July 8, 2024
Providence House continues to build our residents’ workforce development skills. Last week, we focused on being professional. This week, we will learn skills for having a healthy digital identity.
Topic: Digital Identity
Your digital identity is a reflection of yourself. It comes from content that you post or that others post about you. This content includes text, photos, and videos posted on blogs, social media, and other places on the internet. When a post becomes popular, or viral, it may be shared with a wide audience on the internet. It is important to create posts with this audience in mind. Your identity and digital footprint should accurately reflect the image you want to show now — and in the future — to family, friends, school, employers, and others online.
Basic Guidelines for Digital Identity Creation
1. Think before you post. Make sure everything you post or share matches what you want your image to be.
2. Remove negative content. Try to remove negative, false, or embarrassing content. Ask others to delete it or report it.
3. Post responsibly. Do not post or share content that shows irresponsible or illegal behavior.
4. Share your passion. Share things you are passionate about.
5. Protect your privacy. Use a different name on online accounts or use security features such as strong passwords and privacy settings.
6. Avoid bad behavior everywhere. These days, bad behavior in person or online can easily be captured on video and shared with a wide audience. Take care to behave well in every setting.
7. Share accurate information. Do not post or share false or inaccurate information.
Discussions
These days social media content is causing people to miss out on opportunities such as jobs, promotions, and even scholarships. Some posts can even land them in jail. PH Staff will discuss with residents what a healthy digital presence looks like and the benefits of it. Several of our residents are aspiring business owners, so our discussions will include how a healthy digital presence could enhance their streams of income one day. Staff will discuss mistakes made and what was learned from those mistakes in order to open a dialogue about the importance of keeping ones digital identify.
Workforce Development at Providence House is open to its residents and the community as a whole. Have questions? Contact Dr. Whittney Polley, Director of Education at 318-221-7887 or wpolley@theprovidencehouse.com.