Reviewing my digital portfolio development throughout this module #uosm2008

My personal online presence has altered greatly over the course of this module I have strived to engage with new platforms and better use my existing profiles to improve my online professional profile.

While I had maintained a blog during my year abroad last year I decided to use privacy settings to effectively take it offline, believing some content might be too personal. Prior to the module I had taken the view it was to my advantage to remain anonymous online. To this end a Google search of my name would not show my Linkedin or Facebook profile and my Twitter and Google+ profile’s contained the least required information. Through the module, however, I learnt importance of having an adequate and professional online presence then it comes to employability (See Summary of Topic 3). Therefore I have modified and reinstated my year abroad blog, made my LinkedIn profile public and have improved my online presence (my Facebook presence continues to be hidden and for personal use only).

 

Developments courtesy of UOSM2008

 

• Before the module I didn’t really use my Twitter  account at all, however, now I use Twitter to regularly share information and express opinions on topics of my interest including languages, digital developments and have regularly tweeted topic-related information using the module hashtag.

 

• Inspired by my enjoyment of writing this blog I have started writing a general blog, although I have written two post so far both of which related to languages, when I finish my degree in a few weeks I intend to use the blog to a greater extent to engage with other interests. I also plan to continue to use this blog to continue to explore digital literacy and social media.

 

• I now engage with LinkedIn beyond my earlier limited usage using the service as an online static CV. I am now a member of several groups and take part in discussions; my profile itself has undergone many changes as I have gained experiences and direction and I have used LinkedIn to apply for jobs. I have even been contacted by recruitment agents who have found my profile (see below). While I have built up an ‘Expert profile’ (see below) unfortunately I have not been able to make the leap to a ‘100%’ strength profile as although I have reached out to former employers I have either received no response or the employer has told me that they do not use LinkedIn. However, to enhance my professional profile I have instead included copies of references I have received for jobs (see below).

 

 

 

• I have also endeavoured to make sure that my online presence is interconnected by posting links to my main social profiles on each site I use (see images below) and by using the same profile image across all the services. To this end I have also use my public Google+ page, a default profile I must have since I have a Google account, to redirect viewers to social networks which I use (see image below).

 

• I have also endeavoured to expand my online presence my engaging with new services such as about.me page which I see as the focal point of my online presence with clear links to all of my other profiles. I have also joined Newsle, a service which collates all online articles about me in one place and Pinterest, where I am starting to pin articles relating to my interests.

 

The peer-learning element of the course has greatly aided my learning throughout the five topics we have covered on the course. However, I have also had other useful interactions with my peers. For example. Kim, Eldar and I had a very useful mutual advice session about improving our about.me profiles (see here)

Thanks to this module I am now much more aware of privacy, security and ethical issues, particularly thanks to Topic 4. Furthermore, I have not only honed my social media skills and my understanding of professional uses of the internet but I have developed an interest in digital marketing. Furthermore I have secured a summer internship working as digital marketing and business assistant in large part thanks to due to my experiences on this module.

 

Main online publicly viewable presences

(click to enlarge)