Thing 3: Branding
This is the thing I was most worried about - the reason being that it makes me feel as if I am a commodity or shop window and as a private person I found this the most difficult thing to deal with. Having read the article it did make me stop and think - I have hidden behind my blog title as I want to be anonymous. One of the other participants commented (kindly) on an earlier post I made that she had felt blogging was "navel-gazing" and to be honest I felt that to some degree but also felt who would want to read my thought on librarianship and school librianship in particular? I'm not afraid to speak up at meetings in face to face situations - but online seems to be another matter.
The idea of creating an online brand has worried me - yes I have a Linked in profile which I barely look at or update and after reading the post I am going to correct that! I suppose one of the things that 23 Things for CPD is trying to to do is make us all aware of how communication and career development is changing - it is more online than face to face. We communicate with other professionals through online groups because we don't find it easy to meet or be allowed to leave our bases due to cost or staffing implications and so online sharing of expertise is the way forward. I know that when I read emails from some fellow professionals on online groups I already have an image in my head of who this preson is from the tone of their emails and the topics of discussion - and this colours my view of them and who they are - do I read it or skip over it? A personal online brand is a far more powerful than any of us realise.
The questions:
Name used: I have hidden behind this - it isn't my nickname but something I did very quickly - more thought should probably have gone in to it!
Photograph: None as yet - still not dipping my toe in the water on that one
Professional/personal identity: I keep my professional and personal seperate yes I'm on facebook and share some librarianship things on there but not much. I tried to use twitter for my professional side but it kept being blocked by school and need to address this - I know that I am missing out on a lot of useful professional material. I have a Linked in presence which is badly in need of updating
Visual brand: I chose the generic background because I liked it - will I keep it I don't know.


If nothing else this particular Thing is making me realise that I need to get a handle on my online presence and blogging on it is making me stop and reflect on this and what I may need to do.