Building Your “Online Brand”

Throughout my research during this inquiry, I frequently stumbled across the idea of building your “online brand”. At first I was confused by this; how is this different from a “digital tattoo” and digital citizenship? More and more, employers, scholarship councils, and universities are turning to online profiles and activities as sources of information regarding the person/student in question. Although we may give a lot of time and attention to teaching our students how to create the perfect resume and how to conduct themselves appropriately during an interview, not enough education is directed to managing their online brand. Our students are engaging in online activities on a daily basis, and many unknowingly could be harming their chances for getting a specific job or getting into the university of their Choice. In addition, there is a common misconception that youth these days are far more savvy when it comes to Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest and other social media sites, and that there is no need to educated them on something that they are already proficient in. They may be the experts when it comes to social media; however, we, the teachers, are the experts when it comes to professionalism and adult life (well, most of us!).  Patrick Mott, a 16 year old blogger for Media Smarts expresses his concern for the lack of instruction in this crucial area:

 

Why can't we be taught how to effectively manage our profiles to build our online brand? We live in a constant technologically-advancing world and I can’t fathom why we aren't taught this crucial piece of technology. As teens, social media is a large element of our day-to-day lives and to be taught social media literacy is a true life-skill.   

 

I have to say that I agree with the kid. Although it may not seem like a practical skill in many districts, we need to realize that a student’s Facebook page and Twitter feed are going to become salient additions to every resume and application. For more information on this, see the infographic If you’re not preparing your students to use social media well, you’re not doing your job by Leslie Nielsen under the articles tab. By not addressing this growing issue are we setting our students up for failure?

 

 Much of the isolated education that we do offer surrounding this topic seems to focus on “what not to do”. Perhaps, we should be focusing on what students can do in order to make their online brand more appealing for future needs. One thing that students can do and that teachers can facilitate is the e-portfolio. All too often, many of students’ accomplishments and projects, after a brief moment of recognition, seem to fall by the wayside, stored only in memories and perhaps some filing cabinet somewhere. The e-portfolio is “[…] a living collection of documents that showcases a student’s achievements and establishes a digital identity. A typical e-portfolio includes sample projects, [past successes,] posts about current events, and pictures and videos. E-portfolios are richer than paper resumes and can be updated regularly” (Chacko, 54). For this reason, I would be highly tempted to use e-portfolios as a way to help students manage their online brands. Again, this is something that is right now only being used in isolation. In order for the e-portfolio to be an effective and worth-while tool for students, it needs to be implemented holistically across curriculums and over the entire high school career of a student. Think of it as the scholastic Facebook page, now wouldn’t that be cool….