Digital Identity: Personal vs. Professional

Photo by Nik on Unsplash

Maintaining boundaries between personal and professional digital identities is a key part of being a responsible digital media user. These boundaries can help us develop more clear-cut work-life balances and prevent personal interests/habits from potentially impacting our professional lives. A primary way I practice these boundaries is by using certain accounts for solely personal purposes or solely professional purposes. For example, I use my LinkedIn1 account to post updates about what is happening in my professional/academic life and my Instagram2 account to post updates about what is happening in my personal life.

Digital Visitor & Resident Map

A screenshot of the digital map I created

I visualized my “digital map”3 as a Venn diagram4. Although I resonated with the concepts of “digital visitors”5 and “digital residents”6 as described by David White, when reflecting on how they applied to my life, I felt there were some significant overlaps.
This activity emphasized how interconnected my personal and professional digital identities are, as both platforms for my personal digital identity and my professional digital identity were in the digital resident section. I am hopeful that when I have a full-time job, platforms for my professional digital identity will be in the middle section, so they feel more like tools I occasionally use and not integral parts of my life.

Theories of Personalized Learning

Learning about the Constructivist theory7 has emphasized how important it is to actively engage with material when learning. I find I can engage more deeply with material when instructors make active learning an integral part of the course (e.g., with in-class activities that allow for frequent practice).

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Self-directed learning8 has also enhanced my learning. For example, in my ATWP 135 course9, we were allowed to write our final paper on any topic we wanted as long as it was written in a specific style. I valued that assignment, as I was able to learn about a topic I was passionate about while still demonstrating what I had learned from the course.

Personalized learning has ultimately allowed me to hone in on specific learning strategies that work well for me and has helped me determine how much I value creative freedom. This knowledge has been useful when determining what career I would like to pursue, as now I know I would not thrive in an inflexible environment.

Privacy, Surveillance, and Digital Footprint Awareness

I have seen countless social media10 users face backlash for content they posted or interacted with online many years ago, emphasizing that what is on the internet can never truly be deleted. Because of this, I have developed the following strategies to cultivate a responsible digital footprint.11

  1. Set each of my social media accounts set to “private” (i.e., people cannot see my content without approval).
  2. Ask myself the following question before posting online: “am I comfortable if my boss were to see that I’ve interacted with this”?

These steps help me continually refine and reflect on what content is connected to my identity online.

Photo by Evie S. on Unsplash

Key Terms & Links to More Information

  1. LinkedIn: an online professional networking platform ↩︎
  2. Instagram: a photo and video sharing app ↩︎
  3. Digital Map: (as defined by David White) a creative activity where people create a map that reflects how they interact with the digital world ↩︎
  4. Venn Diagram: overlapping circles with content written in the middle that helps depict the connection between various concepts ↩︎
  5. Digital Visitor: (as defined by David White) a mode users can be in where they accomplish a specific goal online ↩︎
  6. Digital Resident: (as defined by David White) a mode users can be in where they intentionally connect with others ↩︎
  7. The Constructivist Theory: a theory that suggests learning is an active, individual process ↩︎
  8. Self-Directed Learning: a theory that suggests learners should structure their own learning ↩︎
  9. ATWP 135: an Academic Reading & Writing course offered at UVic ↩︎
  10. Social Media: forms of online communication ↩︎
  11. Digital Footprint/Digital Identity: (as defined by Eric Stoller) how we appear online ↩︎