Evaluate your online reputation/digital footprint. What steps can you
take to sculpt your reputation into one that is more of your liking?
My digital footprint is minimal as of now, unless someone knows very specific information about me like my elementary school, I have not been able to find myself online. Tim and Munro are very common names, so I show up in a variety of different ways that are not me.
I suppose I can do things like include my middle name, which would add some specificity to the name. However, at this point I really have no intentions of leaving my current job anytime soon, so I don't see the point. Most employers, while they may be interested in doing background checks of sorts, value the face to face interview more than anything else, so I would hope that I would be able to use that forum if I was looking for a different employer. Beyond that, I don't know why I would need a larger online rep/digital footprint?
Hello Tim,
ReplyDeleteHave you checked to see if you can be found on spokeo.com? If so, people can find out a lot more about you by starting there and then narrowing their further web searches of you based on the new info they've discovered.
(You can have yourself removed from spokeo, by the way...)
I think that as an educator, it's a good idea to have firm control of one's own digital presence. That way, if there IS contradictory information connected to your name, or if there are just a number of people who share your first and last name combination, you can leave little doubt as to which Tim Munro YOU are.
My last name is Main. Searching for me can bring up the "main" page of a LOT of women named Diane. Not especially helpful. But if you look for the name I use for my Twitter handle (and many other online accounts), or if you look for "dianemain" as all one word, I bet you'll find content I chose to share or that others have written about me in the professional sphere. It's complimentary, I think. That's because I have been conscious and aware of what I put out there and what others have shared about me. I guess you could say I cultivate my online reputation. If something comes up in someone's search of my name, and it doesn't seem congruent with the rest of what's out there, they can use common sense to see the anomaly isn't me.
With very little out there, it would be hard for people to know who I am, digitally speaking. So I prefer to be the one in control of my online reputation that way.
I agree. I think that only teachers who teach certain subjects (like technology teachers) need a very strong and professional digital footprint. However, I like that online CV thing that Steve mentioned in class, I may start to explore that and create a cv for myself before I look for a new employer.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Tim Bray and, for good or bad, I never come up on a Google search, because there is a very famous software designer from Canada also named Tim Bray. I started using TS Bray partly because of that reason. PE teachers should have an online presence, just like other teachers, for reflective practice. My blog is where I reflect on what I do as an educator; it is where I engage other teachers about my practice. Everybody should be a reflective educator.
ReplyDelete