Social Media Transformation

This assignment is designed as an opportunity to practice creating a professional social media identity. You will begin by creating a profile that is based on what we have covered in class to date and your own opinion, an “unprofessional” profile. Then, you will redesign it to be more professional. The assignment culminates with a written reflection where you provide arguments for why these two profiles are un/professional. Your claims must be supported by the readings we have covered to date in class. By creating profiles for the fictional or historical personae of your choice, it will allow you to manipulate an online identity without risk to your own personal, professional social media presence.

Learning Outcomes Covered in Assignment

Examine the impact of social media and digital spaces on the concept and expression of identity.Discuss ways to protect privacy and maintain control over personal information.Create a digital identity that is authentic and professional.

I encourage you to select someone from history or popular culture. The sample Facebook page uses John F. Kennedy, a figure from American history. Feel free to draw your persona from film, television, literature, or history: some of the suggested characters include Snow White (a fairy tale character) and Donald Duck (a Disney character). I suggest that you choose someone who was not used as an example. Also, if you are using the template, be sure to fully alter the details: if a profile on, say, Wonder Woman includes biographical information (like JFK’s birth date) from the template, it will impact the gradeAssignment

Using the offline Facebook template provided, create two profiles for a fictional character or historical figure of your choosing. The first version of the Facebook profile should be “unprofessional”. The second version should be re-designed to be “professional”. Finally, you will submit a short written summary explaining what specifically about the profiles makes them un/professional. This explanation must be supported by evidence taken from at least three course readings.Tips on completing this assignment:Use the resources provided on Blackboard to create the profiles for the fictional or historical personae of your choice.Use the template provided to create both the unprofessional and revised professional version of the characters’ Facebook profile. You should not create either of these profiles on a live social networking site, even using a throwaway account.Remember that a social media presence has more to it than just a profile picture! Be creative and consider using status updates, bio information, and interactions with other friends (fictional, that you make up yourself) to help provide evidence that this is an un/professional profile.What is to be submitted:Your completed submission will include the following components:An “unprofessional” Facebook profile for the persona of your choice.A “professional” re-imagining of the Facebook profile.A written reflection (1000 words max) addressing the following:What, in your opinion, makes the first profile unprofessional. Be as specific as possible.What, in your opinion, makes the second, redesigned profile professional. Be as specific as possible.How at least three readings covered in this course to date support your arguments about the profiles being professional and/or unprofessional.A works cited/reference page that is formatted according to APA or MLA guidelines.

Evaluation:

Please see the Rubric on the next page for Evaluation Criteria.Submission:

Email submissions will not be graded.Assignments must be submitted through the Blackboard assignment submission link. A complete assignment will have three files attached:Unprofessional Facebook profile: Your modified version of the Facebook profile page template must be submitted as a .ppt, .pptx, or PDF file.Professional Facebook profile: Your modified version of the Facebook profile page template must be submitted as a .ppt, .pptx, or PDF file.Reflection: Your written reflection must be submitted as a Word document or PDF file.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarized assignments will receive a mark of zero on the assignment and a failing grade on the course you may also receive a permanent note of plagiarism on your academic record. Please note: even you use work you previously wrote yourself, it is still considered plagiarism if you do not cite it properly in your paper.

Assignment Rubric

Criteria	Points	Comments	Mark
Unprofessional Social Media Profile:Social media profile is convincing and complete, including profile picture, status updates, bio, interaction with other users, etc.	25
Professional Social Media Profile:Social media profile is convincing and complete, including profile picture, status updates, bio, interaction with other users, etc.	25
Reflection
Explanation of unprofessional profile:Clear and convincing explanation of why the profile is “unprofessional”. Makes specific reference to elements of the profile and describes why they are unprofessional.	15
Explanation of professional profile:Clear and convincing explanation of why the redesigned profile is “professional”. Makes specific reference to changes made to the profile that makes it more professional than the previous version.	15
Relationship to course readings:
Includes proper works cited page that is properly formatted in APA or MLA style.
Style: Proper grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and paragraph structure used throughout entire document. Uses proper APA or MLA citations.	15
Total	100