Workshop at LSE Power conference

1. Using social media
effectively: developing
our personal and
professional identities
Dr Jane Secker
Copyright and Digital Literacy Advisor, LSE

2. Learning outcomes
 Understand some of the positive and negative aspects
associated with using social media (particularly as a
woman)
 Reflect on your current and future use of social media
 Reflect on your attitudes towards sharing personal and
professional information about themselves online
 Evaluate a range of social media tools that might be
useful to build an online identity they are comfortable
with.

3. What is social media?

4. It’s just the web…....

5. Which social media tools do
you…..
 Use ✔
 Not use ✖
 Want to use ✔
 Don’t want to use ✖
 Don’t know what they are! 

6. Why use social media?
Social media apps by Jamie Howie licensed under CC-BY

7. Social media can help with…..
Finding
information /
keep up to
date
Planning and
managing
projects
Making and
sharing notes
Storing files /
work
collaboratively
Twitter
Facebook
Trello or
Wunderlist
Slack
Google Drive
Dropbox
Mendeley
Evernote
Google Docs

8. Social media can help with…..
Storing
managing
sharing &
resources
Promoting
and sharing
your work /
interests
Professional
networking
Creativity
and using
digital media
Goodreads
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Research Gate
WordPress
Twitter
Flickr
You Tube
Gliffy
SlideShare

9. What is holding you back?
Road closed by The Local People https://flic.kr/p/8Gm3KP

10. The dark side of social media
Come to the Dark Side by Chris and Holley Melton licensed under
CC-BY: https://flic.kr/p/nxstvi

11. The dark side of social media
 ‘Free’ services are usually selling you / your data
 Loss of privacy / digital footprint
 Harassment / cyberbullying / trolling
 Obsessive / compulsive behaviour / increased
loneliness
 Filter bubbles – reinforces your own viewpoint
 Lack of digital skills or knowledge of tools

12. Sharing
 How do you feel about sharing personal information at work?
 What do you share?
 Opinions on politics / religion / sexuality
 Personal details – your partner / family / pets
 Thoughts / feelings / likes / dislikes
 Your health
 Other matters?
 Trust / Respect / Empathy are all key here but a personal matter
 Your approach to social media should reflect your values

13. Personal / Professional you

14. Or just you?

15. The Social Media toolkit:
Jane’s top ten
1. Wunderlist
2. Twitter
3. Evernote
4. WordPress
5. Dropbox
6. Google Drive
7. Mendeley
8. SlideShare
9. Flickr
10. LinkedIn

16. Time to play
 Pick a social media tool you’ve not used before / or
don’t use to its full potential
 Research it and play in your pair
 Consider if these are something you might use in the
future?
 Can you see benefits / concerns?
 Share with the group one or two points on post-its

17. Some strategies for using
social media effectively
 Regularly review your privacy and security settings
 Be sensible about what you share – never share some
information (DOB, full address, bank or financial information,
mother’s maiden name)
 Google yourself (regularly) or use a Google Alert on your
name
 Consider multiple accounts if you have different identities or
use a nickname
 Review terms of use of new apps you install
 Act quickly if something unpleasant happens – report it

18. Social media nirvana or digital
nightmares?
 Build a positive digital identity
 Don’t be passive – close down accounts you don’t use and
keep accounts you use up to date
 Be thoughtful, mindful, critical in the social media you use
but not paranoid!
 Be aware of when your data is being used – Google
accounts track you, your phone tracks you if location
settings are switched on
 The right to be forgotten is a last resort to remove content
online about you

19. Thanks very much
Any questions?
Find me online
@jsecker
https://janesecker.wordpress.com

20. Further reading
LSE Guide to Twitter http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/twitter-guide/
LSE Blogs: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/
Copying with cyberbullying. NHS Choices:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Bullying/Pages/Cyberbullying.aspx
Using social media safely from University of York:
https://www.york.ac.uk/students/support/health/problems/social-media/
10 tips for engaging pupils and parents in e-safety and digital citizenship. The Guardian.
November 2013: http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/nov/18/10-
tips-digital-citizenship-esafety-pupils-parents
UCISA (2015) Social Media Toolkit. Available at:
http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/groups/exec/socialmedia.aspx
BBC Webwise: Safety tips: http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/0/21259413