Final Assessed Post

Let’s find out how is my progress in developing my online professional profile!

1) LinkedIn

I created LinkedIn just because I heard about it from my brother. I left my profile with no photo, no work experience and it looked stranded, unfortunately.

(Credit: Jim)

However, after going through this module, I have noticed the prevalent usage of LinkedIn to create a professional digital profile statistically. Although I am of the opinion that developing an authentic digital professional profile is difficult, I don’t eliminate the potential of LinkedIn as long as it has the possibility to be the stepping stone to my future careers. Therefore, I level up my profile from beginner, all the way to the expert level. I start to include a decent profile picture, update my current education and past working experiences. Contact information is managed as well.

(Credit: Jim)

2) Twitter

I started having a Twitter account in the year 2012, but it was just an empty channel. I used to think that it is just another form of social media platform like Facebook, so I just stuck to Facebook. I left the cover page with no photo. my homepage was empty, with no tweet at all. When the ‘living and working on the web’ module started off, I followed a bunch of my classmates and tutors, yet only a few followed me, unfortunately.

(Credit: Jim)

At the end of the module, I cleaned up my cover page. I managed to post 50 tweets and garnered 15 likes. A lot of my classmates followed my account. I managed to receive a respond from Piktochart after I have expressed my gratitude towards its free digital tool. Indeed, the power of hashtag is powerful, enabling many people around the world to connect instantly.

(Credit: Jim)

3) Instagram

I used to keep my social media accounts as separate entities. Now, my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts are connected as one.

(Credit: Jim)

My account can be seen publicly in the beginning. Now, I keep my account private, which prevents stalking behaviours and my photos/videos from getting stolen.

(Credit: Jim)

In the following, I will give a brief account on the progress of my online activities.

(Credit: Jim)

In the horizontal charts, I had an aggregate of 13 points in the beginning. At the end of the module, I obtained a total of 22 points for the self-test. In overall, I had improved on my online activities.

From the vertical charts, all types of online activities had improved, excluding collaborating with others. In view of the tight deadlines, I regretted that I did not have the chance to work together with my classmates. As such,  I hope that team efforts can be emphasised for this module.

 

Moving on, I will share about my journey through this module and future plan for my digital activity i.e. blogging

(Credit: Jim)

Above all, ‘Living and Working on the Web’ module had enlightened me a refreshing way of learning in the years of education. It is unforgettable. And I like to make things happen too, Lisa! On top of that, I want to give special thanks to Nick, Sarah and Lisa for making this module possible! It was challenging but edifying. (520 words)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review (topic 5)

(Credit: Jim)

From Sherying’s and Adelene’s post, they have come into consensus that there is a need to ensure that publishing costs are taken care of while enabling the online content to be accessible freely. Their conclusions are in tune with my view. With the same concern in mind, I can further substantiate my arguments with their relevant information to make them more convincing.

(Credit: Jim)

In addition, Teresa demonstrates the pros and cons while looking at the intention of a content producer ‘business purposes’. From this angle, I would consider the possibilities of the online contents being free. For instance, Renee shared about a Vlogger, Jenn, who informs the viewers about her camping experience. As such, we are able to obtain the camping information for free, while factoring out the electricity bills. Through their posts, I have widened my scope of freeness, recognising that youtube videos, blogging and so on, are also considered as Open Access (OA)

(Credit: clothes encounters, Renee)

Beyond that, Wanni explores into the degree of freeness. Some information are free to read, yet cannot be re-used, while others are free to read and re-use. For instance, Lianhe Zaobao offers 2 days free access to its digital content to celebrate national day (Straits Times,2016). This is solely for reading purposes. Thus, Wanni’s post broadens my horizon, which engages me in wanting to study the word ‘free’ deeper. This would enable me to cover a wider range of understanding towards the topic.

(Credit: Jim)

Going deeper into Renee‘s post, I learn to decipher the implications of watching free video contents such as Youtube. The viewers have to be bothered by the advertisements attached before the videos can be played. Thus, I have learnt that a condition has to be met in order to obtain the result, in this case, viewers have to be engaged by the advertisements, be it annoying, in order to watch the youtube videos.

(Credit: Movieclips Trailers, Picture taken by Jim)

After looking through other blogposts as an entirety, all in all, I come to recognise that I should look into the pros and cons of OA despite being inclined to validate that OA is not free in the first place. Here’s  a short summary for Topic 5!

https://www.powtoon.com/presentoons/eFnMd6o3dHB/edit/#/  (Credit: Jim)

Commented Blogs:

Sher Ying 

Adelene

REFERENCE:

clothes encounters

Straits Times,2016

Movieclips Trailers

 

Truly Free?

(Credit:Jim, Application:Pixton)

Publication fees are not borne purely by authors, but are shared by the many organisations whose missions depend on the broadest possible dissemination and communication of scientific discoveries (Kennison,2004).  This begs the question, “are the materials written by a content producer truly free in the first place?”

(Credit: Piled Higher and Deeper, skip to 5.06-5.14)

Shockey and Eisen mentioned, “the government is already paying for research & subscriptions of the materials as well as the indirect cost for the libraries.” Bailey emphasised, “articles published were substantially funded by government through Open Access (OA) (CW Bailey Jr, 2005),” indicating free, immediate, online availability of research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment (SPARC). What would happen if an author does not receive significant funding from the government?

Subsequently, organisations sponsor for the articles generated in OA as well. While investing at least $3 billion to “cure, manage, and prevent all disease by the end of the century,” Facebook CEO funded Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a $600 million scientific research organisation and enabled the researchers to make their findings open-source (BuzzFeed,2016). Beyond that, National Institutes of Health granted Public Library of Science (PLOS), a non-profit OA publisher, $10-million to undertake a “genome-wide” study, determining whether drugs produce stress in the S.pneumoniae genome (BC News,2016). Considering the amount of funding is enormous, I am of the view that a producer’s contents cannot be free in the long run.

Furthermore, there is a need to declare that tax payers are also involved in funding the materials published. Indians spend close to $2.4 million annually to get their scientific research output published in different open access (OA) journals. Out of the 70% is sourced from taxpayers (Swarajaya,2016). In addition, a $25 billion industry double-dips into taxpayers’ pockets. Much of the research from Elsevier’s journals is supported by federal money from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, not mentioning that journals charge taxpayers for the right to see the research they have paid for (Richard Aslin,2016). These evidences illustrate that huge funds are spent on publishing the materials and thus they cannot be considered free.

Above all, many entities, which includes government, organisations, taxpayers and so on, are imperative to make Open Access possible. Otherwise, the materials published will not be sustainable in the long run. (381 words)

References:

Kennison,2004

CW Bailey Jr, 2005

SPARC

BuzzFeed,2016

PLOS

BC News,2016

Swarajaya,2016

 

 

Richard Aslin,2016

Stephen Lepitak,2013

Eric, 2012

Forbes,2013

Scoop.it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review (topic 4)

(Credit: SergeiKorolko, Modified: Jim)

After reviewing on others’ blogposts, I come to recognise that there are a lot of ethical issues, mainly privacy, from the usage of social media, be it educational or business.

(Credit: Jim)

Despite that, Liting raised a distinctive ethical issue ‘Respect’. Through the relevant evidences she provided, I am able to embrace that respect is indeed a significant ethical issue.

(Credit: Cinelearning)

This video reveals a teacher’s unethical behaviour in the social media. So, the question here is ‘do we expect the future generation to respect teachers with such illustrations?’ Brian Dawkins once said, “Respect is earned, not given,” which resonates with Liting’s conclusion for topic 4.

On the other hand, Kaye emphasised on the ethical issue ‘Surveillance’. She stipulated, “data collected is legal as long as consent is given, and used appropriately (Personal Data Protection Act,2012).” Companies such as Acxiom collect data to sell
to other organisations. Despite being legal, does this behaviour considered ethical as well?

(Infographic by Jim, Information by Surbhi.S,2015)

With this information, I can build upon her question, establishing a line between ‘law’ and ‘ethics’. Despite that, law and ethics are made in alignment so that they do not contradict each other. Both go side by side, as they demonstrate how to act in a particular manner. Every person is equal in the eyes of law and ethics, i.e. nobody is superior or inferior. Furthermore, law and ethics allow a person to think freely and choose (Surbhi.S,2015). Through this analysis, I can deduce that presence of law can affect the significance of an ethical concern to a certain degree.

Last but not least, while recognising the importance of ethics, developing an authentic digital professional profile is an ongoing challenge, given my arguments in topic 3. As such, many people succumbed to creating multiple identities in the process so as to escape from the physical world, with the fact that they failed to recognise the value of their true identities (Roy F. Baumeister & Mark Muraven,1996). (319 words)

References:

SergeiKorolko

Cinelearning

Personal Data Protection Act,2012

Surbhi.S,2015

Roy F. Baumeister & Mark Muraven,1996

Topic 4

 

Ethics refers to the basic concepts and fundamental principles of decent human conduct. It includes study of universal values such as the essential equality of all men and women, human or natural rights, obedience to the law of land, concern for health and safety and, increasingly, also for the natural environment. (business dictionary,2016)

One of the ethical issues that I would like to look into is the privacy in the digital world. With the usage of social media, are the organisations controlling our privacy?

Companies are profit driven by nature (Elsevier,2012). the companies are obliged to increase the shareholders’ wealth (Paul C.Godfrey,2005). In Mozambique, for example, a recent study showed that using just one gigabyte of data can cost well over two months’ wages for the average citizen (Leo Kelion,2013). In the company’s standpoint, it is doing the right thing for the shareholders. Nonetheless, at times, organisations may overlook certain implications while centring on making profits. Twitter, for instance, aims to help people network online primarily (Sophie Southern,2012). Unexpectedly, more than just manipulating our desires for approval, Twitter can make an individual to be the subject of discrimination. Sacco’s life is the classic example (Jon Ronson,2015) In this case, Sacco actually has the right to manage her tweet privacy by preventing her tweets from available publicly. So, is it right to say that twitter is being unethical for not preventing the social prejudice from happening?

 

(Credit: Glenn Greenwald)

In the case of Edward Snowden, he pointed out United States’ mass surveillance of private citizens.National Security Agency (NSA) has spied on numerous world leaders and foreign governments, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Brazil’s President Dilma Roussef, Mexico’s former President Felipe Calderon and so on (Lorenzo,2014). Snowden’s narrative suggests an ethical concern, with an obligation to prevent public harm, including invasion of privacy and a loss of trust in one’s government. However, Snowden’s behaviours was deemed civil disobedience (Redman,2014) He was charged with 1 year asylum in Russia (Glenn Greenwald,2014). Is Snowden a patriot or traitor then?

In conclusion, Twitter mentioned, “not responsible for the racism and sexism it exposes, or the social misfits who use it. We are (Twitter,2014).” Indeed, we are accountable for what we expressed in the social media. Therefore, I am of the opinion that we are in control of our privacy depending on how we manage it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review (topic 3)

Through Isaac’s post, I have learnt about how I can categorise each point clearly, so that I do not sidetrack from the point I want to put across. This approach edifies me to keep my thoughts organised.

In addition, I need to give credit to Isaac for emphasising the point on ‘relying less on texts‘. He made use of diagrams and pictures to illustrate all his points, which I failed to do so. This enlightened me to work on the visual presentation of my blogposts. Beyond that, such an approach  resonates with the feedback for topic 2 given by Lisa.

Another element to learn from Isaac is his thoughts process. He is able to relate and put himself in employer’s position. As such, he is able to look at the question at another standpoint, which I overlooked. Personally, I only focus on tackling the question, but, with Isaac’s approach, I am inspired of not just looking from the employer’s position, but also other relevant stakeholders. Thus, I am able see the topic as a whole, evaluate which stand enables to deliver sound arguments and ultimately make the right decision.

Lastly, while commenting on Isaac’s topic 3, I came across Renee’s sound argument that stipulates,”essentially to customise your profile in accordance to the requirements of a job, to increase your chances of getting a callback,” which resonates with my notion. Recognising the fact that humans’ adaptation to the world, per se, could erode authenticity (Yacobi, 2010), the authenticity of digital professional profile remain questionable and thus cannot be developed.

From Xinhui’s post, I have discovered another platform, Pinterest, to identify relevant photos for my advantage. Furthermore, I am impressed by her organisation of the blogpost, much better than mine and Isaac’s. It is very organised and professional. (296 words)

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(Credits: Giphy, Sofi photo, Pinterest)

References:

Yacobi, 2010

 

 

Commented blogs:

Xinhui 

Isaac

 

 

 

Can authentic digital professional profile be developed ?

“Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Justine Sacco, senior director of corporate communications at InterActiveCorp, tweeted this statement. After Sacco touched down from Cape Town international, nasty comments were arrowed at her, criticising Sacco for her racist tweet. The story ended with one Twitter user saying, “your tweet lives on forever.” (Jon Ronson, 2015). Observing such narrative, is it still possible for Sacco to create her own authentic digital profile? With such a blemish on her digital profile, is she still able to gain acceptance from her future employers?

With the rapidly changing digital world, the flexibility in social sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and so on, assist many individuals in building the ultimate social media resume (Dan Schawbel,2009). The individuals can decide how much and what they want to say, which platforms they want to express (Peter Bowes,2013). In this case, they can choose to avoid disclosing certain unfavourable information to retain good impressions from the viewers. As such, the authenticity of digital profiles would be questionable and thus authentic digital profiles cannot be developed.

In addition, with the increasing presence of our digital footprints, our personal information in the social sites can be easily accessible by others. Digital footprints refer to the trails we left by one’s interactions within a digital environment (Southampton Careers service,2012) Through these footprints, organisations can discover our digital professional profiles quickly, increasing the possibility of recruitment. Nonetheless, employers also take into account of applicants’ social  profiles while gathering their information (10 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 445,2007-2008) Subsequently, employers may discover unfavourable behaviours about the applicants. Studies reveal that 63% of employers who explore candidates’ social networking profile have rejected candidates based on their unusual behaviours (Davis,2006). Therefore, digital footprints actually backfires the possibility of initiating digital professional profile, albeit it is genuine.

(Credits: Chalkboards & Carpools)

On the other hand, Blogging demonstrates the knowledge, abilities and skills of an individual. if the content of one’s blogposts resonates with potential careers, this demonstrates one’s cognitive level through the capacity in engaging critically with crucial matters surrounding one’s field. Blogging also exhibits one’s dedication towards the tasks involved, creativity and written communication skills (Admin,2014). Moreover, through Jobvite, individuals are able to identify what employers are seeking for (Jobvite,2014) and thus can particularly display relevant attributes in their posts. Since the applicants’ attributes can be revealed directly through the contents in the posts, the originality of the digital professional profile can be created.

In conclusion, the flexibility of social sites and the prevalence of social recruiting greatly outweigh the blogging approach. As such, the development of authentic digital profile is considered unpromising. (440 words)

 

 

 

References:

Jon Ronson, 2015

Dan Schawbel,2009

Peter Bowes,2013

Southampton Careers service,2012

10 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 445,2007-2008

Davis,2006

Chalkboards & Carpools

Admin,2014

Jobvite,2014

 

Review (topic 2)

After reviewing on my peers’ blog posts, putting myself on the fence of deciding whether having multiple identities or not provides me a better understanding of some young adults. For Leila, she stipulates, “the number of people joining the connected world increases, along with the pressure of maintaining their professional image and yet still be able to express who they are at the same time (Internet Society, 2013).” This gives me a notion that people are restricted to express themselves to a great extent, leaving them to succumb to having multiple online identities. Such an evidence also makes me to infer that many people are not just having difficulties expressing themselves in the workplaces, but also expressing to their friends and family members. As such, they have to make use of multiple online identities to gain attention from the online audiences. I would definitely express my sympathy towards those individuals and I hope that organisations such as Internet Society, which aims to make the world a better place, can assist those individuals by providing them a better platform in expressing.

Credits: NoraVector

 

 

On top of that, I really appreciate Leila‘s ability of editing the graphics. This provides her blog with a refreshing outlook and enables the blog to have a spectacular visualisation on the subject matter. This is something that is worth learning from.

 

Credits: Antonio_Diaz

For Zaidhan’s post, despite him taking a balanced approach towards having multiple identities , he ended off with a short, yet inspiring film, emphasising the importance of embracing our true identities. This clearly in line with my notion of ‘true identity.’

 

 

(Credits: ileezhun)

Above all, I want to show my gratitude towards both tutors, Sarah & Harris, for giving us valuable advices to excel in the ‘Living and Working on the web’ module. The tutors  have guided us to the specifics such as the importance of using analytical approaches, appropriateness of the language, reminders for housekeeping and so on. (320 words)

 

Commented blogs:

Leila (November 8, 2016 AT 9:28 AM)

Zaidhan (November 8, 2016 at 9:37 am)

Make your ‘true identity’

(Credits: Crackle Movies & Television)

Will our destiny turn out to be like the ‘killer’ in the trailer if we are getting obsessed with multiple online identities to a large degree?

Online identity is the aggregate of one’s attributes and interactions. the attributes include birthplace, birthday and so on, while interactions refer to different representations of an individual in different websites. For instance, Amazon establishes a partial identity for an individual depending on the merchandises he/she buys (internet society,2011). Having a clearer depiction of the term ‘online identity’, I am of the view that an individual should not have more multiple online identities, but rather one online identity which represents his ‘true identity.’

One good example of those who require multiple identities would be the whistleblowers. Whistleblowers refer to those who acquire and disclose the insider knowledge of unlawful activities happening in an organization. With the ability to create additional online identity, the whistleblowers are able to stay anonymous. Nevertheless, recognising that whitleblowers are required to be present on the court and testify against the culprits, their identities would inevitably be exposed. As such, ‘creating additional online identity’ is dispensable.

 

(Credits: Nordic Edge Movies)

In line with the video producer, I also would like to question, “is all our personal information safe in the digital world?” not mentioning that we may be using the same password for our Facebook account, bank accounts, company secrets and so on. This illustrates that having multiple identities increase the risk of  individuals’ personal information being stolen, resulting in a huge loss for the individuals. Furthermore, given that online identity theft is on the rise, in which the Federal Trade Commission announced that 9.9 million Americans suffered from identity theft in 2008, and stipulated that “ID theft costs consumers about $50 billion yearly” (Hedayati,2012) , revealing too much information on the websites escalate the susceptibility of the individuals towards identity theft. Therefore, I discourage individuals from having more than one online identity.

 

(Credits: TED) (you may skip to 6:35-11:00)

In this video, Julian Baggini argues about the significance of creating our true self. This resonates with my view. Before making our ‘true identities’, knowing ourself clearly, I would say, is much more important. Subsequently, we would be able to identify our desired ‘true identities’. When the purpose is clear, we can focus on aligning our online identities towards our desired ‘true identities’ instead of creating confusion for others regarding our identities.

In summary, I disagree of having multiple identities, but rather having one online identity, representing our ‘true identity’. Although we may not have achieved our desired ‘true identity’, we should continue to shape ourselves unceasingly. And i believe that ‘people turn out according to how they are made.’ (438 words)

 

REFERENCE

Identity trailer

https://youtu.be/S8fjyxM7DgU

Online identity definitions.

http://www.internetsociety.org/sites/default/files/Understanding%20your%20Online%20Identity%20An%20Overview%20of%20Identity.pdf

Whistle blower case

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000431

Online identity theft

https://youtu.be/hOxxTaBP3xs

Statistics for online identity theft http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1379859409_Hedayati.pdf

Is there a real you?

https://youtu.be/Q80MfH7xPPE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflective summary (topic 1)

From topic 1, I have learnt that thinking correctly about the question is important from the beginning. Many individuals understand the question in different ways. However, if the question is interpreted wrongly, one would just go towards that direction unceasingly until he/she got stucked or someone has enlightened that individual.

In the same way, many individuals would think that the paths they are taking up are correct until they are struck with ordeals would they realise that there is actually no assurance on the paths they are travelling on.

That aside, while looking at Isaac’s post and Maureen’s post, we have came into a consensus that ‘digital visitor’ and ‘digital resident’ are to be regarded as a continuum. Basically, being at the extreme side of a ‘digital visitor’ is challenging due to the rapid advancement of the digital world.

(Credits: boredpanda)

From these conversations, we can see that some mothers are struggling to chat with their children through Whatsapp, but there is a need for such social network. As such, being just a ‘digital visitor’ is challenging for each individual, especially Baby Boomers and Generation X.

On the other hand, being at the extreme side of a ‘digital resident’ is difficult to survive in this world.

(you can skip till 1:54)

From this video, we can see that social media, such as Facebook, can lead to detrimental consequences such as depression, anti-social tendencies. Depression alone, resulting in suicide, is 2nd leading cause of death among 15-29 years old kids (Dubai Chronicle). Hence, I conclude that acute ‘digital residents’ would face great challenges to sustain their physical livings.

To conclude, ‘digital visitor’ and ‘digital resident’ should still be perceived as a continuum. I still believe that striking a balance between these 2 positions help me to have a clear depiction of what is going on in the world. (300 words)

References:

boredpanda. available at: http://www.boredpanda.com/funny-parent-texting-fails/

dubaichronicle. available at: http://www.dubaichronicle.com/2016/11/04/depression-lets-talk/

Commented blogs:

Isaac

Maureen