Running head: OIA 1

Online Identity Analysis

Geni Senary

Post University

EDU 520

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Online Identity Proposal

Creating and controlling a personal brand for potential employers is imperative. Social

networks and the Internet have made it easier for recruiters to do a quick search on job

candidates, to either disqualify them or invite them to interview for an opening. A person must

align their activities and communications with his or her personal brand to carry a consistent

message throughout their efforts, both online and real-life. This paper will examine two people

that have strong digital presence and will propose the monitoring and evaluation process that will

lead to a better understanding of online identity.

Subjects and Platforms

The two individuals that will be observed are Dr. Curtis Bonk and Megan Munford Cottam.

Curtis J. Bonk, Ph.D. is a Professor at Indiana University teaching psychology and technology

courses. Bonk founded SurveyShare, Inc. in 2003 as well as CourseShare, LLC in 1999. Dr.

Bonk is affiliated with the cognitive sciences program and is adjunct in the School of Informatics

at Indiana University (IU) (Dr. Bonk’s IU Homepage, 2017). “He is currently conducting

research in the field of self-directed online learning environments, the personalization of open

education, online motivation, and extreme learning” (Dr. Bonk’s IU Homepage, 2017). Dr. Bonk

is a positive example of someone with a strong online identity. His presence is diverse and can

be found easily online with his own web page, and a YouTube following, as well as being a

featured author on amazon.

Megan Munford Cottam is a kindergarten teacher at Bryce Valley Elementary as well as a

local business owner. Megan Cottam is also the founder of the Bryce Canyon Music Camp that

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is held annually during the summer months in her community. Cottam has done an amazing job

of making herself visible to the online community and to see her in a positive light. Cottam uses

her personal Facebook account to connect parents with online resources as well as having a

pinterest page, and Instagram. Cottam is a positive example of someone that uses their social

media accounts to share their tips and tricks for both owning a business as well as being an

educator.

Data Collection

The method that will be used to collect data will be a simple spreadsheet that can allow for

daily monitoring of the social media platforms that are being used by the two aforementioned

subjects. There are essential elements that can be monitored such as frequency of posts and

content of posts. The spreadsheet will provide an organized and simple overview of the data as

well as its impact. The spreadsheet will continue to grow and progress throughout the

observation period and will be updated as needed. Below is the spreadsheet containing both

subject’s online activity.

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Dr. Curtis J. Bonk

DATE SOCIAL MEDIA

PLATFORM

SCREENSHOT CONTENT

(Professional or personal)

IMPACT

(Positive or negative)

Aug. 23 Twitter Professional- Updates on dates for new material as well as links to relatable articles. Has 717 tweets and is followed by 997 users.

Positive

Sept. 4 Linkedin Professional- Summary of professional and educational background.

Positive

Sept. 4 Youtube Professional- Youtube channel contains several videos uploaded on various dates, spanning 7 years containing lectures. Most lectures were watched by an average of 50 people.

Positive

Sept. 6 Facebook Professional- Dr. Bonk was mentioned in a post that detailed many of his writings. It was shared 3 times and was “liked” by 117 people.

Positive

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Megan Munford Cottam:

DATE SOCIAL MEDIA

PLATFORM

SCREENSHOT CONTENT

(Professional or personal)

IMPACT

(Positive or negative)

Sept. 4 Facebook Professional- Shared a link to songs about colors for parents of kindergarteners.

Positive

Sept. 4 Facebook Personal- Promoting the vote for Miss Utah to support the contestant that is a rising musician.

Positive

Sept. 6 Facebook Professional- Shared a link containing a list of children’s books featuring strong female role models.

Positive

Sept. 9 Garfield County Insider (online newspaper)

Professional- Local newspaper wrote an article about the annual music camp that Mrs. Cottam puts together.

Positive

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Dr. Curtis Bonk uses several platforms to maintain his online presence including Twitter,

Linkedin, and Youtube. On each of these sites he presents a well thought out and organized

layout that appears professional. All of the photos that were found of him were not of personal

nature and include him in his work environment. Dr. Bonk uses Youtube to spread his lectures to

the masses and many people have viewed each video, this is a perfect example of how to use

social media as a marketing tool. On all of the sites that Dr. Bonk uses he has included an outline

of his professional accomplishments and educational background, which adds credibility and a

positive impact on his online identity. The following is an example of his personal

accomplishments through publication that can be found on his Linkedin page (Bonk, n.d.):

“Publications-

Bonk, C. J., Lee. M. M., Reeves, T. C., & Reynolds, T. H. (2015). Preface: Actions leading to

“MOOCs and Open Education Around the World.” In MOOCs & Open Ed Around the

World. Routledge. http://publicationshare.com/moocsbook/

Bonk, C. J., Lee, M. M., Kou, X., Xu, S. & Sheu, F. -R. (2015). Understanding Self-Directed

Online Learning Prefs, Goals, Achieve, & Challenges of MIT OCW Subscribers. Ed

Tech & Society, 18(2), 349-368. Available: http://www.ifets.info/journals/18_2/26.pdf

Kim, M., Jung, E., Altuwaijri, A., Wang, Y., & Bonk, C. J. (2014, Spring). Analyzing the human

learning and development potential of websites available for informal learning.

International Journal of Self-Directed Learning, 11(1), 12-28.

Lee, H., & Bonk, C. J. (2014). Collaborative Learning in the Workplace: Practical Issues and

Concerns. International Journal of Advanced Corporate Learning (iJAC), 7(2), 10-17.

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Some TEC-VARIETY: 100+ Activities for Motivating and Retaining Learners Online.

Bonk, C. J. (2013, July). Adding some TEC-VARIETY to online courses. Education Magazine,

Issue 6, 15-20 (found at: itunes.apple.com: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/educationist-

magazine-app/id593725339?ls=1&mt=8

Bonk, C. J. (2013, May-June). Are we learning to change the world? A review of “Learning to

Change the World: The Social Impact of One Laptop Per Child,” by Bender, Kane,

Cornish, & Donahue (2012). NY: Palmgrave Macmillan, Educ Tech, 53(3), 54-55.

Bonk, C. J. (2013). Want some MOOC with your TV dinner? The EvoLLLution. Part 2.

Available March 1, 2013: http://www.evolllution.com/media_resources/want-some-

mooc-with-your-tv-dinner-part-2/

Bonk, C. J. (2013). Want some MOOC with your TV dinner? The EvoLLLution. Part 1 February

22, 2013. Available: http://www.evolllution.com/featured/want-some-mooc-with-your-

tv-dinner-part-1/

Bonk, C. J. (2010, January 11). Overcoming the Technology Resistance Movement, Inside the

School, Magna Publications”

The greatest take away from examining Dr. Bonk’s sites is the importance of marketing in a

way that is conducive to professional goals. Only include information that is relevant to the

brand and the outcome that is desired, leaving personal information and controversial comments

out. Dr. Bonk has created an outstanding online presence and has many followers that find value

in his many accomplishments.

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Megan Munford Cottam uses Facebook as her main social media outlet. Cottam seems to

have a routine of making at least one post a day and generally the contents of the post are related

to her position as a kindergarten teacher. Cottam generally makes post aimed at parents with

younger children and includes links to popular books and activities that can be done in the

household. Cottam occasionally makes a post with a more personal connection, such as the post

above that encouraged people to vote for Miss Utah contestant. Cottam shares a love for music

with the young women and therefor she is using her status to help win votes. In all of Cottam’s

post, she remains extremely professional and only has pictures of her in a professional manner,

leaving out the photos from her home life. Through her use of social media she stays connected

with family members of past and present students as well as spreads words of encouragement

toward early learning, which is directly related to her career. Cottam and her husband own a

local business and they both use their social media platforms to encourage visitors to their hotel

as well as activities that are popular in the surrounding area.

The biggest take away from evaluating Mrs. Cottam’s use of social media is to always present

oneself in a professional manner while spreading the ideas and information. Mrs. Cottam does an

excellent job of appearing professional while giving tips and materials to those that she feels

might be interested while at the same time not pushing anyone into following her ways. Cottam

has many followers on her Facebook page that help collaborate with her which is maintaining

her professional connections and enhancing her online identity.

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Impact on PLE Development

Each of the individuals that I examined has a strong professional online persona. Dr. Bonk

uses several different social media platforms to establish himself, which keeps him in contact

with more people than if he were to just use one form. This is something that I would like to set

up for myself in the future. I currently only use Facebook but will eventually add a Linkedin

page and a Twitter account so that I can also network with a bigger audience. As I create my

PLE I will add my educational and professional background as well as any achievements I have

received thus far. My “About Me” section of my homepage will also include a glimpse of my

personal life and the fact that I am a mother. While this information may not be directly relevant,

I feel that it may help me seem more compassionate and caring, which is a trait necessary to the

field of education, which I am pursuing. Unlike Dr. Bonk, I would prefer to have my information

be written in first person to create a more personable tone and hopefully connect with my

audience as a person, not just a brand.

While developing my PLE I will need to examine what my message is going to be and how I

would like to be perceived by others. Megan Cottam does a fantastic job of keeping her message

consistent throughout her post and delivers on her personal message and brand. I feel that it is

important to honor the theme of my brand and will focus on incorporating it into my posts and

future tweets and blogs. My message will be focusing on the importance of early childhood

education. As an early childhood teacher my goals are to inspire parents to begin the teaching

process at home and the importance of enrolling children in prekindergarten programs. My PLE

needs to represent those goals and ambitions as well as inspire others around me to support those

same goals.

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While creating my PLE I will also keep in mind the need to keep my personal opinions about

anything that could cause others to be offended off of my pages. I would like my online presence

to be of positive nature and therefor I will not engage in discussions that could cause conflict

with my audience. Any pictures that I include on my page will be in a professional setting and

will represent my work, not my personal life.

Like Dr. Bonk I will seek out professional organizations to follow and collaborate with

online. I would like to share links on my page to articles that are relevant to my message and my

professional goals.

I will align my online identity closely with my reputation offline because I am a reflection of

my PLE and it will be a reflection of me. I will need to maintain a positive reputation at all times,

online and offline to create the positive outcomes that I seek.

Conclusion

In today’s society it has become essential to build oneself up using the Internet and various

social media platforms. Organizations as well as individuals are looking towards the Internet to

get a better view of the people that they will align themselves with in the future. A strong and

professional online identity is the way to make a positive impression. The use of social media

and other sites like Linkedin should be used to enhance your reputation rather than detract from

it. Both Dr. Bonk and Megan Munford Cottam model this online behavior and built their careers

using networking that closely resembles their offline identities, which creates a trusting and

personal connection that should resonate throughout the various sites being used.

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References

Dr. Bonk’s IU Homepage (2017) Curt Bonk’s e-learning world. Retrieved from:

http://curtbonk.com

Bonk, C (n.d.) Curtis Bonk’s Linkedin account. Retrieved from:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/curtis-bonk-08744

Bonk, C (n.d.) Dr. Curtis J. Bonk at the DEANZ2016 conference- Youtube. Retrieved from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPcyHSP5yq8

Bonk, C (n.d.) Curtis Bonk’s Twitter account. Retrieved from:

http://twitter.com/travelinedman?lang=en

Garfield County Insider (2017) Bryce Valley Area News. Retrieved from:

http://issuu.com/snapshot/docs/061517insider_web

Cottam, M (n.d.) Megan Munford Cottam’s Facebook account. Retrieved from:

http://www.facebook.com/megan.cottam