Digital identity and employability

Online identity and employability

Lisa HarrisUniversity of Southampton

16th October 2013

About me…

• 10 years in banking industry and MBA @ Oxford Brookes makes me a “pracademic”

• PhD @ Brunel, investigating case studies of technological change in banking industry

• Teaching @ Brunel and Director of MBA programme• Teaching @ Soton and course leader of MSc Digital

Marketing • Qualified tutor University of Liverpool e-MBA• Student Digital Champions• Associate Director of CITE and

Digital Economy Research Group

The Plan

• Disruptive innovation • The role of social media• Introduction to digital literacy– Online safety– Building your professional profile

• Southampton projects– Curriculum Innovation– Student Digital Champions– MOOCs

“No more disruptive innovation, please”

What technologies are being discussed here?

• “The modern world overwhelms people with data and this is confusing and harmful to the mind” (Conrad Gessner, 1565)

• “It will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories.“ (Socrates, 469-399BC)

• “It socially isolates readers and detracts from the spiritually uplifting group practice of getting news from the pulpit” (Malesherbes, 1787)

• “It might hurt radio, conversation, reading, and the patterns of family living and result in the further vulgarisation of American culture“ (Ellen Wartella, 1962)

• “It’s making us stupid” (Nicholas Carr, 2008)

What does Google like?• Social media interaction with digital content is the *biggest

influence* on its search visibility:

1. Facebook shares2. Facebook comments3. Facebook likes4. Tweets

http://www.socialmediastrategist.co.uk/blog/1-news/175-social-media-seo

• Google “Hummingbird” for the latest update…a “new engine” for Google

Content, content, content

• People sharing/liking your content has an SEO benefit• Good content is a top reason why people follow brands

on social media • Build social capital by giving away good stuff –

endorsements and sales will follow• Content can educate, inform, entertain or inspire…

resulting in brand advocates• Facebook’s “Edgerank” score increases with engagement,

decreases with negativity. This influences how many people get to view a brand’s post in their newsfeed

Blogs: pulling it all together• Use the blog framework as a central point pulling in your other social

media content: Digital Economy Blog or to aggregate a series of blogs as per Multidisciplinary Research

• Tweets – Flickr – LinkedIn – Vimeo - Slideshare – Pinterest - Soundcloud - YouTube

• You can also embed other social media within individual blog posts• Video is increasingly important, especially authentic user generated

content• Provide sharing buttons • These activities provide a regular supply of “googlejuice” to the blog

Digital Literacy• “Digital literacy is the ability to locate, organise, understand,

evaluate, and analyse information using digital technology. It involves a working knowledge of current tools and an understanding of how they can be used”

• “The active management of online activities such as collaboration, networking , content creation and curation in order to “stand out from the crowd” in today’s job market”

• “an ability to respond positively to change”• Social media revolution 2013 (Eric Qualman, 3 mins)

Dare you Google yourself...?

Reppler

• Go to http://reppler.com and check your own social media profiles. The tool highlights any inappropriate content, and shows you what aspects of your information are publically available. Then you can connect directly to Facebook to edit your privacy settings and adjust the visibility of your content as necessary.

• This exercise does require you to allow Reppler access to your social media accounts as explained in their privacy policy

• “Every potential candidate for 2040 presidental election is now unelectable due to Facebook” - satire

The devil is in your details

Did you know…?

Digital marketing principles can also be applied to ourselves to attract potential employersFor example, creative videos produced by candidates now play an important role in the job application processAs do blogging, tweeting and participating in relevant online communities such as LinkedIn30 million students and recent graduates are now on LinkedIn, its fastest-growing demographic.

Why should you care?A standard CV is no longer sufficient to stand out from the crowd in a global and rapidly evolving job market.

“We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”- Karl Fisch, “Did You Know”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmwwrGV_aiE

So what are employers doing?

• According to a recent study by Jobvite – 92% of recruiters use social media in the hiring process– 80% had been positively influenced by a candidate’s

professional social network profile– 78% had been negatively influenced towards a candidate’s

inappropriate use of social media

• The best candidates might not be actively looking for a new job (up to 90% of the workforce)

• Social media can identify the best talent , encourage conversation and build relationships with them

• Enables recruiters to promote their company as “a great place to work”

So what should job seekers do?

• Recognise that building an online personal brand is now a critical aspect of career development

• It boosts our reputation and gives us new skills in communication, creativity and reflective thinking.

• The information we display on social networks should actively encourage rather than discourage potential employers

• Don’t “opt out” - finding NOTHING about a person on a Google search creates a negative impression too

Digital Footprints: the practicalities

• It requires a long term strategy to develop a digital “footprint” which demonstrates our skills, and build an appropriate network of contacts.

• The successful author and speaker Chris Brogan talks about “paying it forward” – meaning we should give before we receive.

• For a more negative view of “digital tattoos”, see this TED video presented by Juan Enriquez of Harvard

Living and Working on the WebThis module focuses on the development of online identities and networks to enhance employability in the digital age.

Specifically, it investigates how the digital world is influencing how we:

• collect, manage and evaluate online information – ideal preparation for dissertations• build an effective online identity for personal or career development• create and curate content via blogging and video production • interact with others for networking, team-building and project management purposes• deal with online privacy, safety and security issues• participate remotely in live events

Working in small groups, students engaged in real time with a ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ audience at the University Digital Literacies Conference in May 2013.

For more information check out the module webpage and video and the students’ feedback video

Student Digital Champions

• What do the digichamps do?• Digital Literacies Conference video• Conference Summary • Facebook Group – here we post information

about upcoming events, relevant news and work opportunities

• Blog – reviews of completed Digichamp work

Student Digital Champions: Flo Broderick

• Met at SXSC2 last October• Took Digital Marketing and CI modules, learned

interviewing skills and video editing• Helped out in a big way at Digital Media Europe • Masterminded student contribution to

Digital Literacies Conference • Provided student perspective on our research into

online learning MOOCs• Visited Italy to carry out MOOC filming in Portus• Now in Madrid working for Telefonica Digital

MOOCs

• Showcase the university’s teaching/research /student contributions to encourage enrolments on campus courses and inspire innovation there

• Sharing of participants’ intentions/experiences via social media is integral to the package

• these interactions carry an authenticity that traditional promotional materials lack.

• Mobile/tablet access to course is crucial• #FLWebSci (promotional video, 2 mins)

Finding me online

https://www.vizify.com/lisa-harrishttp://digitaleconomy.soton.ac.uk/people/lisa-harris/

www.about.me/lisa.harriswww.twitter.com/lisaharriswww.linkedin.com/in/lisajaneharrishttp://www.slideshare.net/lisaharrishttp://lisaharrismarketing.com

Thank you!

Any questions?

Slides available at Slideshare