1. Curating your online presence
Putting your best foot forward in the digital world
MGA EP Workshop 4 June 2018

2. Introductions
 Dr Regan Forrest
 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/reganforrest/ (joined 2007)
 Facebook: facebook.com/regan.forrest (joined 2008?)
 Twitter: @interactivate (joined 2009)
 Instagram: @interactivate (joined 2011?)
 Blog: reganforrest.com.au (2010-2015)

3. Overview
 Why curate an online presence?
 Online presence basics
 Overview of different platforms and their uses
 BREAK
 Creating and maintaining your LinkedIn profile
 Twitter and tweeting at conferences
 BREAK
 Blogging
 Summarise and share with other EP workshop groups

4. Why curate an online presence?
 Develop your reputation/profile
 Bounce, share, develop ideas
 Be part of a global conversation
 Be visible to prospective employers
(or clients)
 Have the tools to research and grow your
network
“I was hired because
of the Internet”
- Colleen Dilenschneider

5. Different online footprints
 Social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram)
 Posts on by social platforms (e.g. LinkedIn articles)
 Stand-alone blogs
 Long-form platforms (e.g. Medium)
 Specialist networking platforms (Academia.edu)
 Podcasting / Video

6. Avatars: first impressions and branding

7. Avatar selection: considerations
 Rule one – don’t have a blank avatar!!
 People will associate you with it
 Do you want to be recognisable?
 Suitability to platform – format and style
 Reflecting your personality and interests vs. keeping it generic
 Consistency vs. changing with the times (age, stage of career, etc)
 Background/cover images can add personality and context to a basic headshot

8. Professional headshot suite

9. Understanding different platforms
(and who uses them)
(2014 data)

10. Matching your presence to the platform
Credit: @johnfoxUX
via Twitter

11. Twitter
Good for:
 Conference hashtags
 Following events in real time
 Getting to know who’s who
 Complementing with networking IRL
Potential issues:
 Brevity without context
 Timezone sensitive (slightly less so lately)
 Generally not where our visitors live
“Australian Twitter is
rubbish!”
- @amyldale

12. Facebook
Good for:
 Very widely used platform
 Groups and pages on areas of interest
 Best platform for connecting to (most)
museum audiences
Potential issues:
 Less “professional”
 Privacy!
 Algorithms can limit what you see

13. Instagram
Good for:
 Pictures say more than words
 Fastest-growing among audiences
 Hashtags
Potential issues:
 Lack of inbuilt reposting limits reach
 Comments more than real dialogue
 Supplementary rather than stand-alone
platform (unless you’re in a highly visual
area of work)

14. Instagram – suggested examples
@timothylongfashioncurator
@aaroncanipe
@ladynaturalist
@museummammy
@latinainmuseums
@museum_whisperer
@amyldale
@oliviameehan_

15. LinkedIn
Good for:
 Virtual business cards
 Stay connected to colleagues who
change employer
 Monitor movements in the field
 Being visible to recruiters and prospective
employers
 Online CV that can include more details
than will fit on your application
Potential issues:
 Groups can be spammy
 Unsolicited sales pitches
 Random job suggestions and
endorsements
 Connection request etiquette

16. Curating online presence in academia
 Academia.edu
 Altmetrics
 Mendeley
 Google scholar

17. Discussion – other
platforms?

18. Staying out of trouble online
 Know your employer’s SM policy:
follow it but don’t fear it
 Don’t feed the trolls: disagree and debate
respectfully
 Consider separate personal & professional
accounts
 Internet memory is “unfairly long”
 . . . But your views will evolve over time and
that’s OK. Own it.

19. Be aware of biases (conscious or otherwise)
 Whose voices are heard and amplified?
 Whose aren’t?
 Network or clique?
 What assumptions are made about you
online?
 What assumptions do you make about
others?
Credit @MariamVeiszadeh via Twitter

20. Break

21. Creating your LinkedIn profile

22. Profile tips
 Professional, recognisable profile picture
 Customise your profile’s URL – and put this on your CV
 Maintain a (reasonably) complete employment history
 Add details as relevant to your career interests: publications, patents, projects, volunteering
 Manage profile order – don’t just leave it to defaults

23. Managing employment history over time

24. LinkedIn profile clinic

25. Using LinkedIn as a networking tool
 Consider writing articles or other activity to boost profile views
 Write recommendations and endorsements (but only genuine ones)
 Change settings if you’re job hunting (or open to offers)
 Look up other people’s profiles prior to a meeting or job interview

26. Connection etiquette
 Don’t be afraid to connect “up” – but only if there is a genuine link
 Personal notes and “thanks for connecting” messages – thoughts???
 Don’t bait-and-switch new connections by immediately trying to sell them something
 Remember people can usually tell when you’ve looked at their profile, if they choose to
 L.I.O.N.s

27. Researching others on LinkedIn
 Search by name, skills, location, organisation
 Research recruiters and selection panel members
 See who’s connected to whom: request introductions (either on the platform or off)
 Visibility on other platforms (e.g. Twitter)

28. Twitter profiles

29. Twitter at Conferences
Features
 Listen in on conversations and observe
what people are finding interesting/
tweetworthy
 Vicariously follow multiple parallel sessions
 An icebreaker for meeting people IRL
 Find others to mix with at social events
 Matching handles to people (particularly
speakers)
Bugs
 “What did she say while I was tweeting
that??”
 Device-juggling distractions
 FOMO and session envy can be
magnified

30. Not sure what to say?
 Start with summarising: noncontroversial, don’t need anything of your own to share
 Be useful: did a speaker mention a website or a report? Post a link to it with the
conference hashtag
 Watch and listen: follow the cue of others for tone and content if you’re not sure

31. Don’t forget – you probably know more
than you think you know!

32. Break

33. Blogging – getting started
 My first blog post: June 2010:
http://reganforrest.com.au/2010/06/a-restless-and-disgruntled-visitor-writes-in-the-monthly/

34. Blogging: finding your voice
 Subject matter: what interests you? What do you know something about?
(What do you want to learn more about?)
 Style: articles, listicles, note form, images, etc.
 Go it alone or as part of a group?
 Test the waters on other platforms: LinkedIn Articles, Medium, etc.

35. Don’t just post it, promote it!
 Share new posts on other platforms
 Build a subscriber base
 Categories and tags for organising and searching

36. Blogging: keeping going
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Number of Blog Posts

37. Blogging roadblocks
 “Content fatigue”
 Time and headspace
 Sometimes it’s just too personal
 Confidentiality and dirty laundry

38. Sample Blogging Layouts
trevorodonnell.com

39. Sample Blogging Layouts
museumtwo.blogspot.com.au/

40. Sample Blogging Layouts
browngirlsmuseumblog.com

41. Sample Blogging Layouts
notyourtypicalmuseumguy.wordpress.com

42. Blogging Frequency and Lifespan
 Ed Rodley https://thinkingaboutmuseums.com/author/erodley/
 Science 365: daily blogging for a year 2012-13
https://scienceforlife365.wordpress.com/about/
 Please be seated https://stevetokar.wordpress.com/

43. Remember what I said about
Impostor Syndrome?

44. Closing thoughts . . .
“I’ve built a brand by being myself and I work hard not to stray far
from that . . . But be a “yourself” who is true to you and also balances
that with what you are trying to do and achieve. . .”
- Colleen Dilenschneider