Week 2 Learning Journal Post

Social media class gets personal!

That's right, my class in "social media for social change"at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute met this past weekend, and we dug right in. We spent the first week getting introduced to a number of tools, concepts, and grounding theories that define, explore and add meaning to the "social" part of "social media". And then, right after disclosing our personal reasons for avoiding the spotlight of social media, we jumped right in.

It turns out many of the reservations and concerns about developing an online presence are shared by fellow students. Some of them are real, some perceived, and many risks can be managed. But in the end, it turns out that in order to affect change online, you need an online presence and a reputation.Whether the change is as local and personal as finding a new job, or as big as creating positive change in the world, an online presence is a calling card, and brand and reputation are the foundation of credibility that attracts readership. After all, if my readership never expands beyond Chris, Ellyn,and Miriam who are tasked with monitoring this blog, then I am not making much use of an amazing opportunity to create change.

I am so happy of the chance to discover and play and experiment in this safe place as I tip-toe my way into the world of personal branding, social media, and tapping into the power of transformation, choice, and change.

Here are a couple of my Delicious links related to personal branding and reputation.

1. One blogger's slightly negative view of personal branding. While I tend to agree with her fears about the downside of letting brand dictate reality, I disagree with her conclusion. As I begin to overcome my initial reluctance, I am embracing the idea that it is in my own best interest to design and define the image I want to project, and that clarity and consistency help others understand what I am about.

http://gigaom.com/collaboration/personal-branding-vs-self-awareness/

2. Nice tool that checks username availability on multiple sites in one step. Useful if you want to have a consistent presence.

http://namechk.com/

3. 14 Things to Add to Your Online Personal Brand Building Toolkit

http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/08/30/14-must-haves-for-your-online-personal-brand-building-toolkit/

Hi, I', Tamara, and I'd like to introduce myself.  Since the purpose of this particular blog/learning journal is to document learning and complete assignments for BGI's Social Media for Social Change class (BGIMGT566sx), I'll focus on that aspect of myself.

I'm a newbie.  There, I said it.  Yes I am an avid user of email and Facebook.  I watch videos online. I enjoy online researching though am often suspicious that I could be doing it better if I knew more of the tools that are available.  But the truth is that I have been more of a consumer of online content than a creator.

Other than my normal sense of shyness and desire to maintain personal privacy, I suppose the other reasons for my quietude come as a combination of things.  I am unfamiliar with the tools and I possess a general queasiness about the concept of "personal branding". I'm also aware that there are guidelines and mores and that I do not know what they are, and have some doubt about whether I have anything interesting enough, new enough, or fascinating enough to warrant making a personal contribution to the overall chatter.  Knowing folks who are such good writers and publicists can be intimidating.

Clearly I'll just have to get over it in order to get the most out of this class.  That's a good thing.

Through class, I am having the pleasure of discovering Delicious.  Heard the name for years, but never knew what it was or why someone would want it.  Now I see loads of potential. It seems useful as a collaborative tool and also as a way to organize research results.  As a newbie, I also find it a bit gawky to get around.  Wish I could bring up my tag list when I go to save something, so that my tags will be more consistent and complete. Wish the BGI video could be updated to whatever version I am looking at as it is slightly and annoyingly different than the one that is covered. 

No doubt the class will figure this stuff out together, so no worries.  Learning Delicious is pretty fun even with a few little glitches.