job of parents and teachers, now we just have another forum. And just like before we need to start educating them once they are old enough to understand and present information at an appropriate, developmental level.  There are many sites to assist with the education of students, parents and teachers. A simple Google search on internet safety and digital footprints provide a long list. But, despite the number of internet sites and online articles it should begin with questions like Lisa Nielsen asks: Who are you? What do you stand for? What are your passions, and beliefs? and then ask students: How do you plan on sharing this information with the world?

We wouldn’t give our kids the keys to the car without a few lessons, rules and expectations why would we give them the key to world without them as well?

References:

www.MyFootprintSD.org

Digital Tattoo: http://digitaltattoo.ubc.ca/

Helping Students Manage their Digital  Footprint:   http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.ca/2010/04/help-students-manage-their-digital.html

Manage your digital footprint (BCTF): http://bctf.ca/publications/NewsmagArticle.aspx?id=21794

Saskatoon Public School Division, http://schools.spsd.sk.ca/curriculum/techyteacher/category/digitalfootprint/