The idea of constructing a professional identity is interesting to me in the context of social networking sites. In A Networked Self, Giplin explains, “Public professional identities are constructed through a combination of social ties and relational content…Connections to other users on such sites have been described as ‘public displays of connection’ that add value and validity to an individual’s identity performance” (233). If we think about the idea of professional identity as it is shaped through our engagement with social networking sites, it seems like the online-networking arena lends itself more suitably to some professions than others. I’m thinking of academics (and perhaps specifically communication academics, and perhaps more specifically rhetoric academics).

My brother owns a body-care business and sells products to spas. He for sure has a twitter and Facebook account as to foster “information sharing, networking, and establishing professional expertise” (232). The success of his business greatly depends on his online presence and interaction because his associates, clients, and even competitors are always online. You would think that, based on the idea of “information sharing, networking, and establishing professional expertise,” that a profession in academia would go hand in hand with social networking. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

In class, we have talked at length about collapse among our social circles, and Giplin mentions, “Online interactive media further complicate the question of boundaries” (233). Through our in-class discussions, we have become spooked by the idea of privacy breakdown, although Danah Boyd in The Social Media Reader attempts (albeit pathetically) to argue in behalf of public disclosure (76). Most of my professors are super conservative in class and online about what they disclose to students, and I personally will not become “friends” with any of my students on Facebook until long after the semester is over. There is an inherent resistance to let those boundaries collapse in academia, even though one could argue that the students are our “clients,” or at least those of the university. What’s more is, I know graduate students who are incredibly leery of making public anything in their professional toolkit. Vitas, lesson plans, and teaching philosophies are kept locked up because of the fear that they will be copied or somehow altered.

This doesn’t mean that academics haven’t attempted to enter into the social networking world. Academia.com allows academics to network within a scholarly context, but my own account doesn’t seem to garner a lot of traffic, and I’m not really interested in other people’s profiles. Based on the principles of “information sharing, networking, and establishing professional expertise,” why wouldn’t academics take to the opportunities of online networking? Have they? Furthermore, Giplin says, “Constructing a professional identity also means constructing the identity of the profession” (234). How can communication scholars help the much needed effort to construct a distinct discipline for the professional world of communication, especially amid the barriers I’ve mentioned?