Week Two - Play/ Reflect

Week Two - Play activity

For the play activity this week, we had to set up our blog. In doing so, we had to meet the following requirements (as listed on Blackboard):

• Your blog must be public (although you can choose settings that indicate to search engines that you don't want your site to be indexed)

• You must allow comments. You can moderate your comments if you are really nervous about this, but you must be committed to moderating them quickly. We recommend choosing a setting that allows you to moderate a comment the first time someone posts, but after that, there comments get posted automatically. There are tools available to help manage comment spam - just check the help information on your chosen platform.

• You must have an 'about' page that provides information about you - just the basics!

• You must delete sample posts, pages and comments.

• You must categorise your posts. Categories are like the table of contents for your blog - broad topics. We recommend using a category for your Play activities and another for your Reflect activities.

• You must tag your posts with keywords. Keywords are like the index at the back of a book - narrow topics.

All these aspects were carried out. Over the semester I will be constantly reviewing the 'tags' for each post to ensure that all keywords are identified and listed accordingly. When doing so, I'll be mindful not too include too many identifiers as this may limit the findability and take the content into unrelated areas.

Week Two - Reflect activity

Write a reflection about your online identity. Write about any aspect you choose: what it looks like now, what you want it to look like; what you're willing to share, what you're not willing to share.

My online identity is a mix of censored/ uncensored opinion and public/ private information. This blog was originally going to be a say-exactly-how-I-feel-when-I-feel-it type domain but I was and am too fearful that earlier posts (since deleted) and future posts may do more harm than good. In her advisory video regarding blogs, Kate Davis talks about being the "real you" when you blog content - she said something along the lines of people not believing what you write about if you aren't being yourself. This is probably true, but I feel like some self censoring can be beneficial in the public realm, particularly if your work has the possibility of being read by future employers. 

Despite this fear, there have been times when I haven't made the best decisions when posting on social media sites like, facebook for example - this is highly rare though, as I'm extremely paranoid about the possible impact poor decisions could have on me and others. 

Admittedly, I think my online presence would be minimal if I wasn't enrolled in this course. There are several online platforms where we're encouraged to "put ourselves out there" and interact with people. So far the services that I've been encouraged to use in my studies include:

- LinkedIn: for industry networking
- Facebook: to communicate with classmates and lecturers
- Twitter: to share ideas with industry professionals and peers
- YouTube: to document assignment related content
- A blogging service: to document course activities, share ideas with peers and industry professionals

While each service is beneficial to my studies in some way, my work and personality are put into the public domain so I manage my online identity in several ways:
- Use LinkedIn to initially connect with people I know. Establish a professional looking profile before adding industry people (including a tidy resume - omit references to protect identities).
- On Facebook, keep content posted to class groups relevant to the discussion and polite in tone. Be appreciative of assistance received using this tool. Don't add people just because they're in my class.
- Use Twitter to post a mixture of what I'm interested in and what is relevant to the industry. Use hashtags appropriately and to target attention to certain posts.
- Opt to post videos as "Unlisted" until you find out whether the content is constructive to industry-related discussion.
- When blogging, watch the tone doesn't become too relaxed, arguments can be supported and tags used effectively.

It is hoped that through self-moderating, my online identity will be viewed as being a worthwhile and pleasant presence within various online communities.