This presentation forms part of the “Managing Your Online Presence” workshop I co-presented with a colleague. It covers the first half (presented by myself) which provides an overview of why having an online presence can be an advantage and, potentially, a disadvantage in our digital world. What your online presence can be made up of and the image you project online (and might not be aware of) were discussed. A few tips on setting up, managing and monitoring online presence that can help kick-start your online image were included. This introductory workshop is suitable for postgraduate students of any level.

1. 
Managing Your Online Presence
Sarah Goodier
OpenUCT

2. ? Online Presence ?
What does
Online Presence
mean to you?

3. Your Online Presence
Chat

4. Your Online Presence

5. Your Online Presence

6. Your Online Presence
 Building into a digital (networked) you!
 What is your purpose in having/expanding your
online presence?
 What is your strategy to achieve an appropriate
online presence?

7. Why should you care?
 7 out of 10 people who use the internet have
searched for information about other people
(Pew study results available at: http://pewinternet.org/)
(From: Google y la reputación en línea del usuario; available at:
http://blogs.eset-la.com/laboratorio/2012/08/13/google-reputacion-linea-usuario/)

8. Advantages
 Project the image of yourself online that best
represents you
(both personal and professional aspects of your life)
 Showcase your talents (e.g. writing – blog)
 Build up a (academic) network
 Be aware of what is online about you

9. Disadvantages
 Juggling the personal and professional aspects of
your life online
Personal Academic Personal Academic Personal + Academic
?

10. Disadvantages
 Juggling the personal and professional aspects of
your life online
 No/limited control of what others post about you
 Risks of your work being available (online) –
potential plagiarism
 Potential legal implications of what you post

11. Visibility

12. Visibility vs. Control
x
x
√

13. Do you know how you appear online?
?

14. What is your
digital footprint?
The content you
create
The content
created about
you
What is your
digital shadow?
Photo by: Sarah Goodier

15. What can you do?
 Know what information (both footprint and shadow)
is out there
 Take control!
 Control your footprint
 Minimise your shadow
Am I making an
impact?
Can I be found
online?

16. Consider
• What do you want your digital footprint to look like?
• What kind of online presence do you want?
• What do you have time to
What do I want?
manage effectively? What can I
realistically
achieve?

17. 1) Plan
 Consider how you want to appear online
 Think about what you would like a recruiter/potential
employer to find out about you
 Think about what you could add to your online
presence to enhance your online image

18. 2) Monitor
 Regular Google searches
 On-going Google alerts of your name
 Measure your digital footprint

19. 3) Maintain & Update
 Keep your profile(s) up to date
 Add new qualifications/projects/research interests as
they come up
 If you are no longer using an online profile, consider
closing it/deleting it

20. Tips
 Think before you post…
 Be aware of your privacy settings!
 Even with privacy settings in place, be aware of what
you are posting online (it may be reposted/made
public)

21. Tips
 Separate your personal and professional online
presence (as far as possible)
 If you are sharing your research online (e.g. blogging
about your research project) – be aware that it is
unpublished work
 Check with your supervisor if you CAN share your
work.

22. Tips
 If you want to expand your general online presence:
 Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/qthomasbower/sets/72157620491166291/detail/

23. Tips
 If you want to expand your professional online
presence:
 Academia.edu:
http://uct.academia.edu/LauraCzerniewicz

24. Tips
 If you want to expand your professional online
presence:
 Google Scholar:

25. Tips

26. Tips
 If you want to expand your professional online
presence (increase visibility of your publications):
 Publish in Open Access Journals:
 Improving the availability of your outputs
Is my research
making an impact?
Click here for Can it be found online?
full text access!

27. Publish in open access journals
(as of 25 Oct 2012)

28. Publish in open access journals
http://www.accord.org.za/publications/ajcr

29. Publish in open access journals
http://globalmedia.journals.ac.za/pub

30. Publish in open access journals
http://www.sajim.co.za/index.php/SAJIM

31. Tips
 If you want to expand your engagement broadly:
 Blog:
http://www.mrowe.co.za/blog/

32. Tips
 If you want to expand your engagement broadly:
 Blog:
http://candidphdtalk.wordpress.com/

33. Tips
 If you want to expand your engagement broadly:
 Twitter:

34. Tips
 If you want to expand your engagement broadly:
 Twitter:
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/09/02/academic-tweeters-your-suggestions-in-full/

35. Your Online Presence
 Building into a digital (networked) you!
 What is your purpose in having/expanding your
online presence?
 What is your strategy to achieve an appropriate
online presence?

36. Excluding
images,
screenshots
and logos
and/or unless
otherwise
indicated on
content
Contact OpenUCT:
http://openuct.uct.ac.za
@OpenUCT
Contact Sarah:
sarah.goodier@uct.ac.za
http://za.linkedin.com/in/sarahgoodier
@SarahGoodier
@OpenExpl

37. Excluding
images, screen
shots and
logos and/or
unless
otherwise
indicated on
content
Thank you
 For more resources, please see the OpenUCT Delicious bookmarks tagged
‘onlinepresence’: http://www.delicious.com/openuct/onlinepresence
 All screenshots used purely for illustrative purposes
 Some slides used and/or adapted from: Laura Czerniewicz’s presentation ‘Academics' online presence - assessing & shaping visibility
2012’: http://www.slideshare.net/laura_Cz/academics-online-presence-assessing-shaping-visibility-2012,