My Cybersluething Mission

Today I had the pleasure of “cybersluething” one of my classmates, Robin Kinnee.

This was a fun experience, nothing quite like trying to figure out as much as you can about a complete stranger based on the way they present themselves online.

Robin & I have never met in person, only over zoom! So the little background knowledge I have about her just based on class discussions is minimal.

Okay, onto the digging. I began with a simple Google search of ‘Robin Kinnee’ and found her blog posts to have the top results. The rest of the results on the first page of Google were unrelated to her. The first image (left) that shows up is of her, the middle image is someone else with the same last name (maybe a relative?) and the third image (right) is of her dog (Roxy) – as posted on her About Me page of her blog.

The first simple search was so perfect, I figured I better get a little more gritty. She mentioned in her post that she follows Dr. Lori Frieson on Instagram and Facebook.

Based on this post, I knew she had a Facebook & Instagram account, but I started wondering why it didn’t show up when I searched for it.

The accounts found had a different spelling (Robyn) of her first name than she uses at school (Robin).

I decided to take a look at these accounts and see if I recognized any photos of her.

When I opened it up, I immediately recognized the profile picture – it was the same one of her dog with the shades on from her blog! I also recognized her cover photo on her highlight story as her face from class!

If I were to put myself in the shoes of a future employer doing research, I would ask her the following questions:

Why is your username “@vanillabunny21”?

Why is your name is spelt with a y instead of an i on social media? What is the proper spelling?

I then explored her Facebook profile, and noticed it also was spelt “Robyn Kinnee”.

I knew it was her profile based on the photos she had posted, I recognized her and her dog from the blog posts I had previously seen.

All of these factors has me wondering if the UofR potentially made an error when they entered her name in the system, or if it’s due to another reason I’m unaware of.

One other source I found was her LinkedIn profile – which was also consistent with the spelling on the rest of her social media accounts.

In regards to the content on her Facebook and Instagram, it definitely showcases her personality as being very creative, artistic, and enthusiastic as she described herself in her blog! Some of my favourite of her posts we’re the showcasing of her beautiful artwork as shown below.

Another major component of her profiles were photos of herself and her children smiling and looking happy overall. Overall, the content on her profile seems positive and personal – her profile has a real human and sort of “casual” feeling to it which I think is a great example to set for our students.

Based on her online personality, she appears to be a trustworthy person who loves her family and her friends. Her blog also explains that she has been in the education system in different forms for about the last 10 years – which tells us that she knows her way around the classroom and understands some of the ins and outs of being a teacher.

She also shared her I Believe statements in her blog under Educational Philosophies where she shares many powerful quotes. Some that stood out to me were:

• “Every person is unique and has their own style”
• “To me, reconciliation is also honoring and acknowledging the land that we live on and share together”
• “Children come to us with their own gifts, not empty vessels open for learning. They all have something to offer” – Charlene Bearhead
• “Give students something to do not something to Learn; and doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking, that learning naturally results” – John Dewey

Overall, you can tell she has a belief in inclusivity, acceptance, and a growth mindset for children. All of those are incredibly respectable values that are essential as an educator.

Digital Identity

Digital identity is an extremely interesting part of our life. As we read in an ESPN article “Split Image”, it is clear that someone may “appear” one way online and be feeling something completely differently internally. As we read about the young athlete Madison Holleran, Instagram posts don’t always paint the full picture. Social media doesn’t typically display or highlight many of our difficult and painful experiences as humans. This story was so incredibly impactful as a way to show our students a true example of how social media can be a false implication of what we may be dealing with.

As discussed in the TedTalk with Monica Lewinsky, the feelings of shame, confusion, sadness, and humiliation can be detrimental to humans, especially without the right support. As humans, we are all flawed and make mistakes – it can be extremely difficult and a lonely feeling with people online piling those feelings on.

It is important for us to be aware and intentional of our own digital identity, as a way to be a role model for our students and show them the ways it can affect us physically and emotionally.