Tangible Progress in Topic 4?

Improvements

As I am given formal feedback on my blogs, I thought I’d see if I addressed these in this weeks edition.

Here are a few points I have been given in criticism of my previous blogs:

Poor grammar, No Links to Images, Improved structure of blog, No clear ending to blog.

I obviously tried to address these, with proof reading of my blog to check for grammactical errors. I linked my images and used licence free images. I also used sub-titles and tried to clear up the structure of my blog also. With a less ‘open-ended’ ending to my blog.

Thoughts on my blog

My blog – on discrimination, has made me wonder whether the fact I am a white male, has helped or hindered me in applications and in professional circles? It also has made me think: Do I really want people to know my thoughts, opinions jobs ect.? Will this affect me in the future when applying to jobs?

Also, it has made me question my unconcious… When put in a situation of hiring, I cannot say I wouldn’t use the unconcious bias as described in the blog.

Thoughts on other blogs

https://holliekinch.wordpress.com/2015/11/16/online-privacy-is-still-important/

I thought she raised good points and importantly – different points. So it was good to see different ethical issues in business raised.

https://bryonykeen.wordpress.com/2015/11/21/i-spy-with-my-little-eye-everything-about-you-online/#comments

I liked the link between last weeks blog and to see progression with the topic of privacy and how it related to the workplace.

image source:
http://media.photobucket.com/user/mani_sos3xy/media/untitled.jpg.html?filters%5Bterm%5D=progress&filters%5Bprimary%5D=images&sort=1&o=127

 

Social Media – A Business Class Weapon of Discrimination

Today, I’m tasked with discussing ethical issues of Social Media in the Education or Business realm. I chose the issue of Discrimination – both positive and negative.

How do Businesses use Social Media?

We know from Mr Blythes’ Blog from last week, 94% of employers have admitted to using social media website LinkedIn in recruitment. Also, 1 in 5 of jobseekers have professional information on their Facebook profiles. Which is also used by recruiters to check the suitability of a job applicant.

My LinkedIn profile – I reveal my University, Ethnicity, Gender, Job. Can this make me a victim of discrimination?

 

 

What is the Ethical Issue?

The issue I’m raising is that of ‘Discrimination’. This is how recruiters can discriminate against candidates by their race, gender, religion, style, marital status, disability and so on…

Although clearly, a recruiter can go on someones LinkedIn page, see that the candidate is black and decide not to recruit the person based on their identity – this is just racism.

But do we discriminate without thinking about it?

A lot of research has gone into this – called Unconscious Bias. Asking whether we discriminate without being conscious to it.
As humans, we process 11 million bits of information per second, but are only conscious of 40 bits. (source) So we make many unconscious decisions each second.

Studies have also shown that people, using information gathered through our lives, place instant judgement on people, whether we try to or not. Here take the Harvard test on Implicit Bias.

So What?

This shows, that regardless of who you are, you will probably be guilty of unconscious bias. UCAS are now going to go name-blind in recruitment to stop racial bias. (source) So it raises questions that with recruitment using LinkedIn, revealing a lot about our identity – how do we know we aren’t being discriminated against? So should Social Media be used by businesses?

Maybe they should just be more careful like UCAS…

 

 

The best video to explain unconscious bias and what it means in the workplace.

 

Image Source: http://media.photobucket.com/user/RobertOak/media/stop_discrimination.jpg.html?filters%5Bterm%5D=discrimination&filters%5Bprimary%5D=images&sort=1&o=33 Licence free on photobucket.

 

 

 

Reflecting on Authentic Professional Profiles

Looking back at my Blog Post:

In my blog this week, I took a more cynical line than most on the topic. This was as I felt that it was an un-blogged side of the story.

I feel although a reader hoping to create an ‘authentic’ online professional profile may not learn too much about techniques. They have thought more about more the reasons why they are doing what they’re doing.

The writing of the blog was a learning experience for me, I learned a lot about my own online profile, and for me to question the real reasons why my profile is what it is? With new Cyber powers being sought by the Home Secretary, giving us even less privacy and control over our online lives. Yes – we are being forced into a professional profile: By the Home Secretary, the competitive job market and an unconscious media stimulation.

The personal lessons I have learned are to definitely limit my online usage – for personal reasons of being free from unhealthy negative news and social pressures. And also as anything you say online can and will be used against you.

My comments on other blogs:
https://sophiepitman.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/developing-your-professional-online-profile-is-linkedin-enough/

https://jblytheblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/08/developing-your-professional-online-profile/#comments

But in a literary sense, I have tried to improve the format of my blog and the clarity of the blog. Which I believe I cleared up from the blog, as well as the relevance of the blog.

When will the ‘Professional Profile’ become a ‘Professional Lifestyle’?

We are used to the humorous side of unprofessional things we do online, typified by the recent Barclays Digital Eagle Adverts.

It’s tupacaintdead69@hotmail.co.uk…

We are all now, whether we know it or not – building a professional online profile. Only a digital madman would post anything erring on the controversial side. The days of stirring up a hot debate on Facebook with an edgy status are gone. Unless it’s a fashionable Guardian Article slamming the Government, you’re not likely to see much Political fracas online – never mind blatant racism in the Ms Sacco case.

As we’ve discussed on my blogs recently, nothing you do online is deleted. With GCHQ with ‘Project Karma‘, building an online profile of you using your accounts. Where even websites such as Pornhub and other Google searches attributed to you by the spying agency. Where they gather over 60 billion pieces of data about our online habits each day.

This need for privacy and professionalism online wasn’t thought of in futurology, I think one incident sums it up perfectly: Google Glass Bar Fight.
Online, we have a choice to go online or not, but by being recorded by other people and having normal life digitized, we lose our true freedom of expression.

Having a professional online profile is very important – you don’t want to offend or put people off from hiring you, where you also want to be able to show off your abilities. But I think that is where the building of the professional profile should stay – in cyberspace. We shouldn’t become enslaved by the vision of a professional image in sacrifice of everyday liberties we take for granted.

So yes, I do think that changing your email account from footymadmatt@live.co.uk to mattbaker@live.co.uk is a reasonable change. So too is creating a LinkedIn profile.
Creating a your own Digital Brand, is a good and effective way of doing this. So simply for me, I signed up to a website to make all of my online profiles have the same photo. This is a first step in creating your online brand – making your pages uniform and unique to you.

Could you be spied on using technology?

But these steps is where it should end, I think the future of wearable technology presents a change. Online we are accountable for what we do online, as anyone can see it. But what we say between friends isn’t. Which raises the question, with all the new technology in wearables coming through, will we now have to behave as we do online in our day to day lives?

An interesting video to dwell on about digital usages.

Image Sources:
http://www.deviantart.com/art/back-To-The-Future-482544203 by Steve Conman

http://www.barclays.co.uk/digitaleagles video screenshot.

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