Tag: blogging

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My online identity – part two of two

Yesterday I posted (well, re-posted, actually!) an entry from my first-ever (and now inactive) blog. It outlined three questions that I return to again and again, when considering my online identity.

1. What do my images say about me?

2. What am I saying about me? and

3. What am I not saying about me?

Well, that was a little over 18 months ago. So what has changed? How do I now view ‘success’ in creating and maintaining my online identity?

Source: Uploaded by user via Megan on Pinterest

18 months ago, I was just starting out with online tools. Sure, GoodOldTalk.com had been up and running for a little over a year, and I had an inactive twitter account, and I had been on Facebook for a while, but that was about it. No flickr, no YouTube, and so on – and I didn’t even know that tools such as TweetDeck, HootSuite existed – let alone EverNote, Instagram, DropBox, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, etc etc etc.

Now however, I’ve been self-employed for a year. I’ve been running my own Marketing business, and not only have I seen the need to be in social media for Bloxham Marketing, but creating and maintaining social media accounts for my clients is an integral part of my business. Which has meant that I’m a lot more ‘out there’ than I ever have been.

This blog has also played a major part in the evolution of my opinion regarding my online identity. I started it Christmas 2010, using @fionawb‘s #blog12daysChristmas as an impetus. My PLN, formed for the most part by Librarians on twitter, was integral in maintaining this blog throughout its development, to what it is today. Through the relationships I now have with online friends, I have come to see that it’s probably okay to relax a little from that hard-liner stance I had, 18 months ago.

1. What do my images say about me? That’s been a toughy. I like to add an image to each of my blog entries, however when I want to write about my kids, and I don’t want to upload their images to the net, that’s a little problematic. So a few weeks back now, I dedicated a post to each, and included their photo (albeit, not a particularly identifiable one!) Plus, in my recent exploration of Pinterest, and its ability to easily embed (and attribute, of sorts!) into WordPress, that’s made my life a little easier. Now I feel as though I can show a little of who I am / what I like through the images I display – even though these images don’t necessarily have me in the frame or behind the camera.

2. What do I say about myself? Again, I’ve probably been more vulnerable than I had ever thought I would be. From entries about my gambling addiction (coming up to 20 years not being at a BlackJack table – as much as I still think about it more regularly than I’d like!) to my miscarriage, from my employment problems to my time in a cult, I’ve exposed quite a lot about myself… but then again, “my friends IRL know this stuff about me, and I’m comfortable sharing with them, so why not others?” is how I see it. Obviously, I keep my personal stuff on this blog, and my Bloxham Marketing blog is all about the work side of my life, however when I think of my online identity, I’m trying to reflect who I am as a person. As much as I’d like to cover up the yuk stuff, and pretend to be something I’m not, I have a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to keep it up for too long, and then you, my dear readers, would see right through it – and then, where would I be?!

3. What do I NOT say about me? Again, this has changed, in the light of my being far more open online than I had expected I would be. I’m still wary of PII, however as a self-employed business owner, I need to be contactable by potential clients, so my contact details are accessible in what I feel are the appropriate places. And as for embarrassing myself with inappropriate photos / videos / stories? Yup – pretty much all of them are in the “not sayin’!! basket”!

So – this is me. What do you think? Agree? Or disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts…

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More about me random scribblings Scribblings Technology University studies

Thoughts on my ‘online identity’

I started my first blog in July of 2010, as an assessment piece for the “Information Programs” course in the Masters in IT that I’d just started at QUT. I found it again last week.

One of the posts I wrote back then, on ‘online identity’, still rings true for me in 2012, so I thought I’d re-visit the topic. Firstly – my original blog entry…

Three questions to ensure your online identity is secure yet still effective

BY CERIDWYN, ON AUGUST 6TH, 2010

I bet you never thought that what you write online could get you killed. But the threat is real. And with the exponential growth in new technologies, and new apps for existing devices, the possibility of it happening to you, gets larger every day. Don’t believe me? Just ask Leo Hickman, journalist for The Guardian, in the UK, who became a Foursquare cyberstalker.

“Louise has straight, auburn hair and, judging by the only photograph I have of her, she’s in her 30s. She works in recruitment. I also know which train station she uses regularly, what supermarket she shopped at last night and where she met her friends for a meal in her home town last week. At this moment, she is somewhere inside the pub in front of me meeting with colleagues after work.

Louise is a complete stranger. Until 10 minutes ago when I discovered she was located within a mile of me, I didn’t even know of her existence. But equipped only with a smartphone and an increasingly popular social networking application called Foursquare, I have located her to within just a few square metres, accessed her Twitter account and conducted multiple cross-referenced Google searches using the personal details I have already managed to accrue about her from her online presence. In the short time it has taken me to walk to this pub in central London, I probably know more about her than if I’d spent an hour talking to her face-to-face.”

 

CC image courtesy pigliapost athttp://www.flickr.com/photos/pigliapost/2071610400/

Scared yet? But you don’t need to be. You just need to be careful what you share online. Find that fine line between ‘enough’ and ‘too much’. I have very clear boundaries which I will not cross when it comes to sharing information online. Here are the three questions I continually ask myself, to check I’m not crossing those ‘lines in the sand’.

1. What do your images say about you?

Google me. Please. Through facebook, you’ll find that I’m a mum of three. You might even find that my children are 5, 2, and 1. But it’s not likely that you’ll find their names. And I challenge you to find a photo – or video – of them anywhere on the net. If you do – please contact me and let me know, so I can remove it! Am I paranoid about security? Maybe. But I’d prefer to err on the side of caution when it comes to the safety and wellbeing of little ones who rely on me to be responsible. When they are older, then they may choose what information they want to reveal about themselves. Until then, I will NOT compromise their security. That’s a ‘line in the sand’ on which I refuse to compromise. But that’s me. Find your own standard, whatever you are comfortable with. Would you find those photos / that video of you at last year’s office Christmas Party funny? Or embarrassing? Remember – future employers also have internet access!

2. What are YOU saying about you?

It’s all too easy to think that when we type words into a computer in the privacy of our own home, we’re talking into a vacuum. But every post on a SNS sends that message to everyone you’re linked with. Want to share that you’re ‘inspired by finishing a brilliant novel’? Fine. Excited about ‘going to look at property?’ Also fine. Just don’t forget you’ve sent such messages, otherwise when you meet someone IRL that you messaged, and they bring it up, you’ll be surprised at how much they know! As Jenica Rogers said in her IOLUG presentation (2009) ‘be ready to accept whatever consequences you might encounter’. But my own ‘line is the sand’ comes to PII, and situations where I might accidentally compromise my own security. Sharing ecstatically that ‘I’m heading away tomorrow for a week-long cruise’, when I’ve already shared my address, is just asking for trouble, don’t you think?

3. What are you NOT saying about you?

This post, so far, has been pretty anti-‘online identities’. But that’s not actually my opinion. As site moderator for goodoldtalk.com, I find it not just important, but essential, to have an effective and up-to-date online presence. But if you had stopped reading before you got to this question, you never would have known that. Hence my point – what are you NOT saying? Are you just sharing one side of the story, one opinion, which doesn’t accurately reflect who you really are? If you share only the superficial, then that will be the picture that people build up of you. So share the mundane, from time to time, but make it a priority to share the worthwhile of who you are and what you do, on a regular basis. Just make sure that you be ‘real’. Don’t massage the truth so much that you end up making stuff up. When you’re discovered, it’ll look really bad. But again – you’ll need to find your own ‘line in the sand’ for this one.

So there it is – my three questions. What are yours?

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Bloxham Marketing momentous events More about me Random thoughts teaching Technology Work

Toys for toys?

Today was Day 2 of LEQ’s Mini-conference, exploring iPads in education, on the Sunshine Coast. Again, another very cool day of exploring what iPads can do; how Apps, App chains, and even the tool itself, can be leveraged for better outcomes for our kids. Very very very cool stuff.

Amongst the myriad of sessions and workshops were two standouts for me. Firstly, the very tactile ‘app-cesseries’ – extra bits and pieces that accessorise the iPad (or iPhone, iPod, etc) to give it added functionality. My favourite – in the photo – would have to be the mini-Mater (from Disney’s Cars movie) that you could move on the iPad to explore the world of the movie.

 

And the other standout would have to be my extreme surprise at one of Greg O’Connor’s slides. Still can’t believe it, but there was a screenshot of hmmm… up there. Yes, you read right – he had my last night’s blog entry “The Good Stuff” up there on the screen, and was talking about this ‘cool blog he had found last night’. Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! I was just so surprised, so grateful, so humbled! (If you ever read this, Greg – thank you SO much!) Absolutely stunned to think that everyone at this conference had, in a way, “visited” my blog. How COOL!!!

So yes, these were my highlights of the day. And if, by any chance, any of my readers also happened to attend the LEQ conference, please feel free to add below what your highlights were. And if you weren’t – then I’d love to hear what you think of the Mater truck!

(Oh, and I’ll be writing a blog post on the other great Apps / links, on the other page – “The Good Stuff”. Hope they’re helpful!)

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Random thoughts Scribblings

On being Pinteresting…

It took me a week to get an invitation to join Pinterest. A week of waiting. Anticipating and wondering what this new website was all about. Then the invitation arrived, and I could login to see what all the fuss was about. At first, I wasn’t particularly impressed. It didn’t seem as intuitive as I had expected. After all the hype, I was left a little bit confused what the idea was. And then I discovered the embedding function. And a whole new world opened up.

Source: Uploaded by user via Ceridwyn on Pinterest

You see, I love to blog, and I love to include images on each blog entry. Unfortunately, I find it that it takes a long time to run a Creative Commons search through Flickr to find exactly the right image to use. But now, with Pinterest, I can easily find the images that I want, and use their ’embed’ function to include these – with citation attached – onto the blog entry. And I can create however many boards I like, on whatever topics I like. Cool!

So now, all I need to do, is curb my desire to go and find more great pictures. Pictures like these ones below.

Source: google.com via Ceridwyn on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Ceridwyn on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Ceridwyn on Pinterest

Source: saleyeti.com via Ceridwyn on Pinterest

Source: computergear.com via Ceridwyn on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Ceridwyn on Pinterest

Thought I’d share with you some of my favourites with you. I hope you had as much of a laugh as I did! And now that’s done, you’ll have to excuse me. I just need to go and find some more…

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family anecdotes More about me Technology

Family photos

Yesterday I wrote a post about my insanely busy week last week – and included a photo of my gorgeous three cherubs. This was the first time I have ever posted a photo of them – any of them – online, as I am paranoid when it comes to their security. I have asked all my family and friends to do likewise (to not post photos of my children, if they have them) and even emailing is something I am wary of.

To some, I know this sounds absolutely crazy, and I must be certifiably insane. To others, that I’m taking my role as their protector a little too far. To a few, such precautions are prudent. The world wide web is simply NOT a safe place, and although I hate to admit it, I know that there are some very poor children who have simply horrendous things done to them, and I want to keep my children as safe (and as innocent) as possible, for as long as possible. It would break my heart if I inadvertently was the cause of anything remotely close to their being in danger.

Reason being: I have cute kids. Yes, I know that every parent probably thinks that about their children, but in my opinion, they are really quite good-looking. I am Eurasian, which gives them slightly olive skin, high cheekbones, and cute button noses. Miss 7 has light brown hair and brown eyes. Miss 4 is blonde with blue eyes. Mr 2 has almost black hair, and eyes so dark brown they’re almost black. And I’d prefer for them to be in their late teens before they start posting identifiable photos of themselves online. They’re all listed with Faye Rolph models, and the girls have both had modeling jobs in the last 6 months (Miss 7 was in the Christmas Amart All Sports TV ad) but any identifiable photos which can be traced back to our address – or even any specific location – are a plain scary thought.

That being said, the photo of them yesterday was cute without revealing too much. And I liked that. They’re a huge part of my life, and I like writing about them. So I’ve decided to post more, similar, photos of them here. (They DO take a good photo, I must admit!) Today’s is the whole family, taken early last year. It’s probably my favourite photo ever.

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#blog5daysAustenese

#blog5daysAustenese – Day Four

Having a day with few commitments before me, my plan is to spend my hours writing. In the formation of sentences, the reworking of ideas, the addition of punctuation and the correcting of grammar.  Not only for the continuation in this #blog5daysAustenese journey, but also in the creation of articles for work, both mine and my clients’.

I have often pondered, in my leisure hours, upon the many and varied writing stiles. This challenge, for example, was conceived with the idea that I had recently been so immersed in reading Austen‘s novels that, when I wrote (sometimes even when I spoke!) I found it difficult to refrain from her stile. My preference was to use vocabulary which, although still understandable, required effort to comprehend, being no longer in regular usage. I also found it fairly easy – and interesting! – to write in a stile that, for the most part, made liberal use of overly long sentences comprising significant numbers of embedded clauses. Verb usage at the beginning of the sentences quickly became an idea that, although foreign at first, became more familiar in practice, as was wont to happen.

Perversely, the difficulties presented themselves when moving away from blogging in Austen’s stile, in occasions when a modern tone in my writing was required. I was surprised – nay, shocked! – to discover that it was here, wherein the true nature of the challenge made itself felt. The difficulties with which I struggled to write in a modern stile were a sight to behold. Indeed, I was both astonished and confounded to ascertain within myself a penchant for the writing of long sentences, and the use of vocabulary quite different to mine own.

Hence my decision to pen my blog early today. If I am to achieve, successfully, the tasks before me, which of necessity require a modern stile of writing, the difficulties in the adoption of same that I have noticed, will need to be taken into account. So here ends the fourth of five entries written in the stile of Austen, and I look forward to penning my fifth and last, tomorrow. Til then, dear readers!

Point to note – although I found it rather difficult to continually spell the word ‘style’ with an ‘i’ rather than a ‘y’, it is consistent with Austen’s spelling during this period. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused!

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#blog5daysAustenese random scribblings

#blog5daysAustenese – Day Two

Having the unusual distinction of three family birthdays fall within a seven-day, I have then leisure to consider the import of ‘countdowns’. Counting the days that must be lived, prior to a forthcoming event, can be abundantly effectual. Not only have they the ability to elevate eagerness and enthusiasm prior to the big occasion, they also provide innumerable opportunities for the teaching of mathematical concepts to young receptive minds.

Saturday last witnessed the birth-day celebrations of my husband. Entering his 40th year was marked with his favourite diversions; fishing, napping, and dining with close friends. The following day, our middle child, often referred to as ‘Miss 3’, became ‘Miss 4’ and spent the day smiling profusely and announcing her successful acquisition of another year. And finally, our “Miss 6” will become our “Miss 7” this forthcoming Friday. Each of these days has been studiously counted-down-to by infant fingers excitedly marking off the days in our family almanac.

Twelve months ago, this blog witnessed my scribblings on this topic although it does not appear to me as though a year has passed. Reflecting on this perception, I see that it is entirely possible that the exercise of ‘counting down’ may be its intimate connection. By continuously focusing on future events, enjoying the moment may be superceded by the prospect of future happiness, thus rendering the present of lesser importance, possibly to such a degree that fewer memories are retained, thus rendering the passage of time to feel faster than in actuality.

My summation is that, should we seek to be wise, we should treat in an even-handed manner the conflicting desires of valuing and cherishing the moment and viewing the future with an excess of sensibility. Would you agree, gentle readers?

CC Image courtesy 4rank at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fcharlton/1799065990/lightbox/

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#blog5daysAustenese Random thoughts

Bad to the bone…

Of all Jane Austen’s novels, Lady Susan is the one I like the most. Her main character, the recently widowed Lady Susan, is far more Thackery’s Becky Sharp than Pride and Prejudice’s Jane Bennett, and she comes far closer to succeeding in her conquest of a man ‘determined to not like her’ than Henry Crawford did with Fanny Price in Mansfield Park, when the situations were reversed. It is also completely different in style, being almost completely written through letters.

This is the only Austen novel I have not seen a film version of. Which is fine, as I think a screen adaptation would ruin it.

And that wraps up my week of Austen summaries. Tomorrow marks the beginning of #blog5daysAusten. Should be rather interesting!

See you tomorrow, dear readers!

 

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#blog5daysAustenese Random thoughts

Persuasion

I think it’s important to be a person of conviction. To know what you want, to know who you are, and to hold on to that. “This above all, to thine own self be true” etc etc etc.

That being said, I also think that to be unbending is a fault. To not take into account the whole concept of truth being relational- to not respect someone who is trying to sway you from your opinion by “speak[ing] the truth with gentleness” (to quote God rather than Shakespeare, as it were); to not be persuaded by a close friend when they are tactfully disagreeing with you – is also a sign of foolishness rather than wisdom.

Anne Elliott allowed herself to be persuaded from a strongly held opinion, in Austen’s “Persuasion“, and it formed the premise for the novel. Rather than marrying Frederick Wentworth, the man of her choice, she allowed herself to be convinced that she should reject his offer, and then spent the subsequent years in regret and anxiety, until, (as all good love stories do,) they were reunited and lived ‘happily ever after’. “Persuasion” is, in a way, the detailed story of Emma‘s Harriet Smith and Robert Martin.

Conviction. A good thing – but if we all had it, there would be fewer novels written, I suspect!

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#blog5daysAustenese Random thoughts

Emma. How wise you are.

Ummm… I think!

I quite like this one. It’s light-hearted. It’s cute. It’s a good way to spend a few hours of down-time. It’s superficial enough that you don’t expend much energy investing in the novel, but the characters and plotline are meaty enough to feel as though you’ve spent your time justifiably. Good enough reason, in my *book*!

Admittedly, it’s a little unrealistic (to me, at least!) that Mr Knightley falls for a girl sixteen years his junior – but then again, perhaps not. I’m not a guy, and I don’t live back then. (Lucky – I don’t think WordPress was around at the time!) And I smile each time I think about Emma considering herself ‘wise’ at the grand age of – what was it? Early 20’s or something?! Ha! (I’m 37 and still “invariably silly”!)

The recent film starring Gwyneth Paltrow was just as light-hearted as Austen’s novel. The Casting Director made some excellent choices – I particularly enjoyed Toni Collette, and no, I don’t think that it’s just because she’s an Aussie. I loved the addition of the ‘archery’ scene, which was probably rather unrealistic but made for good visual imagery. Plus it allowed for the addition of the line, “Try to not kill my dogs.” Which was a cutesy sort of line, aimed at getting a laugh, and perfect for use in the trailer. What I didn’t like so much was the emphasis on Emma’s thoughts when talking with Mrs Weston regarding her brother-in-law’s advice to Mr Knightley. Although it made for good trailer footage, “I love John!” “I hate John!”, I have to wonder if the reason for the emphasis on the scene was to GET that footage, specifically FOR the trailer. It did seem just a little forced…

All in all though, enjoyable. And that’s a wrap!