The Court of Public Opinion

Question: What do many 13-18 year old high school students have in common with billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling?

Answer: Naivety. The illusion that in 2014 what they do and say to others will have no impact on their personal brand. 

As we have learned over the last few days, everyone is subject to public scrutiny and we must be mindful of what we say, do and post both in the real as well as the digital world.

Students enter my class at three levels:

Level One: No online identity. They have never used sites like Twitter or Facebook. Either they think social media is a waste of their time, they are prohibited by their parents or they are just too busy to dedicate much time to it. They probably watch videos on Youtube but never upload content. The "selfies" that they take never make it further than a personal computer and if you were to Google their names you would never find anything...So they think! (We will get back to this point later). These students NEED to take a course like Personal Branding. 

Level Two: A fairly neutral online identity. These students are using social media often times like a text messaging service. They post pictures of themselves and of their friends and seem to "tag" without permission or a second thought. They LOVE Youtube and in many cases prefer it to watching t.v. They are on top of the latest updates from Snapchat or Vine and talk about the drawbacks and benefits as if they were writing for a tech magazine. They are aware of things like cyber bullying and sexting and under most circumstances would never think of participating in behavior of this sort. Often times level two students have a laissez-faire approach. If a friend posts something inappropriate they may never think to say something about it. They will retweet almost anything and comment on Facebook freely without much thought. They are generally responsible and feel as if there is nothing going on in their lives that would warrant anyone to worry about their online behavior. These students NEED to take a course like Personal Branding. 

Level Three: CODE RED!!! These students are traveling down a slippery slope of "Donald Sterling" magnitude. They are reckless in  their decisions and are willing to post and/or share almost anything. "Selfies" are taken in the bathroom mirror and in some cases may be highly inappropriate. They are smart kids so I am not sure if they know the repercussions and do not care or if they are oblivious to how this type of footprint could affect them in the future. College admission officers, future employers, and future in-laws may all one day stumble upon the remnants of their online behavior and the question is, "How will the court of public opinion react?"These students NEED to take a course like Personal Branding. 

So how can a course like personal branding help students at all three levels? For starters, we focus on activities that simulate the issues. Students pretend to be employers looking to higher prospective candidates and use their online profiles to make the decision. 

We look at examples of those who have not made the best decisions in regards to their online activity and evaluate what could have been done differently. For instance, a high school football star who lost his scholarship to Michigan State because of his Youtube video. A prospective teacher who was denied her degree in education because of her myspace picture. And now...Donald Sterling...do I need to say more?

For students who have little or no experience online (Level One's) the message needs to be a bit different. It is important that they realize that having no digital footprint can be just as bad as having a shaky one. If they are not sharing positive content about their accomplishments and interests it is possible that a prospective employer or college admissions officer will be left to wonder...Do they live under a rock? Also, if they are not online how can they possibly monitor what others may be saying or posting about them on various sites. 

By the end of my 12 week course I hope to have all students at these various levels begin a journey that will take them to level four. Level four IS, a lovely place full of positive energy and self promotion. A place where students can be proud to share their goals and accomplishments. On this level they can get excited to count the number of visitors to their blogs and rejoice in the positive feedback that their original Youtube videos receive. They are using Google Alerts to monitor their brand and they are proud provide a link to thier About.me page which links all of their content to one digital space. 

Getting to Know Thyself

From a very young age I can remember being asked the question, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" We all  have. It is one of those childhood clichés that allows us to dream about our futures. In my 5th grade yearbook the word "Artist" appears under my picture as if I was destined to achieve this. My 8th grade yearbook mentions my hopes of going on to become a lawyer. By my senior year of high school my dream had changed again and I was sure that I would become a screenwriter...or an author...or an actor...or a military police officer.

Although none of those aspirations ever came to be, qualities from all of them seem to manifest in my current role as a High School Teacher. I had finally figured it out. As a teacher I could become all of those things. Some more often than others.

A few students enter my class knowing exactly what they "want to be" while others are still figuring out exactly what they want to become.  When I introduce the concept of branding I do so with the words of Simon Sinek ringing through my ears. He speaks about the "Golden Circle" and that "people do not buy what you do, they buy why you do it." To me, this statement IS personal branding and I ask students to give this quote a lot of attention.

I explain to them that "understanding why you do, what you do, will lead you to understanding who you are. And that is your personal brand." No matter who or what they become in life, I believe that if they follow the path that their "Why" takes them, then they will accomplish their dreams.

Early in the discovery process one of the tools that students have loved to use is a unique personality quiz provided by VisualDNA. It uses images to answer questions and once completed provides my students with a deep analysis in regards to a number of character traits.

Do you know of any other resources that might help students to think about and discover what it is that motivates them? If so, I would love to hear from you.

Managing a Positive Digital Footprint

On the very first day that students enter my classroom they have little knowledge of what we actually "DO" in Personal Branding. "This is the Twitter class, right?" is usually the first question I am asked, even before I have had a chance to introduce myself. They have heard bits and pieces from their friends who have taken my class in the past about using Twitter...making videos...writing blogs...something about a logo, and now they are determined to find out if the rumors of a Facebook class are true.

Partly...they are. High school students who enroll in my Personal Branding course WILL use all types of social media platforms. But first, they will engage in a number of lessons related to positive online behavior. In other words, creating a positive digital footprint. Utilizing lessons from a variety of sources, including the Common Sense Media toolkit students are tasked with understanding the DO's and DON'TS of online behavior. Digital ethics, copyrights and wrongs, appropriate posting behaviors and sexting are only a few of the topics that we study prior to ever actually using social media sites in class.

                "But they are already using social media!"

I knew that was coming and I too am realistic. Most students are already Liking, Tweeting, SnapChatting, posting to Youtube, and sharing pictures with their friends on Instagram. This actually works to my advantage. Instead of having to spend an enormous amount of time instructing students on the "HOW'S" we can instead focus on the "WHAT'S".

          WHAT should we be sharing on Facebook and Twitter? WHAT types of videos can we                       create to help build our brands? Who is our target audience and WHAT do they want to see?

Many of the student's realize very early on that what they knew about social media was very basic and rarely ever accomplished much more than a text message could. Those were the lucky ones. Other students come to the embarrassing conclusion that what they had been using social media for was potentially damaging their brand and may in fact project an image far from positive. Blogger Lauren Riley wrote a great post titled How to clean up Your Digital Footprint and Your Online Identity, which I share with students who may be in this unfortunate group.

"Personal Branding", I tell them "is all about figuring out the most positive things there are to know about YOU, documenting those things and sharing them with anyone who will listen." We attempt to lay some ground rules, promote online safety and post only those things that allow us to stand out from the competition in a positive manner.



Do you know of a student who was affected either positively or negatively because of their digital footprint? If so, I would love to hear how, so that I may pass along the experience to my students.

Why Should Students Worry About Their Personal Brand?

When I set out to learn more about the value and importance of students managing their online identity...here is what  I knew:

Students today are faced with an overwhelmingly real dilemma: Competition! They compete in school, sports, college admissions and much more. I also knew that many of my students were OBSESSED with social media.

My Goal: Combine their love of social media with a variety of original content that will help them stand out amongst the stiff competition...and voila...A PERSONAL BRANDING course has been created.


I have had the pleasure to have worked with over 200 high school students to develop and implement their unique personal brands. They have worked tirelessly to complete a variety of introspective assignments helping them to understand themselves and what motivates them. By utilizing a variety of social media sites such as Twitter, Google + and About.me students have been able to connect with experts in their fields of interest as well as prospective colleges and universities.

Overall, the experience has been extremely positive and most students have found real value in the work being done. I am at peace because I feel as if they are now armed with the tools and techniques to help navigate and determine their own online identities.

Do you find value in a high school student learning to create a personal brand? Let me know what you think.