On a sunny, yet cool day I was given the task to stalk my Professors…thankfully not physically (not trying to pose for that mugshot). But they asked me for my DCI 180 class to stalk their digital footprint.
In class, we have been discussing how much information on you or about you is online. Every click on Facebook. Every retweet. Every photo posted on your Insta. Every pin you keep for Pinterest. Everything.
It seems very 1984 that “Big Brother” is always watching you, but in this case “BIg Brother” doesn’t end with the Government. Big Brother has become the whole world when talking about your digital presence. Freaky…I know.
When I searched up my Professor’s names, I immediately saw their photos and W&L. My first observation was how different both Professors dealt with their online presence. I found more information about Professor Teaff than Professor Abdoney.
I discovered Professor’s Teaff personal website that listed her education, jobs, portfolio, and her skills and abilities. I learned she went to a Fulton-Montgomery Community College and got her Associates degree in Visual Fine Arts. Then she went to Potsdam (also in New York) where she graduated with a BA in Studio Arts and Politics. Then she ventured out to Virginia Commonwealth University to get her Masters in Museum Studies/Art History. Immediately after receiving her Masters she worked at Virginia Military Institute as a Government Documents Assistant. Her last year at Virginia Military Institute (2001) she also began her second job at Rockbridge Regional Library this time as a Cataloger/Technical Services Assistant. She stayed in this position for a year and then Professor Teaff went back to school. She got another Masters degree at University of South Carolina in Library and Information Technology. While getting her second Masters degree, she was working at W&L as an Interlibrary Loan Coordinator. To this day, Professor Teaff still works at Washington and Lee as a Professor for DCI and as a University Service Access Service Manager.
Professor Teaff’s Facebook was public, which helped me stalk her better…Oh My Goodness! I found out we liked a lot of the same things, minus I did not publicly like those Facebook pages. She seems to like a lot of punk music (The Velvet Underground) and overall very 80s music (Duran Duran). Either way, fantastic music! She also seems to like a lot of Feminist clothing brands and unique little boutiques. She also liked Stacey Abrams, which tells me she leans left. She seems to really support respecting everyone’s dignity and seems to support organizations like Planned Parenthood, Wounded Warrior Projects, and LGBTQ+ 🏳️🌈 rights.
Professor Abdoney was a lot more private. I found pictures of her son, who should be around 3 or 4 now. I also found pictures of her husband with her. But I could not find a lot of stuff that she liked on Facebook. I know she supports Planned Parenthood, but that’s from hearing her say that. Some of the tweets she retweeted and some of the photos she used for her Facebook background point to her being a feminist and most likely 3rd Wave to maybe even 4th Wave. Other than that, a lot of the information I got from her was from Facebook and other past DCI 180 blogs. Ironically, I discovered a fake account about her or at least some of it was not updated. It said she was 49 years old and her birthday was 6/19/1976 and she lives in another part of Florida (not Tampa). I could not find Voter Registrations or Campaign Donations on her name, which made me just guess her political affiliations through what she posted. In retrospect, although it’s safe to say she is Democractic, it is a little misleading, because there’s a spectrum to being on the left and right.
On this cool, yet sunny day I really learned that nothing is invisible. Big Brother as a concept does not end with the Government nor will your digital audience ever stop expanding.
