Topic 3 – Reflection
This topic was particularly interesting; it seemed to have an incredible amount of scope and opportunity, so I decided to create a very brief guide that seems to have been received fairly well (see comments below).
As the module is named Living and Working on the Web, it was great to see a topic that encapsulated it. As with other students on the course, and like the last topic, blog posts seemed to reflect on personal experience. In Andy’s comments he specified that he wasn’t a great fan of LinkedIn – an interesting point, since I had blindly regarded everyone as a member or at least someone who appreciated it’s claimed advantages. It was definitely a surprise and quite refreshing, and whilst I do disagree with him it provided an unexpected and welcome alternative view. Another part of Andy’s blog had a great point – how hard it is to be noticed on the internet, he pointed out that anyone searching for him is almost certain to get Andy Sugden the Emmerdale character, which could pose problems for him which other my not face (as I’ve mentioned, my inadvertent online doppelgängers are murderers and astrologists – not great). Dom highlighted another practical point; these online profiles are good, as long as they are updated regularly. Whilst Dom didn’t mention this, I reckon that a dormant profile could actually be a detriment to your professional profile online. Perhaps the advent of the App has curbed this as it’s easier to access and update, but a view I hold nonetheless.
Seemingly like most things online, it’s about striking a balance, have a fairly good coverage online and you can grow your identity/brand, but with a good coverage that comes with different profiles they also need maintenance, care and attention to catch and sustain employers’ attention.
My comments:
Andy’s Blog: https://andysugden.wordpress.com/2014/11/09/an-authentic-professional-online-profile/comment-page-1/#comment-16
Dom’s Blog: http://uzoweblife.wordpress.com/2014/11/09/developing-authentic-online-profiles/
