In response to the
question: “Is careful management of
your online persona important for any educator? Or do you think that this could
be considered as a form of censorship? Please share your thoughts.”
While all folks
ought to be prudent in managing their online persona, I believe it behooves
teachers to carefully weigh the impact their comments may have on
students. For example, in her article,
“Hate Speech: Is a Higher Standard Fair
for Teachers?” Dr. Meyer posits that because teachers have an influence on
students, strong opinions expressed by teachers can effect students who may
have different views of even feel ‘targeted’ negatively by the expressed
opinions, “knowing and feeling the "poison" of those discriminatory
views.” [1] She adds that teachers can
“express their beliefs among their family and friends, and in private settings,
but at any point that an expression becomes public or that they act on those
beliefs in a public setting, they risk professional consequences.”
However, because
social media has blurred the lines between social communities in which we live
and express ourselves today, and because educators are strongly encouraged to
engage authentically in discussion forums, they face a conundrum in how to
manage their personas while remaining authentic, engaged, and discerning. Before social media, it was easier for
teachers to present a public face and separate that more easily from a personal
face. [2] However, today our ‘different
lives’ are merged into a more holistic face, which begs the question, “Who do I
share what with?”
Furthermore, ‘who’
determines what is appropriate for teachers to share? Who decides which opinions are appropriate
and which are not? How do we ensure safe expression of ideas does not lead to
forms of censorship? Obviously, I agree
that any discriminatory, hurtful, or disrespectful comment is off-limits, but
who determines when a blurred line has been crossed? So, must teachers refrain from contributing
to public forums? How ‘private’ should
their posts be? Is it possible to use
‘different pseudonym’ – (faces) in different online spheres even though we
encouraged to develop a professional footprint to offset potential negative
comments that may be posted by others – and still ‘heard’ as being authentic?
As an aside, people are not necessarily aware of information
about them that is available online.
More importantly, different information can generate diverse personae –
not necessarily positive. The danger is
that one’s professional or more positive attributes may be hidden behind less
desirable qualities or even misinformation due to lack of professional online
information or connections.
Hence, it is
suggested that people ought to be intentional about posting “first degree” information that is creative,
interesting, and demonstrates professional acuity to bring balance to the
information already available or even to refute less positive descriptions.
It is important to consider that online influence and how a
person is viewed is not only measured by what is posted directly but also by
what others post and the types of connections to and from these posts. While the combined information is often used
to construct a persona, one using the Internet to do so ought to question all
information including the authenticity of information posted by the
individual. For example, one can
manipulate his or her online personality to be considered skilled, more
knowledgeable, or more passionate than is real.
Similarly, one must consider the legitimacy of affiliations. While some are valid, others post information
without permission or without ensuring information is accurate. The word ‘privacy’ suggests confidentiality
and freedom to share within a specific arena and not have information posted
out of context. However, information one
assumes may be private can still be infiltrated by those with the know how to do
that and can then be misconstrued by a viewer.
Therefore, as a result of this musing, I will be more
pro-active in developing a professional online persona and trying to correct
misinformation that is posted. In the
weeks ahead, I will give serious thought to how I will do that.
Sources
[1] Meyer,
E. J. (2011, Oct 14). Hate Speech: Is a Higher Standard Fair for Teachers?
Retrieved Mar 18, 2015, from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gender-and-schooling/201110/hate-speech-is-higher-standard-fair-teachers
[2] Meyrowitz, J. (2015, Mar 15). No Sense of Place. The
Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior. Retrieved Mar 21, 2015, from
Academia.edu:
www.academia.edu/.../No_Sense_of_Place_The_Impact_of_Electronic_...
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