Community contribution 2: My Digital Identity

After completing my Visitors and Residents map, I realized that I use different platforms very differently depending on whether they are personal or institutional. Some platforms I mainly visit when I need something, while others are places where I actually have a presence and interact with people. This connects to White and Cornu’s (2017) idea of Visitors and Residents because the same person can use different technologies in completely different ways depending on what they are using them for.

I use LinkedIn and GitHub as my two main platforms for my professional network.I use LinkedIn to connect with recruiters, classmates, and people who share my interests. Sometimes I will connect with people who work in the same fields I want to work in and invite them to meet in a coffee shop or through Zoom or Teams. We generally talk about what the role is actually like, their experience with the company, and the hiring process. I also share some of my projects on LinkedIn, usually with a small preview post and a link to the full project on GitHub. GitHub is more focused on showing my technical skills and projects, so it is something I want future employers to be able to find.

I could expand my PLN by spending more time on LinkedIn interacting with people in the tech and cybersecurity community. This could help me stay updated on what is happening in the field, see projects other people are working on, and find like-minded people to talk with about projects and cybersecurity news.

At the same time, I think privacy and security are a very important part to keep in mind when building a digital identity. I want employers to be able to find things like my LinkedIn, GitHub, education, projects, and skills, but I would rather keep most of my personal life separate. For me, having a strong digital identity does not mean that everything about you should be public.

This brings up an interesting point: how much privacy are you willing to relinquish to build a stronger PLN?

Visitor and Resident Map

Created the Map using the Notes app on my iPad