The world watches 24 hours a day

• Time

• Reputation

• Permanence

Who am I?

Image: by Cayusa, Flickr Creative Commons License

Traditional context of identity

Image: bodhileaf.wordpress.com/.../personal-identity/

On line identity…..

Image: http://marketing.blogs.ie.edu/archives/2007/10/online_communic_1.php

The online community is vast and interwoven

Are you already out there?

Who am I online?

“I could be brown, I could be blue I could be violet sky.

I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like.”

(Mika, Grace Kelly, song lyric)

Online identity and Professional Identity

• Professional identity stems from professional socialization and development (McGowen & Hart, 1990).

• This includes the acquisition of specific knowledge and skills and the development of new values, attitudes and behaviours (Hall, 1987; McGowen & Hart, 1990; Watts, 1987).

Too time consuming…….

• I don’t have the time…

Image: Blake Flynn http://home.comcast.net/~blake.flynn/paintings/timeconsuming.html

Too Risky…..

• Identity theft

• Privacy

• Personal and Professional world may collide

• My mistakes might come back to haunt me

Collision…..

Crew sacked over Facebook posts

Thirteen cabin crew staff have been sacked by Virgin Atlantic over their use of a social networking website, it has emerged. – It launched disciplinary action last week following claims staff had used Facebook to criticise its safety standards and call passengers "chavs". – The airline said the crew's behaviour "brought the company into disrepute".

Too scary?

Some people think they can escape risk by escaping being online, but which is worse--having someone see you and know that you have some flaws or being invisible?

http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog/2007/10/lets-get-naked.html

We think it’s great!

A modern day professional necessity?

• Reputation enhancing• Profile development• Professional networking• Engaging with a global community• CPD

Our Vision: We are leading the way..

To reach those who may not have thought about this before

To establish a collective voice on an international platform

To encourage access to myriad learning and development opportunities

CPDPractice

Research

What’s already there….

Tips

• Build you identity carefully

• Choose the best tools for the job

• Manage and monitor your identity regularly

• Maintain your visibility

• Adhere to netiquette

“When you enter any new culture -- and cyberspace has its own culture -- you're liable to commit a few social blunders. You might offend people without meaning to. Or you might misunderstand what others say and take offense when it's not intended. To make matters worse, something about cyberspace makes it easy to forget that you're interacting with other real people”

Virginia Shea http://www.albion.com/netiquette/introduction.html

Be ethical

• You are a professional first and foremost• Don’t jump to conclusions• Follow your Code of Professional Conduct• Don’t plagiarise someone else’s work

Make yourself look good

• You won't be judged by the colour of your skin, eyes, or hair, your weight, your age, or your clothing. • You will, however, be judged by the quality of your writing. Spelling and grammar count!• Know what you are talking about and make sense

In summary

• Anonymity vs the real you

• Treat others as you would like to be treated

• Everything you write and put out on the web is a reflection of you.