From Zero to Hero: Living and Working on the Web

On commencing the module Living and Working on the Web, I had never written a public blog before, but now, 15 weeks down the line, I have a fully functioning, Google-able blog, in which I have been able to consider and discuss a range of subjects.

Following one of my most successful blog posts, “Have you heard of me, and if not why not?”, I decided to use the same format to present my discoveries and hopes for the future.

1. Personality

Once I realised that I could remain evidence based whilst entertaining, my blogs instantly improved. It was initially tricky to bridge the gap between my other, more formal, modules, but I soon discovered that adding a touch of personality can make posts memorable and more likely to gain comments. Whilst I stuck to textual posts, I would have liked to try video-blogging and Prezi presentations, and hope to in the future. I plan to create a travel blog to record my experiences of travelling next year.

2. Originality

I realised that it is important to be unique. Through critically analysing my research and asking myself “what do I think?” I have become more assertive in my style of communication and am beginning to appreciate innovative work by others. I found that it is also vital to ensure that opinions are clear, as, by reading the blog comments, it quickly becomes obvious whether your ideas have been misinterpreted.

3. Interacting

Success in this module relied largely on my own online communication skills. By not having face-to-face sessions, I was forced to utilise social media to ask questions, which boosted my confidence and allowed me to ask quick questions which I may not otherwise have bothered with. This has also encouraged me to be more active on other forums (i.e. Facebook groups) which I had not used previously.

5.  Growing

Building online networks is not instantaneous but I have learnt why I need a professional profile and how to use one. I especially enjoyed linking the blog to various profiles, such as my newly created Twitter account!

I attempted to create an About me profile, and I aim to have this fully running by the summer, to link to my LinkedIn and Twitter profiles when job searching.

With LinkedIn I plan to connect with some of my suggested companies and ask about summer internships and graduate jobs. I also downloaded the Twitter app to my phone, and aim to find a new, interesting account to follow each day, increasing my online interests improving my communication with Tweeters.

A big factor was changing my focus from being online as a child (keeping safe from cyber threat) to being a professional adult (and wanting my some of my information to be available!), and so I am trying not to completely privatise all my social media accounts to let my personality shine through!

Using the tools developed in this module, I look forward to continuing my life and work on the web. So watch this space!