Running head: ONLINE IDENTITIES MAIERS AND ANDERSON

Professional Online Identities of Angela Maiers and Steven W. Anderson

Ashley Westman
Education 520.30 Digital-Mediated Teaching and Learning
Professor Linda Kaiser

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Professional Online Identities of Angela Maiers and Steven W. Anderson

The subjects I have chosen to analyze each perform different roles in their fields of
education, yet are both professionals who demonstrate exemplary work. They each have their
own strengths and accomplishments in the specific subjects they focus on. I will be looking at
each individuals own website or blog, along with their Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, to
determine their professional appearances.
Method
When carefully looking through both Angela Maiers and Steven W. Andersons websites,
I am going to focus on what they post about their professional lives compared to their personal. I
will look at the different social media sites each person uses to determine if one is used more for
personal postings than work, as well as what their posts are about. On a website such as Twitter,
I will be able to evaluate how many people have liked and/or retweeted a certain post. I will also
create a spreadsheet to count up the number of posts in different categories of personal and
professional, and will categorize each professional post into like tweets. In each case, since both
educators have written books, I would also like to focus on if they post anything about their
books and what specifically. Finally, through each website, I will study how many people follow
their posts as well as use them to determine their popularity and credibility. Through each post I
will also be able to look at how many people liked or shared a post to determine which type of
posts were more popular than others. This data will give me the sense of what each professional
uses social media for the most, and can compare each social media website to one another.
Online Profile of Angela Maiers
The first person I would like to observe is Angela Maiers. Angela has been involved in
the field of education for the past 25 years, and has taught in schools of all grade levels ranging

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from kindergarten through the graduate level of college (RSS Feed, 2016). Not only has Angela
taught in schools, but she has written many books including, The Passion Driven Classroom
(Angela Maiers 1999). Angelas biggest contribution to the field of education is becoming the
founder of the Choose2Matter movement. According to RSS Feed (2016) this is a global
movement which, challenges and inspires students to work collaboratively to develop
innovative solutions to social problems (para. 4). Angela has helped try to improve the field of
education in all different ways, and her work is not yet finished. She is involved with many
social media sites including her own angelamaiers.com. She is also a part of Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, and YouTube which also displays TED Talks discussions about her movement.
Own Website
Angelas personal website is strictly professional, but gives all the information one would
need or want to know about her. Pictured below is what her website looks like when first
opening the page. It looks very professional in the way it is outlined with a color scheme that is

(Maiers, 1999)

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appealing to the eye, and is very easy to navigate through with all of her tabs clearly stated. She
allows a tab for each professional part of her life from describing who she is, to her goals, and
even a space for her blog. At the top of the screen she provides links to her social media sites,
and even provides information on where she will be presenting next. Angela wants to make sure
her work, books, and movement are the first components seen by her audience by placing
separate links to each on the front page. This site clearly demonstrates Angelas professionalism
in how it is constructed and presented.
Twitter
Angela spends a lot, if not most, of her time, on Twitter. She has 93,300 tweets including
over 50 in just the past five day since joining the site in September 2007. She has gained
142,000 followers while following 49,200 people herself. All of Angelas tweets are strictly
professional, as is the layout of her page. She has a picture of herself as both her profile as well
as cover photo, and her cover includes a quote from her Choose2Matter movement. Angela has a

(Maiers, 2007)
mix of her own tweets along with retweets from others, but none relate to any part of her
personal life. From reading through her tweets, there are a few about her book, but mostly
retweets about people who have read them. I was also able to find a couple about politics such
as the tragedy in France showing she also keeps up with world news, and shares her condolences.
However, the majority of her tweets, both hers and retweets, are all about her movement or

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education. In looking at her movement tweets, many were retweets thanking others for their
thoughts, or stating a conference she will be speaking at. Many of her tweets about education
were articles thinking about what the future will bring, and new approaches that will be used in
schools as you can see below.

(Maiers, 2007)

I was unable to find anything on her Twitter account that was not about a topic mentioned above,
or anything unprofessional. If one wanted to know Angelas beliefs on education or keep up
with where she was, Twitter would be the place to look.
LinkedIn
Angelas LinkedIn page looks very similar to her other social media sites, and just as
professional. I have noticed through all of the sites evaluated that she has used the same color
scheme as well as picture of herself as her profile picture and background keeping all her sites
consistent. On LinkedIn, she has over 500 connections, most of whom are other educators. She
describes herself as an Educator, Author, Speaker, and Igniter of #YouMatter (LinkedIn, n.d.).

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The descriptions of herself are very short and concise explaining exactly what she does, but
without much detail. This keeps the website looking less crowded of wording, and allows for
more to be added. She labels all of her experience and publications, and education in order
starting with the most recent. The one part that stood out to me the most is all of the skills she
has given herself, and even more how many other people give themselves those attributes.

(Maiers, n.d.)
One last thing about Angelas page that leads me to believe all of Angelas pages are all
professional is how others would describe her. At the bottom of her LinkedIn page, there is a
place for recommendations. Although she has only received four, they are some of the best
compliments she could receive. Angela displays professionalism all around, and her LinkedIn
site displays all of her biggest accomplishments.

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(Maiers, n.d.)
Online Profile of Steven W. Anderson
Steven W. Anderson is the second person I am going to be observing through his social
media websites. Steven received his Bachelors degree in Middle School mathematics from
Western Carolina University, and his Masters degree from East Carolina University in
Instructional Technology (Steven W. Anderson, n.d.). Not only has he led the career of a
classroom teacher, but he has also served as a former director of Instructional Technology.
Steven has been recognized in his field as an, Expert in the infusion of technology in teaching
and social media for learning (Steven W. Anderson, n.d., para. 2). He has a very strong
background in technology, and has presented his ideas at many different conferences around the
country from New York all the way to Los Angeles. Steven has also won many awards relating
to technology including the, Twitterer of the Year a few years back (Steven W. Anderson n.d.).
He has his own accounts linked with Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Plus, Instagram, and
his own website and blog.

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Blog
Steven has a nicely organized blog through Blogspot which he has titled, Blogging
about the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom (Steven W. Anderson n.d.). This name is consistent
with the rest of his profile names as you will see through his other social media sites. Steven
seems to write a blog about once a week, and although he has not received many comments from
others, especially with his two most recent blogs, it does not stop him. Each of his blogs has a
unique name, the date it was written, and includes a few links at the bottom of each to other sites
which relate to what he was talking about. Each blog relates to technology in some way, which
is his specialty.

(Anderson, n.d.)

As you will notice, Steven tries to tie his view of technology to all ages, including the younger
generation as well. Some of his posts, as the one above, even include videos to help explain his
points even more. His posts all range from about 10 to 15 short paragraphs each, so they arent
very long, but are all about the same size.

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He keeps the posts on his blog strictly professional, but also

includes links on the side relevant to his other work and beliefs. He has a
link to his Twitter account, shows some of the awards he has won, and
displays a link to order his book. He brings all aspects of his life into this
one blog, and is sure to keep it all about his career.

Twitter

(Anderson, n.d.)

It is very clear Steven has won the Twitterer of the Year award based on his 94,400
tweets since February 2009. His Twitter name once again is web20classroom keeping his theme
the same throughout. He lists his titles and accomplishments briefly on the side along with a link
to his website so those looking at his page have an idea of who he is. Of the 140,000 followers
Mr. Anderson has on Twitter, he is only following 675 people which shows his Twitter page is
strictly professional in he will only follow those closest to him, and involved in his field of
education.

(Anderson, 2009)

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Most of Stevens tweets do relate to technology, and most happen to be links to other sites about
education and technology. He includes some retweets by other professionals, but most tweets are
his own. One aspect of his Twitter site I do really like are some of his own personal inspirational
quotes as the bottom tweet above shows. He has these types of tweets spread throughout, and
although they are not technology related, they personally made me feel good about myself.
Anybody viewing his Twitter account can see his dedication to technology, and the positive
personality he displays.
LinkedIn
Steven uses his LinkedIn page as a resume builder, going into detail about what he does
for a living, as well as all he has accomplished. His experience includes a long list of where he
has worked, along with thorough descriptions about what he has done for each school and
organization.

(Anderson, n.d.)
Steven has over 500 connections showing how much he uses his LinkedIn site for a professional
purpose. He displays links to his website, Twitter account, and Blog as well to make it easy for
others to access them. This page has a section of the books he has written, and a summary of

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what one will find in each book. Although Stevens LinkedIn page is a resume builder, you can
still clearly see his love and dedication for technology in his accomplishments and descriptions
of his work. Steven has one last section on his page for projects he has accomplished. The
project he has listed describes a video he made to use at a technology conference showing his
involvement that way as well.
Instagram
Steven W. Anderson uses Instagram to display both his professional and personal life, but
more personal than any of his other sites. Steven has posted 598 pictures over the years, many of
which do relate to his work whether it be in a plane or at a conference. He also seems to like
nature with many posts of city views as well as flowers and other plants. However, Steven does
have many posts of his life at home when he isnt working, or when he is out for the day having
a good time. The majority of his personal posts are of his two daughters, and it is clear how
much he loved them and doesnt let his professional life interfere with his family. The picture
below not only shows how he is an everyday dad along with being an expert in his field, but
shows he keeps up with the latest trends in the world as anybody would.

(Anderson, n.d.)

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Even with the amount of family and personal pictures on Stevens page, he still manages to
display a sense of professionalism by keeping his captions short, and all pictures appropriate.
His Instagram username is also web20classroom, and he has 910 people who follow him on this
site. Steven uses this social media website to display his everyday life to show he is like any
ordinary person, but still maintains his professional identity.
Conclusion
I believe both Angela Maiers and Steven W. Anderson have very professional sites, and
create an online identity suitable for their careers. They both use the same pictures and profile
names to keep their identities and faces consistent no matter what social media website you are
looking at. They utilized many of the same websites such as Twitter and LinkedIn, and although
they have very different accomplishments throughout their career, they managed to keep their
profiles very similar. Through Twitter, both Angela and Steven have more followers than they
are following others, and all of their tweets relate to their respective fields. Both educators used
LinkedIn as a resume builder noting all their accomplishments and experiences in order.
Although Stevens LinkedIn page held more details than Angelas they each made it work for
themselves. All of Angelas sites were only used for professional purposes, and all of her
pictures and posts were about her career and beliefs. Through Stevens professional sites, he did
manage to add some personal posts and pictures as well by stating how much he loves to be a
father, and including pictures of his home life through Instagram. Even through their
differences, Angela and Steven never let their professional guard down, and all of their posts are
appropriate and meaningful.
One thing I really gained from viewing Angela and Stevens sites was the consistency of
their profile pictures and thoughts posted. I like how they both used the same pictures

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throughout all sites, and this is something I will implement in my own sites as well. I also like
how they each focused on their own fields and beliefs, and that was what most of their posts
were about. I like having a variety to post, but having that one specialty is also a positive aspect.
Steven taught me how to implement my personal life into my professional life which is
something else I will take from viewing their profiles. All of Angelas sites were well put
together and her posts were well thought out, but I did like how Steven was able to incorporate
his own life and personality into his posts while still maintaining that professional identity.
Finally, I learned a lot from both educators about the site LinkedIn. I have never used this site up
until a couple weeks ago since I did not understand what it was or how to use it. After viewing a
professional LinkedIn site, I have a better understanding of how the layout should look, and how
to connect to other people.

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References

Angela Maiers. (n.d.) LinkedIn [Profile page]. Retrieved from

https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelamaiers
Angela Maiers. (1999). Retrieved from http://www.angelamaiers.com
Angela Maiers. (2007) Twitter [Profile page]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/AngelaMaiers
RSS Feed. (2016). Angela Maiers. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/angela-maiers/
Steven W. Anderson. (n.d.). About.me. Retrieved from https://about.me/steven.anderson
Steven W. Anderson. (n.d.). Blogging about the web 2.0 connected classroom. Blogspot.
Retrieved from http://blog.web20classroom.org/
Steven W. Anderson. (n.d.) Instagram [Profile page]. Retrieved from
https://www.instagram.com/web20classroom/
Steven W. Anderson. (n.d) LinkedIn [Profile page]. Retrieved from
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenanderson6
Steven W. Anderson. (2009) Twitter [Profile page]. Retrieved from
https://twitter.com/web20classroom