Farewell UOSM-2033

Living and Working on the Web (UOSM2033) has been an eye-opening experience. I have been able to develop my technical skills, becoming more aware of how to use visual effects to engage the audience. Furthermore, I believed that I had a presentable and professional online presence, however through the module I realised I was a long way from perfect and far from a digital resident.

Since starting this module I have:

 ·    Created a LinkedIn profile

A major milestone through this module was realising the importance of LinkedIn, as I was previously unaware of the significance it has on networking and recruiting. I set up my LinkedIn profile shortly after my first post in Topic 2 and since then have built up a total of 60 connections. I have also used a professional profile picture which remains consistent across my other social networking sites.

·    Increased my security settings

This was a highly significant point for me, as I used to freely accept followers and friend requests. This was until I started to get anonymous messages regarding the content on my Twitter page and Facebook page, which induced me to change my privacy settings to a more secure level. I now realise the ease with which information can be shared and the care that must be taken when controlling your online accounts. In response to this, I have heightened my privacy settings, increasing my security setting to prevent “random” people being able to see my profile. I have aimed to protect my online identity from being catfished by only friending people I personally know.

Reflection

If I could start the module again, the use of Powtoon and Piktochart would have been more relevant at an earlier stage due to the visual impact these have. I will certainly be using them for future presentations to engage the audience as it has amazed me how simple and effective such tools are.

The importance of maintaining a professional online digital footprint must be emphasised; it is the norm to be up to date and have a presentable online presence, however, a poor reflection of yourself could be something that hinders your progress. Much of this module has focused around this and I will certainly maintain the professionalism across my social media accounts by posting appropriately and avoiding any controversial topics that may arise.

Throughout this module, I have had the opportunity to study contrasting views on these modern day issues regarding social media. This has enhanced my knowledge around the subject allowing me to develop my own critical opinions. My skill of interpreting and deducing different views has been built on throughout this process which has aided me when researching and writing my dissertation. This further emphasises the point that developing skills in certain modules that focus on self-learning can filter into real life situations.

 Thanking You

I would like to give special thanks to Nic, Lisa and Sarah, the advice throughout the module has assisted me in developing my digital literacy skills.

Final Note

Words: 494

References

Powtoon: Phttps://www.powtoon.com/my-powtoons/

Piktochart: https://piktochart.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhil-anand-5a867312b?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile_pic

Topic 1: https://nikhilanandsite.wordpress.com/2016/10/12/first-blog-post/

Topic 2 : https://nikhilanandsite.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/should-we-have-more-than-one-online-identity/

Foster Web Marketing (2013) Why is social media so important? YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rClDzqflZb0 [Accessed 6 January 2017].

Advertisement

Topic 5 – Reflection

There are several advantage and disadvantages to academic content producers and many people took a different approach which interested me this week. Firstly, I must say that since writing this post I came across a barrier to pay for academic content whilst researching for my dissertation. This restriction was frustrating, however, I understood after having researched this topic why there were such cost barriers.

I must say what alarms me are the figures used including by Nicole on the price of books. These figures seem rather extortionate. However, as I mentioned in my comment it brings the notion of Supply and Demand, and in the free market, there is nothing stopping firms.  Therefore, this market may be seen as highly inefficient and in some cases require government intervention.

I did not realise to the extent pirating was having an impact on the film industry until pointed out by Joseph. This is also concerning as actors and actresses put hours and effort into their roles to produce a movie and the same way academics focus hours on research. The reward for the content produced should be valued and accredited allowing the individuals to reap the rewards. It is an opportunity cost whether the individual should want to buy the movie or whether they do not.

This is what I have learnt that the idea of open access in both fields is similar but having open access for films and music is not a necessity and it is an opportunity cost the individual has to make for their individual benefit. Whereas academic content is seen as building on knowledge that betters society and the argument is slightly different.

This link found through Kevin’s profile explains Open Access if you are still interested or curious.

(Wiley, 2014)

(words = 294)

Comments:

https://chrissyder.wordpress.com/2016/12/10/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-free-lunch/#comment-17

https://gustaylorblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/09/open-access-a-fiction-of-our-imagination/#comment-23

Open Access – Academic Content Producers

Introduction

(Higher, 2012)

The Gold and Green Route

(Chase, 2016)

Discussion

Academics primary reasons for publishing include (Stack, 2016):

• pursuing their career goals and moving up in the academic post positions.
• researching to be published, in order to attract attention and gain credit for their work.  Both quantity and quality which is required to achieve the aim of gaining citations, which add merit (Jobs,2014).
• researching in order to make a meaningful contribution towards existing literature.

The pressure to publish stems from the need to attract more funding in order to pursue further research into the field. Academics, gain publicity and attention through the number of their publications and they get a yearly allowance to do so. This enables them to attend conferences and pay for the relevant resources required.

Believe it or not, attending a conference as an academic speaker can be costly and in many cases the funding allowance barely covers this. Therefore, publications are seen as a source of income and can help to increase job security. However, if publications are made freely available they may gain an increased number of citations, but then who would assess and review the work to test its legitimacy?

Scholarly information and academic research have a direct financial cost to fund researchers whether it be from a private or public entity. The argument for all public research to be made freely available is that in theory it is the taxpayer funding research so why should they have to pay twice? Should it not be freely available? The Government conducted research and found that it could cost up to £60 million a year to make publically funded research freely available (JHA, 2012).

By freely uploading documents and materials and allowing open access to the content, producers lose the financial value in the work produced, as publishers will not want to issue the research as it is already freely available. Furthermore, even if certain materials are published in journals, the author is sometimes required to pay a fee to publish their work due to the prestige. Then again, if the government were to step up, the world wide web could be used more efficiently to spread information and allow for academics to gain fulfilment that their work is being built on or even gaining from the benefits to the non-academic dissemination of their work (Tennant et al, 2016).

Advantages and Disadvantages:

 

(400 Words)

Introduction references:

David, W., Cable, G. and Louis, S. (2012) Dramatically bringing down the cost of education with OER: How open education resources unlock the door to free learning. Available from: http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED535639 [Accessed 11 December 2016].

HEFCE, (2015c) What is open access? – higher education funding council for England. Available from: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/rsrch/oa/whatis/ [Accessed 11 December 2016].

Piled Higher and Deeper (PHD Comics) (2012) Open access explained! YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=L5rVH1KGBCY [Accessed 11 December 2016].

References the gold and green route

Darren Chase, Libraries, S. (2016) Open access. Available from: http://library.stonybrook.edu/scholarly-communication/open-access/ [Accessed 11 December 2016].

Discussion References:

Jobs. (2014) The essential guide to moving up the academic career ladder an ebook with tips and tested techniques for making yourself promotion-ready. Available from: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/media/pdf/careers/resources/the-essential-guide-to-moving-up-the-academic-career-ladder.pdf [Accessed 11 December 2016].

(2016) Why do academics publish? Available from: http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15196/why-do-academics-publish [Accessed 11 December 2016].

Jha, A. (2012) Open access is the future of academic publishing, says Finch report. The Guardian, 19 June. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/jun/19/open-access-academic-publishing-finch-report [Accessed 11 December 2016].

Tennant JP, Waldner F, Jacques DC et al. The academic, economic and societal impacts of Open Access: an evidence-based review [version 2; referees: 3 approved, 2 approved with reservations].

Pontoon References:

Eindhoven (n.d.) Advantages and disadvantages of open access. Available from: https://www.tue.nl/en/university/library/education-research-support/scientific-publishing/open-access-coach/basic-concepts-and-background/pros-and-cons-of-open-access/#top [Accessed 11 December 2016].

Ltd, E.G. (2013) Advantages and disadvantages of open access. Available from: https://www.edanzediting.com/blogs/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-open-access [Accessed 11 December 2016].

 

 

Reflection – Topic 4

(ACFE, 2016)

This week’s topic gave allot of flexibility on what to discuss. I focussed my blog post on the integrity of employees on social media within the work place.

I do think the individual should use their own judgement especially in the modern day where it is all about having a competitive edge. However, I have learnt that there are people who do not act with integrity on social media but thrive, a prime example Kanye West. For celebrities of his stature “all publicity is good publicity (BBC, 2006),” as the controversial posts gain publicity and bring attention to him and his Yeezy brand he is able to gain more “business.” Then again how many of us fall in his category?

After reading Tiffany’s blog I picked up on her point that really most of us have not read all the terms and conditions…even if companies were to offer a social media policy term sheet what is saying that they will read it? The point that I have picked up on is that a policy would inform individuals and hold them responsible and liable for any controversial posts. Strict guidelines would help to reduce the ethical impact of unfair dismissals as the employees have signed to abide by the terms and conditions.

Another aspect I found extremely intriguing is that many people focussed on different ethical issues including the digital divide, something I did not appreciate until this week. Individuals not having access to computers in the UK and even abroad put them at a disadvantage of understanding the social norms of social media. Some may not understand the ethical stance of what should and should not be posted as they are unfamiliar with the web.

(Piktochart)

References: 

BBC (2006b) Is all publicity good publicity? BBC Magazine, 24 November. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6177516.stm [Accessed 4 December 2016]. (Glen Greenwald)

ACFE (n.d.) Ethics and compliance. Available from: http://www.acfe.com/ethics-and-compliance.aspx [Accessed 4 December 2016].

Piktochart reference:

Greenwald, G. (2014) Why privacy matters. Google+. Available from: http://www.ted.com/talks/glenn_greenwald_why_privacy_matters [Accessed 4 December 2016].

Comments

Alice: https://alicebathblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/23/188/#comment-19

Hannah: https://hannahbuckfield.wordpress.com/2016/11/23/who-gets-left-behind/#comment-24

Are Employees acting with integrity on social media with respect to their employer?

Introduction

With businesses utilising the benefits of social media through marketing their products and opportunities on social media platforms, the question raised is, are employees acting with integrity on social media with respect to their employer? With around 40% of the World’s population on the internet social media can bring several benefits to businesses, by reaching a wider target audience and gaining publicity (Kelion,2013). It can however open up the Pandora’s box of risks when not well managed.

The video above is emphasising the misuse of social media in the workplace up until 1.45, please pay attention to everything before 1.45.  (Reuters, 2013)

 

Issue Explained 

There are several ethical issue that arise when discussing this topic. A survey by Deloitte in 2009 mentioned,

This highlights the importance of monitoring employee’s social medias accounts as many may not function on the web with integrity. There have been many prime examples where employees have inappropriately tweeted, in some cases racist comment such as Justine Sacco (Ronson, 2016).

With Justine Sacco being in position of a public relations role you would have thought her tweets would be revised and thought through. Clearly as a client you would not want to be gaining advice from an individual who cannot market themselves with integrity. Therefore, Sacco’s comments were the result of her dismissal. Justine Sacco is one of many cases that jeopardise and threaten the reputation of a business.

Issue Analysed 

So is it ethically right to post in a manner that may threaten the reputation of your employer? Is this what is leading to the increasing ethical issue of employers monitoring their employees social media accounts? Employers are becoming warier of such incidents and do not want to increase their risk exposure to damaging their brand name thus are increasing monitoring social media accounts.

However, is it fair that employees are being dismissed when they are not fully informed of their social media rights as an employee? A study carried out by Grant Thornton, received 141 responses which showed 76% of companies did not have a clearly defined social media policy (Grant, 2012). I am not saying that it is okay to slander your employer on social media or voice controversial opinions such as Sacco, but businesses should make it an aim to highlight their expectations and regulations for social media usage inside and outside of the work place as an employee.

 

 

Bibliography 

Kelion, L. (2013) UK jumps up internet scoreboard as digital divide grows. BBC Technology, 7 October. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24426739 [Accessed 26 November 2016].

Ronson, J. (2016) How One stupid Tweet blew up Justine Sacco’s life. Magazine, 12 November. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Magazine&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article&_r=2 [Accessed 26 November 2016].

Grant, M. (2012) 76% of companies do not have a social media policy. Available from: http://www.socialbusinessnews.com/76-of-companies-do-not-have-a-social-media-policy/ [Accessed 26 November 2016].

King, J. (2016) Social media: Changing the rules of business ethics. Available from: http://newsroom.niu.edu/2015/03/17/social-media-changing-the-rules-of-business-ethics/ [Accessed 26 November 2016]. (Deloitte, 2009)

Thomson Reuters Compliance Learning (2013b) Responsible social media use in the workplace. YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZPbJ1NDqX8 [Accessed 27 November 2016].

References in Piktochart

p, B. (1996) BP social media. Available from: http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/press/social-media.html [Accessed 27 November 2016].

Bennington. and NYSE (2016) What to do when an employee violates your social media policy | monster.com. Available from: http://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/small-business/social-media-trends/social-media-guidelines.aspx [Accessed 27 November 2016].

Olmstead, K., Lampe, C. and Ellison, N.B. (2016) Social media and the workplace. Available from: http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/06/22/social-media-and-the-workplace/ [Accessed 27 November 2016].

Thomson Reuters Compliance Learning (2013) Responsible social media use in the workplace. YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZPbJ1NDqX8 [Accessed 27 November 2016].

Kleinman, Z. (2015) Who’s that girl? The curious case of Leah Palmer. BBC Technology, 5 March. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31710738 [Accessed 27 November 2016].

Soliman, Y. (2016) How to set up your Facebook privacy settings. Available from: https://www.grahamcluley.com/facebook-privacy-settings/ [Accessed 27 November 2016].

Kleinman, Z. (2015b) Who’s that girl? The curious case of Leah Palmer. BBC Technology, 5 March. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31710738 [Accessed 27 November 2016].

 

 

 

 

Reflection of Topic 3

                                                                           (Kisner,  2015)

My blog this week was clear, to the point and well approached. Like me I realised many people didn’t understand the importance of authenticity before this topic. Therefore, I approached this week’s blog by explaining the theory and importance whilst giving some tips on how to make a blog authentic. One way to think of it, is marketing yourself. How do Apple brand their products? They make you want to buy their phones, right? That’s how you have to market yourself! Professional, Authentic and Unique.

What I have also learnt is that many people will have different views, take for example Will Knapman who has consistent social media accounts that are linked, allowing him to have several means of validating his online presence. A point that intrigued me from Will’s response was, “I would reply by asking why we need to be ‘controversial’ to enjoy the online world,” but we cannot define these boundaries for everyone. What is seen to be controversial?

Whilst we are constantly advised to have a social media account to network and stay on top of things, this is no longer an advantage but more seeming to leave room for error. The link below shows the importance of having an authentic and professional presence even for top positions. If you read the requirements for the job advertisement for Lyle and Scott’s CEO, “a modern, tech-aware retail CEO who is social media literate.”

https://hbr.org/2015/05/what-ceos-have-learned-about-social-media (Ross, 2015)

While many think it is a good idea to have multiple accounts, it is in fact Facebook’s regulation that you are not allowed more than one personal account (Facebook, 2016). So ideally, have fun on social media and think about it from a third person’s perspective if they saw your social media account.

Interested? Read on!

(Ismail, 2013)

References

ChoicesTerms, 2016 A., Page, P.A., *, C., si _cj, {function, {setTimeout and Image, {new (2016b) Help center. Available from: https://www.facebook.com/help/975828035803295?helpref=uf_permalink [Accessed 20 November 2016].

Gaines-Ross, L. (2015) What CEOs have learned about social media. Available from: https://hbr.org/2015/05/what-ceos-have-learned-about-social-media [Accessed 20 November 2016].

Brene Brown. (2015). Be Real/ Authentic. Available: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=authenticity&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=726&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_3tf6p7jQAhXJCMAKHXcgDEMQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=authenticity+quotes&imgrc=q9_KUBDRhhT2SM%3A). Last accessed 2016.

Comments

https://whatwouldwilldo.wordpress.com/2016/11/13/professionally-digital/#comments

https://gustaylorblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/12/developing-a-professional-profile-which-truly-represents-you/

Building An Online Authentic Profesional Profile

Introduction

(LO, 2013)

Having an authentic online presence, means having a ‘genuine’ identity of yourself that represents you in a professional manor. An authentic online professional profile in today’s generation is highly important and if you haven’t got one, you are already one step behind (Weiss, 2013).

The Importance?

CEO of Tapscott (2014) group has said that recruiting employees will move away from the traditional methods and move towards initiating and evolving relationships. This is already occurring. In 2014, 93% of recruiters reviewed a candidate’s social profile before making a hiring decision, 73% of recruiters had hired a candidate through social media (Jobvite, 2014).

He also says that ‘some of my best talent is not inside the boundaries of my company,’ which is indicating that one’s network and contacts are extremely valuable and could play a part in becoming hired. So pay attention!!!

Having a professional online presence is crucial in to networking and branding yourself and is supported by the theory ‘Six Degrees of Separation.’ which says that on average anyone can be connected to any person with a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries (Carruthers, 2012). A professional profile will help you reach that contact and it could be your future job!

                                                                                                                                               ( D’Alessio, 2016)

BuildingAn Authentic Profile

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/18024564-creating-an-authentic-online-profileOPEN LINK

Of the recruiters using social media to recruit, 94% use LinkedIn to assist in their recruiting efforts, indicating that this is the platform to focus your profile on (Jobvite, 2014). Other forms such as Blog posts are also seen as a unique approach to enticing persons of interest. This will show that you have commitment, dedication and creativity over long periods of time allowing the reader to engage in you further (Admin, 2014).

It would be wise to avoid anything that may be controversial that could put you at a disadvantage. A prime example of this was Justine Sacco who became a Twitter sensation for all the wrong reasons and even lost her job. See her tweets below (Ronson, 2014).

Opinion

I personally wouldn’t want to put the same mug shot of me square on all my photos, but then again what do I prioritise…my career! After the last couple blog posts, I would market and brand myself the way I would expect my employee to represent me and stay consistent showing my interests in my desired field of expertise! (Harris,2014)

 

 

References

Michael Wise. (2013). Job hunting: How to promote yourself online.Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25217962. Last accessed 10/11/16.

Jobvite. ( 2014). Social Recruiting Survey. Available: https://www.jobvite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Jobvite_SocialRecruiting_Survey2014.pdf. Last accessed 10/11/16.

Maurizio D’Alessio. (2016). The importance of relationships and the six degrees of separation. Part I.. Available: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-relationships-six-degrees-separation-part-i-d-alessio. Last accessed 10/11/16.

Richard Carruthers. (2012). Managing your digital footprint. Available: http://coursecast.soton.ac.uk/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=2caea677-5fec-4c1a-9ad3-70320d724655. Last accessed 10/11/16.

Statista. 2016, S. (2016) LinkedIn: Numbers of members 2016 | statistic. Available from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/274050/quarterly-numbers-of-linkedin-members/ [Accessed 11 November 2016].

Tapscott, D. (2016) Five ways talent management must change. Available from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/10/don-tapscott-talent-management-millennials/ [Accessed 11 November 2016].

Harris, L. (2014) Using social media in your job search – web science MOOC. Available from: http://moocs.southampton.ac.uk/websci/2014/03/13/ill-tweet-job-spec-snap-cv/ [Accessed 11 November 2016].

Admin (2014) How blogging can help you get a job. Available from: http://www.theemployable.com/index.php/2014/10/28/blogging-can-help-get-job/ [Accessed 11 November 2016].

Isabella Lo (2013) Professional online profile | brand your business by branding yourself (BeMyBest). YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF9LaXDiINE [Accessed 11 November 2016].

Ronson, J. (2015) How One stupid Tweet blew up Justine Sacco’s life. Magazine, 17 May. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=1 [Accessed 11 November 2016].

Isabella Lo (2013b) Professional online profile | brand your business by branding yourself (BeMyBest). YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF9LaXDiINE [Accessed 11 November 2016].

 

Topic 2 – Review

(Baculima)

After reading my fellow piers comments, I began to realise that even though we have similar pros and cons for having multiple identities our reasoning and favour to each side differs. Whilst some such as Zach believe the positives outweigh the negatives, and others like Will feel that you don’t need more than one identity.

400 words for this topic was simply enough for a blurb, however I was able to express my opinions and understanding, shown through the comments received on my Blog.

One aspect I didn’t comment on was online anonymity, by reading my peers posts and comments I started to think about the pros and cons of this. I gained a deeper understanding that we all have different purposes of using the internet and use it differently hence will have different opinions. For example Emma keeps personnel and professional lives separate and Will keeps everything professional throughout his social media accounts.

My opinion before reading others blogs and the comments, was that one shouldn’t have multiple online identities. By reading blogs and reading further articles around the topic I would be inclined to change my opinion.

Having had the opportunity to learn that many people use the internet to express their feelings and thoughts that they wouldn’t with family, e.g LGBT society. Certain people use the internet as an escape and an opportunity to be themselves.

My adapted conclusion would be that people have the right to use the internet as they wish, with a catch though. If one in acting anonymously I think that the sanctions for cyber bullying should increase to protect the vulnerable. Furthermore I do not think it is acceptable to lure, catfish other people using a different identity, as this is negatively impacting someone else.

The importance!!!

(Culhane,2016)

Comments: Zach and Will

References:

Lore Baculima. Available: https://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/multiple-identities-360.jpg. Last accessed 05/11/16.

Luke Culhane. (2016). Cyber Bullying : Create No Hate. Available: https://youtu.be/MV5v0m6pEMs. Last accessed 05/11/16.