When I post to my social media accounts I have to think of a number of different things before I do so. I need to be careful.
I need to look at how postings effect my identity, I am not just posting items to my various social media walls for my friends to see. There are a number of different people that visit my social media outlets: friends, family (including my Grandmother), co-workers, and I would not be surprised if my employer took a gander the odd time. When I post on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter everyone I am friends with can see ME. They know what is happening with my family, vacations, struggles (at times), photos, comments, videos, you name it.
I do have a couple questions I ask myself before I post anything on my accounts:
Would an employer frown upon this?
What would my family think?
Will people get the joke? If it is meant to be funny.
Am I breaking the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
How does this make me look? Smart, fun, ignorant, well/ill informed, professional, the list goes on…..
Bonnie Stewart’s blog she states : “Social media is where we are deciding who we are, not just as individual digital identities but AS A PEOPLE, A SOCIETY.”
I agree with her, she makes some great points, and we need to all look at how we are contributing as a person to our society online.
When we post to the various sites that are highlighting who we are in the cyber-world I think it is necessary to ask the aforementioned questions. Can a guy still have fun on social media? Of course we just need to be calculated and professional when we post.
Our Online Identity as a Resume
In the article written by Kristin Rushowy entitled Forget the resume: Online profiles the tool of young job seekers, Rushowy talks about how resumes are becoming obsolete. Sure they are a good thing for a future employer to look at but what they can see online has a lot more truth about who you are as a future employee and if they see you as a good fit.
I got thinking about this and it made complete sense. We utilize online professional accounts already as professionals such as LinkedIn creating connections with various professionals. This is one of the many reasons we need to teach students about the importance of being a positive digital citizen. Resumes are slowly going the way of the pager, cassette, VHS, land-line, and Discman. We therefore need to learn how to market ourselves in a positive light online.
Photo Credit: Emma Farrer
Adam Scott Williams 
I like this post very much!! I like the thinking about identity. Sometimes we write for certain imaginary audiences. And we think in advance what their reflection if they read the posts. That may affect our identity and our independent thinking to some extent.
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Very good advice on questions you should ask before you post. No one is perfect, but in a public forum we must understand that anyone could be following your interactions online. My wife when hiring a new employee often “Facebooks” applicants. However, I know that it is easy for individuals to be deceptive online creating a profile or digital presence that fools employers.
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I also appreciated the questions you included that you ask before posting content online. I use the THINK acronym with my young students (Is is True, Is it Helpful, Is it Inpsiring, Is it Necessary, Is it Kind) when they’re posting online. Your word “calculated and professional” stood out to me when you referred to how we must be posting. Is this something that we should be expecting of students as young as grade 1, 2,3? Being “calculated and professional”?
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Good question Erin! I think kids still have the freedom to be somewhat goofy when they explore social media. I am definitely if the mindset that parents need to assist them in beginning their online profiles, anything anyone posts should be “calculated” therefore creating an online responsibility not necessarily “professional” for that age group.
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I love the questions you ask before posting things online; they are simple, accurate, and on point. As you mention, can we still have fun online, while remaining proper role models for our students and kids? I always think about every sentence I write or say online, just because you never know how it will be interpreted. Thanks for sharing your insights!
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I have difficulty with that as well. I like to think of myself as a funny guy but sometimes what we write can come across differently to different people and that’s the hard part about dealing in text…we can’t read tone. That is the hardest part about writing in online mediums for me therefore making me hypersensitive to what I post.
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Great post! I like the list of questions you refer to before posting online.
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