How Should Faculty Manage Their Online Reputation Across Search and Social Media?

TL;DR

Faculty should manage their online reputation by making accurate, relevant information easy to find across search, social media, mobile, personal websites, and academic platforms. Perry Hewitt contrasts the old homepage-and-directory model with how people actually search, while Judy Singer highlights the risk of mistaken online identity. Read on for practical guidance on discoverability, professional boundaries, privacy settings, and the overlap between individual and institutional brands.

Transcript

Welcome, everybody. Thanks for coming out on this glorious first day of spring. I'm Judy Singer. I'm the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity. And we organize these events for faculty as a way of helping faculty understand how to navigate their intellectual presence in the world and think about what kind of imprint that they wa... Read More

Key Insights

• 💍 Academics can effectively manage their online reputation by using various tools and platforms to showcase their expertise and engage with their audience.
• 🧑‍🎓 Balancing personal and professional boundaries is crucial when interacting with students and peers on social media platforms.
• 🆘 Privacy settings and careful content curation can help maintain a positive online reputation.
• 🥺 Building a strong online presence can lead to increased visibility, networking opportunities, and improved connections within the academic community.

Questions & Answers

Q: How should faculty manage their online reputation across search and social media?

Faculty should consider how people find and perceive them through search results, social media, mobile experiences, institutional pages, personal websites, and academic platforms. They can strengthen that presence by sharing accurate, valuable information about their expertise while carefully curating content and privacy settings.

Q: Why does search matter for a faculty member’s online reputation?

Perry Hewitt explains that people no longer rely only on an institution’s homepage and directory to find faculty information; they often go directly to Google. Search results therefore shape whether people quickly find a useful biography, expertise, and other relevant information.

Q: What can go wrong when online information is inaccurate?

Judy Singer describes a case in which online sources fused details about librarian Rose Agree with those of another person described as a geriatric porn star. The mistaken identity reached Wikipedia and other sources, illustrating how inaccurate information can seriously distort someone’s online reputation.

Q: Why are traditional faculty directories often insufficient?

The example faculty directory page provided an email address and Harvard acronyms such as FAS and SOM, but no biography or other useful context. A visitor could also have to navigate from the Harvard homepage through a department site and multiple faculty categories before finding the desired person.

Q: How do institutional and individual brands overlap online?

Hewitt says there is a Venn diagram between the subjects an institution is known for and the expertise of its individual faculty. Faculty-finding technology can help represent both Harvard and its faculty more clearly online.

Q: How can academics use social media to support their professional presence?

Existing page guidance recommends using platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to share research findings, useful articles, and knowledge. Academics can also participate in relevant discussions and connect with students, peers, and the wider academic community.

Q: How can academics balance professional visibility with personal privacy?

They can adjust privacy settings, curate content carefully, and separate personal and professional online personas. The existing guidance also suggests using a pseudonym or professional username on selected platforms when that helps preserve boundaries.

Q: What are the benefits of a strong online presence for academics?

A strong online presence can increase visibility and create opportunities for networking and collaboration. It can also improve engagement with students and colleagues while helping academics connect with developments in their field.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Establishing a strong online presence is important for academics, as it helps in disseminating knowledge and connecting with students and peers.

• Tools like social media, personal websites, and academic platforms can be used to showcase expertise and engage with the academic community.

• Balancing personal and professional boundaries is necessary, as students may connect with instructors on social media platforms. Privacy settings and careful content curation can help maintain a professional image.