Mapping My Digital Space

 

The Internet: Couch Surfing Or Moving In? 

I'm thinking about my current relationship with the internet. Do I drop in for a visit, not even bringing a toothbrush, or am I slowly starting to leave items to declare my residency? 

Visitors & Residents is a continuum by David White intended to help people understand their relationship with the internet. Instead of basing our relationships with the internet on age--like the native vs. immigrant idea--it is focused on how we use the internet and for what purposes. I appreciate that White's idea is a spectrum, where most people fall as both a "visitor" and a "resident," depending on the site and purpose for using it. 

I found White's analogy of the toolbox in his video Visitors and Residents helpful to understanding what it means to be a "visitor" because like tools in a toolbox, sometimes people use a site or a "tool" from the internet and then leave or "return" it once they are finished with a "job," leaving little to no tracks behind them. 

"Residents," on the other hand, establish a home on the Web, leaving marks and aspects of themselves as members of the Web. David S. White and Alison Le Cornu in Visitors and Residents: A New Typology for Online Engagement explain that residents use the internet to "maintain and develop a digital identity" and "when residents log off, an aspect of their persona remains." Digital residents are active participants in online communities professionally and/or personally--sharing information, voicing opinions, and creating content. 

Image Source: pearlynwangblog

Mapping My Digital Living Situation

Although I had never formally tracked and organized my internet use until now, I am generally conscious of the amount of time I spend online each day and for what purposes. Using David White's Visitors and Residents model has helped me narrow in how I use my time online. 

Image Source: Author

More specifically, mapping my digital presence has made me realize the overlap in my personal and professional lives. For example, I have always considered my time spent on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and even Tik Tok to be purely personal; however, as I was tallying my usage during the mapping process, I discovered that I gather a lot of educational tips, tricks, and tools using social media and use it as a way to relate and connect with other educators. For instance, I am part of a Facebook group consisting of middle school English teachers using the same curriculum. Within this group, educators are consistently swapping resources and problem-solving challenges with the curriculum. When I scroll through Facebook and other social media, I frequently find myself spending the majority of my time browsing material within the field of education, whether it be pedagogical strategies, teaching for justice, or English content. 

Interestingly, though, I have noticed that on social media sites, I am more of a resident when it comes to personal content versus professional content. I am much more likely to interact by making a post or leaving a comment if it is pertaining to my family and friends, whereas with content related to my profession, I am more likely to solely browse and take in content. Even though on social media--professionally--I am much more of a visitor than a resident, the spaces in which I have the largest residency and contribute the most content, such as Google Suite and Class Dojo, are digital spaces I use in my professional life. 

The mapping process has made me consider whether or not I would like to dive in deeper as a resident in social media for professional purposes. I look forward to getting my toes wet through exploring our Professional Learning Networks. 

Interested in Your Own Map? 

In the video below, White demonstrates how to create a digital map. 

Link