Blog Post #7: Dana

I have spent my entire online life ensuring that I avoid an internet footprint. I am a member of a variety of social networking tools and I have a series of miscellaneous internet accounts and identities but you won’t find me on any of those sites (unless I direct you to them) because I've protected myself from being searchable.

I'm privy to the belief that social networking sites are the go-to searches for the job market, and I don't intend for my entire career to exist solely within the sphere of academia. So when I do "go public" (with goodness knows what), I will rely heavily, if not solely, on social networking accounts (specifically Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook since they are the most popular social media forums). I’d host a big linking party to all these sites via an about.me page which would also provide an opportunity for me to upload/link to a resume, and would direct viewers to (now hypothetical) future publishments and collaborative efforts.

Getting your name out there seems important, so like everybody else I'll be looking for conference opportunities via sites like Upenn's Call For Papers which I believe we were directed to in an earlier module. Lately I've been receiving a pretty solid influx of opportunities for conferences thanks to the VT English departments listserv, so for now I'll focus on those. I've never had a problem with keeping on top of media trends, and now I have about two columns worth of bookmarked material chock full of everything I could ever want to know about literary academia.

It's good to keep all this stuff in mind, but for me, creating an online identity is a project for a different day.

Blog Post 7: Kevin Runs Third Person Into the Ground and Still is Not Silent Bob

When I Google myself, I usually end up with a list of the name-faming director's latest antics. I have to be very specific to dig up anything remotely related to my budding scholarly career, and even then the online list is far from complete (apparently subject to the whims of an undergrad-run paper).

My plan to disseminate my digital scholarly presence and stay "in the loop" includes eventually joining MLA, CCCC(no P), and LinkedIn. Like Robert, I really enjoy conferences...and plan to submit to many. I used to pay dues to the American Philosophical Association so I could attend their big annual do in Philadelphia (2009) and New York (2010) with Concord University's Philosophical Society; I did not present, but I enjoyed the talks immensely.