Mapping My Digital Space

 I find the discussion between being a visitor or a resident of the internet to be fascinating. David White describes this phenomenon to be a wide range, or continuum of, modes of online engagement. There is not one specific way to engage with the internet which is better than the other. However, I think it is interesting to think about how everyone who we interact with in the real word, is apart of their own online community to some extent. Visitors use the internet to complete a task or find an answer and then resort back to what they were previously doing. Residents use the internet to connect to, or be with other people. I think if we wanted to get to know the people around us better, we could start by getting to know their digital lives. This is also applicable students. 

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Personal

Within my personal life, I am most frequently a resident of iMessage, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram. I have accounts that I regularly post myself, my family, my friends, and my life. I care about the friends and family I follow. I care about the celebrities and influencers I follow. I have found wisdom, advice, and positive messages within the pages of the people I follow. I feel inspired to cook, watch movies, and listen to music based on what others have mentioned. My digital status is mostly being accessed after school and on the weekends. There isn't enough time to post selfies when you have 29 six year old's in front of you! On average, I spend 2 more hours each day on my phone over the weekend compared to the weekday. This past summer I found myself mindlessly scrolling feeds longer than I used to during the school year. I began to feel these outlets were not giving me the same pleasure and escape I am used to getting from these apps. I think this speaks to the kind of balance we should have with social media apps. I am grateful to have a job where I don't spend more time on social media than I do now. I have peers who complain of boredom, social media fatigue, and a lower sense of purpose with their work from home jobs with minimal human interaction. 

I also am a visitor with some personal apps on my phone. My bank, credit card, and investing app are all there for periodic checking but they are not places I feel connected to. I have had a Twitter account for a few years but have never gravitated towards it. Similarly, I have Classpass and Spotify accounts but I use them casually, without much thinking or care put towards it. Spotify has student discounted accounts that Dominican students can access by the way!

Professional 

Within my professional life I use some apps like Clever, Slack, and Groupme on a daily basis. I use these applications more often during the school year than over the summer. I am beginning to use Wix and Blogger more often for this class and hopefully I will continue. I placed Instagram in the middle between Professional and Personal because I have found some great teaching communities on Instagram where I have found good phonics resources, uplifting messages, and similar experiences. 

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I am a visitor to apps like Clever, SignUpGenius, Linkedin, and Remind. I use these for work but only for the purpse that they are intended and then I move on. I make a SignUpGenius sheet twice a year for parent teacher conferences and that is it. I placed Youtube and Gmail on the border between professional and personal because I use them both often but only for what is needed. I am a visitor on the videos and pages but I do not engage with the posts or post things of my own. Finally, I use Classdojo every day to reward students for positive behaviors seen in class, however, I do not engage with the messaging features they provide or other resources they have. 

Overall, I am satisfied with my mixture of Professional and Personal internet usage. Additionally, I am satisfied with my mixture of residential and visitor use of these apps. I think it is normal to gravitate towards some interests more than others. This module has made me wonder about my significant others and friends digital space usage? I wonder how their different careers could skew their usage times and types of applications?