This week we looked at digital
identity, digital dualism, and technological determinism. It got me thinking
about my digital identity and online “presence”. Then I watched the Ted Talk
video “Ten Reasons to Stop Apologizing for your online life”. She talked about
the concept that anything done online isn’t “reality” and we should realize
that both our online and offline lives are real, and that they are one world
and one reality. Just because we are using a pseudo name or avatar it seems
like we are hiding, but in a lot of cases we actually being more authentic than
when we are offline. I‘ve seen online communities be very helpful when people
are going through something tough. Some things can feel to hard to discuses face
to face with friends or family, I’ve seen a friend go through a situation where
it was too tough to tell people about, but she found solstice in an online
community. So the idea that we need to stop thinking of being online as not in
the “real world “resonated with me, and if we are going to treat it the same as
our online reality then I also agree that we should commit to what we are doing
online, and create an online presence that reflects our values.
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ReplyDeleteI need to watch that TedTalk. I chose to remain 289CID online for numerous reasons. I chose a pseudonym years ago, on the advice of MTS, only to watch our union's position evolve over the years. I remained with 289CID, because I simply do not want to be BF's with my students after hours, and was tired of having "the talk" with them about teacher/student roles, "Only my friends can call me Korey. To you? My first name is 'Mr." Lately, I've noticed colleagues use only their first and middle name. This seems to suit the bill.
ReplyDeleteI've also discovered I can maintain a pseudonym fairly easy on all sites except for Google+. To complicate matters, I performed a self-search the other day, and found that my very comments on Google + show up in a search feed.
Yes I am the same person both on and offline...but I value my personal privacy.If anything personal is posted on the ol' triple-dub, then it will be seen and I try to minimize the personal. Can't eliminate it, only minimize it.
To conclude and coincide with your note about values, if there is any reason for me to be online anymore, its simply to express my professional values (not always easy, as I'm a divergent thinker); if somebody doesn't know who 289CID is, that's okay, I'm not after self-promotion—I'm here to share info.
I love the final line "we should commit to what we are doing online, and create an online presence that reflects our values." In our multilevel course the term, we talk about the adolescent learner. I plan on teaching at the middle years level (who knows what will actually happen) and we are continually talking about the adolescent learner and how they are trying to "find themselves" physiologically, psychologically, morally, spiritually, etc.
ReplyDeleteDuring our conversations in class, we talk about how during this time period the students often do not recognize consequences. They often to things with no rhyme or reason and do not learn until they experience it themselves. This happens often online as well! The scary part is the "experience" is often posted online for everyone to see and the "consequence" it is there forever.
There is a great need for education on appropriate online presence before it is too late.
Who you are on and offline is a fair bit different in my estimation as well. You are different online and hopefully for the better. I believe in the sense that we don't want to waste virtual paper. In this regard what you put online should have some meaning and hopefully make someone think like I do when I read others classmates blogs and online work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Alex.