Digital identity is not something that people worry about in their everyday lives, but it is more important than most people think. Especially as a future teacher, my digital identity could make or break my career. I am glad that I have always been conscious of my identity in the “real” world and online because I think my digital identity is pretty respectable. I have never posted anything that could damage my reputation as an educator, but I have seen many people who are currently in the Education program post pictures of themselves underage drinking or even photos of themselves that would be inappropriate for students or their parents to see. When the app VSCO became popular, many people took advantage of it because one of its main features is not being able to like or comment on photos, but instead “favourite” or “republish” them. I know many teenagers have posted inappropriate photos of themselves because no one would be able to comment any hate, but they did not realize at the time the kind of digital identity they were creating for themselves.
The cyber sleuthing activity was very interesting because I had to try and dig deep into my partners’ life using only the internet. I didn’t find a whole lot about my partner, but I did find their blog, their youtube channel (which only had a few videos), and their Facebook, I found information that was connected to their figure skating, volleyball, and basketball background, which included scores, local news articles, etc. I also found a few selfies of them from Twitter and Facebook. All in all, their digital identity seems very respectable and I would not have any concerns about hiring them as a teacher.
I read Nicole Lee’s article about having multiple online identities and I compared it to my own digital identity. My Instagram is very curated and shows only the highlights of my life. I have two accounts, a personal one that I keep private and post very selective photos, and a public account where I post my makeup looks. Facebook is how I keep in touch with all of my family and friends, but I have changed my settings so I am very hard to find. I also make sure I have to approve anything that I am tagged in before it is added to my timeline. I use Pinterest for my artistic side looking for new makeup ideas, tattoos, and paintings! Lastly, I only have a Twitter account for this class and will be using it for professional networking in the future.
I watched Monica Lewinsky’s TEDTalk and it was a good reminder about how anyone can search you up on Google to learn a lot about you. As educators, we should be teaching our students about how their digital identity can affect their lives, and how to develop a positive digital identity. We should also have discussions about cyberbullying with our students and it’s very serious consequences.
