Personal branding on Facebook: how teachers stage themselves on social media

Abstract

Although the term \"personal branding\" is well known in business world and the private sector realizes the importance of controlling personal brands, teachers remain neither aware of this concept nor they do fully understand the impact it may have on their reputation. Thus, it is beneficial to apply the existing knowledge to enhance teachers' professional prestige and their personal career prospects. The current paper focuses on personal branding through a qualitative content analysis of teachers' Facebook profiles in Lithuania and in-depth interviews with 10 selected teachers. The aim of the article is to find out the purpose these teachers utilize Facebook for, i.e. the ways they use this social networking site to disseminate information related to their competences, and engagement of this information channel for teachers' personal growth. Furthermore, the current research explores how teachers themselves receive information related to their professional interests through Facebook and discusses the selected educators' knowledge of self-branding, communication in social networks, and necessary competences. The goal of the research is to assist help teachers understand the benefits of personal branding and motivate them to actively use social media in influencing and educating others.