ONLINE PRESENCE 1

Online Presence: The Shaping of Professional Image

Olga M. Herget

EDU520 Digitally Mediated Teaching and Learning

Dr. Linda Kaiser

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Online Presence: The Shaping of Professional Image

Social media connects people with similar interests and goals around the world, and

includes networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The amount of monthly

active users varies from 2 billion Facebook users to 328 million Twitter users (Kallas, 2017).

Business and individuals use social media for a variety of reasons including: brand/self-

promotion, content curation, and to build connections (Copp, 2016). In this age of technology, it

is important to remember ones digital footprint is defined through shared and published content

about them on the web (Young, 2016). Two individuals that have carefully crafted their online

presence are Sir Ken Robinson and Steven Anderson.

Subjects and Media Platforms

Sir Ken Robinson is an author, speaker and internationally recognized leader in the

development of innovation in education. He has been in the field of education for almost fifty

years and works with numerous governments including the United States and Europe (Robinson,

n.d.). Ten years ago, Robinson tackled the shortcomings of todays schools in the Ted Talk video

How Schools Kill Creativity, which now has more than 32 million page views on the TED

Web site (Strauss, 2015). His online presence is strong and reflects a high level of

professionalism. Platforms used with frequency include LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. Sir Ken

Robinson also maintains his own personal website which includes a blog and archives dating

back to 2011.

Steven Anderson is a blogger, innovator and advocate in the field of education. He began

his career as a science teacher. His interest in technology led him to earning a Master of Arts in

Education, Instructional Technology. Currently Anderson travels as a speaker who shares his
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expertise in educational technology integration and using social media for learning throughout

the country (Anderson, n.d.). He is also responsible in helping create #edchat, a weekly

education discussion on Twitter that boasts over 500 weekly participants (Anderson, n.d.)

Anderson can be found on many different platforms on the internet including Twitter and

LinkedIn. He also runs his own blog and personal website.

Data Collection and Analysis In 6 Keys to a Positive Online Presence and Reputation, the

author shares the importance of creating an informative and positive online presence (Zwilling,

2015). Zwilling also explains how one must continue to monitor all social websites to remove

damaging or incorrect information. The steps he delineates all take a proactive approach to

creating and curating a professional image on social media. To complete the analysis of the two

subjects an excel spreadsheet based on Zwillings recommendations will be used to collect and

analyze data. The scanning tool will include:

Date of post

Platform

Source (author/visitor)

Screenshot of post

Content - Personal /Professional

Image portrayed - Positive/ Negative

The scanning tool will keep an organized collection of Anderson and Robinsons daily

interactions with the public through social media. It will reflect the content of their posts, level of

visibility on the web, and show a clear representation of the level of professionalism each

maintains online.
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References

Anderson, S. (n.d.). Introduction page [LinkedIn page].

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenanderson6/

Anderson, S. (n.d.). Who is Steven Anderson? [Blog post]. Retrieved from

http://www.web20classroom.org/aboutme

Copp, E. (2016, August 17). 10 Benefits of Social Media for Business. Retrieved from

https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-for-business/

Kallas, P. (2017, October 9). Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites and Apps.

Dreamgrow. Retrieved from https://www.dreamgrow.com/top-15-most-popular-social-

networking-sites/

Robinson, K. (n.d.) Introduction page [LinkedIn page]. Retrieved from

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sirkenrobinson/

Strauss, V. (2015, April 21). Sir Ken Robinson has a lot to say about U.S. school reform (it isnt

good). The Washington Post. Retrieved from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/04/21/sir-ken-robinson-

has-a-lot-to-say-about-u-s-school-reform-it-isnt-good/?utm_term=.39aaa127ac0f

Young, R. (2016, May 17). Your Online Identity: Your Strongest Brand or Worst Nightmare?

Huffpost. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ruth-young/your-online-

identity-your_b_9994346.html

Zwilling, M. (2015). 6 keys to a positive online presence and reputation. Entrepreneur. Retrieved

from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249053