COM 540 Final Project I: Brand Identity Paper Guidelines and Rubric Overview Being active on social media can benefit you both personally and professionally. Social media not only allows you to connect with friends and family regarding personal matters, but to network professionally as well. The opportunities for forming positive personal and professional connections using social media are impressive, but unfortunately so are the opportunities for mistakes. Many people use the same platform for personal and professional purposes, which unintentionally blurs the line when the intent is developing a brand. Recognizing and planning for the inevitable confluence of personal and professional identities online is vital for developing and maintaining personal and professional brands. This class will help you develop strategies to navigate the highly networked environment of online social media and manage the dialectic between personal and professional brands. In this first part of the project, Final Project I, you will write a paper that explores the relationship between personal and professional branding. Whether we like it or not, our personal identity online will have an influence on our professional identity. Learning to manage this influence is vital for ensuring that the influence is always positive. You will research and analyze high-profile examples of where this influence was not so positive and make research-based recommendations to professionals for how to handle and avoid such situations. In the second part of the project, Final Project II, you will create a presentation on the online presence you have been building all term. This includes both the professional and the personal brands you maintain. You will introduce the goals you developed early in the course and discuss the platforms to which you posted original and curated content to achieve those goals. You will need to justify your decisions and discuss how this work will influence your branding in the future. The project is supported by two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two and Four. The final submission of Final Project I will occur in Module Six. This assessment addresses the following course outcomes:  Integrate professional principles and personal branding goals for establishing and enhancing a personal brand image  Differentiate between personal brands and professional online presences based on appropriate research for developing brand strategies  Analyze the confluence of personal and professional identities in interactive and social online media by applying communication theory and best practices Prompt This will be a research-based paper about the dialectic (tension) between personal and professional online presences. You will introduce this relational dialectic and ...

1. COM 540 Final Project I: Brand Identity Paper Guidelines and
Rubric
Overview
Being active on social media can benefit you both personally
and professionally. Social media not only allows you to connect
with friends and family regarding
personal matters, but to network professionally as well. The
opportunities for forming positive personal and professional
connections using social media are
impressive, but unfortunately so are the opportunities for
mistakes. Many people use the same platform for personal and
professional purposes, which
unintentionally blurs the line when the intent is developing a
brand.
Recognizing and planning for the inevitable confluence of
personal and professional identities online is vital for
developing and maintaining personal and
professional brands. This class will help you develop strategies
to navigate the highly networked environment of online social
media and manage the dialectic
between personal and professional brands.
In this first part of the project, Final Project I, you will write a
paper that explores the relationship between personal and
professional branding. Whether we like
it or not, our personal identity online will have an influence on
our professional identity. Learning to manage this influence is
vital for ensuring that the influence

2. is always positive. You will research and analyze high-profile
examples of where this influence was not so positive and make
research-based recommendations to
professionals for how to handle and avoid such situations.
In the second part of the project, Final Project II, you will
create a presentation on the online presence you have been
building all term. This includes both the
professional and the personal brands you maintain. You will
introduce the goals you developed early in the course and
discuss the platforms to which you posted
original and curated content to achieve those goals. You will
need to justify your decisions and discuss how this work will
influence your branding in the future.
The project is supported by two milestones, which will be
submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold
learning and ensure quality final
submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules
Two and Four. The final submission of Final Project I will
occur in Module Six.
This assessment addresses the following course outcomes:
for establishing and enhancing a personal brand image
brands and professional online
presences based on appropriate research for developing brand
strategies
identities in interactive and social online media by applying
communication theory and best
practices

3. Prompt
This will be a research-based paper about the dialectic (tension)
between personal and professional online presences. You will
introduce this relational dialectic
and explain why it exists. This will be followed by the analysis
of high-profile examples of the relationship between personal
(private) and professional becoming
visible in online media. You will then make recommendations,
directed toward today’s online media professionals, for dealing
with this dialectic on a daily basis.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Online Presence – In this section of the paper, you will
introduce the dialectic between personal and professional online
presences. You will support
your overview of this relationship with relevant research. You
will also state your views/opinion on the dialectic, which will
set up the remainder of your
paper.
A. Introduce the dialectic between personal and professional
online presences.
B. Explain why this dialectic exists. Support your explanation
with research from academic resources.
II. Personal and Professional Identity – In this section, you will

4. analyze the confluence of personal and professional identities in
interactive and social
online media. To do this, you will research communication
theory and best practices regarding online identities and apply
that research to actual
situations.
A. Identify best practices in personal branding. Support your
identification with research from academic resources. Consider
how you wish to
develop yourself as a communication professional in online
social media.
B. Select high-profile examples where personal and professional
identities and brands have come into conflict in online media.
1. For each example, discuss the concept of an “authentic self”
online and its relationship to professional identities. Support
your
discussion with research-based principles.
2. Discuss the ethical implications of what happened in each
example.
3. Explain whether or not you believe professional standards
were adhered to in each situation.
C. Based on best practices, recommend improvements for how
the individual(s) involved in each situation could have handled
the conflict
between their personal and professional identities more
effectively.
III. Conclusions – The purpose of this section is for you to
develop recommendations to professionals for how they should
address the dialectic between

5. personal and professional brands in online media. Your
recommendations will be based on the examples you researched
and best practices you have
identified.
A. Explain what considerations a professional should make
when developing his or her own personal brand online. Support
your explanation with
examples from your research.
B. Explain what considerations a professional should make
when developing his or her professional brand online. Support
your explanation with
examples from your research.
C. Develop a set of principles for online professionals on how
to develop a personal brand online that effectively markets
oneself while maintaining
professional standards. Support your recommendations with
examples from the high-profile cases you addressed above.
Milestones
Milestone One: Online Presence
In Module Two, you will explore the dialectic (conflict)
between personal and professional online presences. How do we
experience and deal with the tensions
between what we want to share about our personal self and our
need to present a professional image as well? To explore this
tension, you will write a short
paper (2–3 pages) using at least two academic resources
explaining what this tension is and why it exists. This milestone

6. will be graded using the Final Project I
Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Personal and Professional Identity
In Module Four, you will analyze the confluence (coming
together) of the personal and professional identities in
interactive and social online media. To complete
this analysis, you will build upon the research you conducted in
the Module Three journal assignment on “best practices” for
online branding. You will select at
least two high-profile examples where personal and professional
identities and brands have come into conflict in online media.
For each example, you will discuss
the concept of an “authentic self” online and its relationship to
professional identities, discuss the ethical implications of what
happened, and explain whether or
not you feel professional standards were adhered to. Finally,
based on the best practices you researched, you will apply those
standards to the high-profile
examples you chose and offer suggestions on how to improve
the brand message. The paper should be 3–5 pages. This
milestone will be graded using the Final
Project I Milestone Two Rubric.
Final Project I Submission: Brand Identity Paper
In Module Six, you will submit the final paper, which will
include Milestones One and Two (after integrating feedback
from the instructor) and a conclusion in
which you will reflect on the best practices you believe
professionals should follow when creating personal and
professional brands online. Create a set of
guidelines for personal and professional online branding online.
The final paper should be 8–12 pages. This final project will be
graded using the Final Project I
Rubric (below).

7. Final Project I Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your brand identity paper should be
8–12 pages, double-spaced, have one-inch margins, and use 12-
point Times New Roman font
and the most current version of APA format.
Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in
Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade
Center. For more information,
review these instructions.
Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (90%) Needs
Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Online Presence:
Personal and
Professional
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
shows keen insight into the
tension that develops between
multiple online presences
Introduces the dialectic
between personal and
professional online presences
Introduces the dialectic

8. between personal and
professional online presences,
but introduction is cursory or
contains inaccuracies
Does not introduce the dialectic
between personal and
professional online presences
9.5
Online Presence:
Dialectic
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
supporting academic research
demonstrates a complex grasp
of the dialectic
Explains why this dialectic
exists, supporting explanation
with academic research
Explains why this dialectic
exists, supporting explanation
with research, but explanation
is cursory or supporting
research is not academic
Does not explain why this
dialectic exists
9.5
Personal and

9. Professional
Identity: Best
Practices
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
supporting academic research
demonstrates a complex grasp
of best practices in branding
Identifies best practices in
personal branding, supporting
identification with academic
research
Identifies best practices in
personal branding supporting
identification with research, but
not all practices identified are
accurate, or supporting
research is not academic
Does not identify best practices
in personal branding
9.5
Personal and
Professional
Identity:
Relationship
Meets “Proficient” criteria and

10. makes cogent connections
among research-based
principles, online identities, and
the relationship between
“authentic” and professional
identities
Discusses the concept of an
“authentic self” online and its
relationship to professional
identities, supporting
discussion with research-based
principles for each example
Discusses the concept of an
“authentic self” online and its
relationship to professional
identities for each example, but
discussion is cursory, contains
inaccuracies, or is not
supported with research-based
principles
Does not discuss the concept of
an “authentic self” online and
its relationship to professional
identities
9.5
Personal and
Professional
Identity: Ethical
Implications

11. Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
details show a complex grasp of
the ethical implications
Discusses the ethical
implications of what happened
in each example
Discusses the ethical
implications of what happened
in each example, but discussion
is cursory or contains
inaccuracies
Does not discuss the ethical
implications of what happened
in each example
9.5
http://snhu-
media.snhu.edu/files/production_documentation/formatting/rubr
ic_feedback_instructions_student.pdf
Personal and
Professional
Identity:
Professional
Standards

12. Meets “Proficient” criteria and
makes cogent connections
between the details of each
situation and professional
ethical standards
Explains whether or not
professional standards were
adhered to in each situation
Explains whether or not
professional standards were
adhered to in each situation,
but explanation is cursory or
contains inaccuracies
Does not explain whether or
not professional standards were
adhered to in each situation
9.5
Personal and
Professional
Identity:
Individual(s)
Involved
Meets “Proficient” criteria
improvements show a complex
grasp of the interplay between
personal and professional
identities

13. Recommends improvements
based on best practices for how
the individual(s) involved in
each situation could have
handled the conflict between
their personal and professional
identities more effectively
Recommends improvements for
how the individual(s) involved
in each situation could have
handled the conflict between
their personal and professional
identities more effectively, but
recommendations are illogical
or not based on best practices
Does not recommend
improvements based on best
practices for how the
individual(s) involved in each
situation could have handed
the conflict between their
personal and professional
identities more effectively
9.5
Conclusions:
Personal Brand
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
makes cogent connections
between research and personal

14. brand development
Explains what considerations a
professional should make when
developing his or her personal
brand online, supporting
explanation with examples from
research
Explains what considerations a
professional should make when
developing his or her personal
brand online, but explanation is
cursory or not supported with
examples from research
Does not explain what
considerations a professional
should make when developing
his or her personal brand
9.5
Conclusions:
Professional Brand
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
makes cogent connections
between research and
professional brand
development
Explains what considerations a
professional should make when
developing his or her

15. professional brand online,
supporting explanation with
examples from research
Explains what considerations a
professional should make when
developing his or her
professional brand online, but
explanation is cursory or not
supported with examples from
research
Does not explain what
considerations a professional
should make when developing
his or her professional brand
9.5
Conclusions: Set of
Principles
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
principles show a complex
grasp of the foundational
nature of professional
standards in personal brand
development
Develops a set of principles for
online professionals on how to
develop a personal brand
online that effectively markets
oneself while maintaining
professional standards

16. Develops a set of principles for
online professionals on how to
develop a personal brand
online, but principles do not
address effectively marketing
oneself or maintain
professional standards
Does not develop a set of
principles for online
professionals on how to
develop a personal brand
online that effectively markets
oneself while maintaining
professional standards
9.5
Articulation of
Response
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and
organization and is presented in
a professional and easy-to-read
format
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization

17. that negatively impact
readability and articulation of
main ideas
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
5
Total 100%