African Youth and Teens Start Building Your Personal Brand Now
Use the diversity of technology to build your brand acrosssocial media, the Metaverse, Infiniverse and the buildglobal awareness of your influence and presence in the
immersive environments you will grow on in the coming years.
William Jackson, M.Ed. My Quest to TeachCertified VR & STEAM+M EducatorGatherVerse / GatherVerse William Jackson
GatherVerse Africa William Jackson
The more African youth and teens use technology the more theycreate a digital footprint that will build in their continentaland global significance. African youth and teens are learningthat their content has influence and has the ability to createchanges in thinking and developing in beneficial presenses.Their engagements can make changes to the vision and the
perceptions of African youth and teens.
African youth and teens are being judged, evaluated, and scrutinizedby their digital content even more so as businesses and industriesare growing across the continent and need more employees that can
use and apply the right kind of technologies to solve problems.
The age of Data, SEO (Search Engine Optimizaton), Cybersecurity,Web 3, NFT’s, Metaverse, Infiniverse, IOT and AI all continue toinfluence the growth and development of education, commerce,investments, business, collaboration, cooperation and technological
achievements.
The use of technology is just the beginning, what is needed iscritical and higher order thinking skills that allow for acontinetal and global perspectives that influence the worldon multiple levels. African youth, teens and young adults arematuring into digital citizens advancing in higher education anddeciding on career fields that are technology based and not thetraditional careers that society or foreign companies try tocondition them to take.
Social media and digital content can influence the future opportunitiesfor African youth, and teens. Understanding how blogging,micro-blogging, podcasting, digital photography being posted on, andbroadcast on digital platforms are life influencing. The ability toextend your credibility using technology can happen by influencing
E-reputations and E-personalities.
African students across their nations and even their continent needto be involved in, associated with and actively participate in positiveeducational, social and leadership building experiences. Conferences,forums, workshops, and other events should be attended by African youth,teens and young adults. Conferences like WordCamp that are associatedwith WordPress and the growing Virtual Reality (VR) learning eventshave exploded. Having a digital mentor is important at this time
because it is vital to know where your digital influence grows.
The Metaverse is more than Social Media platforms that can builda youth and teens brand. Youth and teens are seeing that digitalcontent can propel them into new careers and opportunties thatwere not available just 5 years ago. It is important that Africanyouth and teens understand the importance of what their developing
brand and what digital reputations are capable of achieving.
Branding and reputations are collaborations, strategic, purposefuland self-reflective in how the world not just sees them, but howthe world sees their avatars. Their digital avatar is a representationof self-awareness, sef-recognition, self-expression and the digitalpreceptions that youth and teens want people to have of them. Combinedwith a Brand is a promise to whatever aspirations to be and must beprotected and guarded by strategic planning. Understanding theabilities, recognizing talents, building skills and planning strategiesthat involve growth and staying away from stupid stuff that canpotentially hurt their digital reputations and potentials for the future.Being young and connected can transport students further before theyget to graduation from middle or high schoo. Networking digitally
can extend further in the game of life before the actual game starts.
“It takes years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.
If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” Warren Buffett
It is important that a students’ E-reputation (electronic reputation) andE-personalities (electronic personality), DP (digital presence) beprotected at all costs because the infusion, integration, and engagementof technology allows for being seen on a global platform of globalconnectivity. Branding is not the style in clothes, current footwear,artistic hairstyles, video gaming high scores or even the latest languageslang; it is being strategically prepared, aware professionally whatis going on in business in a highly competitive and diverse world on afoundation level based on digital engagement, reputation and engagement.
As a higher education instructor and over 33 years in public educationteaching STEAM+M (Science Technology Engineering Arts Math Metaverse)I encourage youth and teens, to connect with their creative and innovativedrives of their minds, emotions and passions. To use each opportunityin practices, experiences, resources, and even to collaborate on projectsthat are challenging, complex and mind-blowing. Allowing the Metaverse to
challenge their creativity and innovation in immersive environments.
African youth and teens around the world need to understand that theirlives are under scrutiny, people are watching their personal decisionsthat are projected on digital canvases on the Metaverse and Social Mediathat the world is watching and judging. The best advice is to be carefulnot to criticize others especially if you do not know all the details,to have all the facts before passing judgement and even take time toresearch the issues to be informed.
The engagements on the Metaverse should allow African youth and teens toask themselves how do they perceive themselves and how do others perceivethem, do these match and what are the differences and similarities.This encourages areas to be addressed that need strengthening, modification,
and corrections.
“Everywhere I go, I’m second to arrive. My reputation precedes me.”
Jarod Kintz
In this world of constant technological change, competitiveness, cultural diversityand lifestyle decisions youth and teens globally must leverage their greatest assetTHEMSELVES in their Brands. The contributions in their digital content can be seenby the works they do, the collaborations they join and the working together tosolve social, educational, cultural, structual, governmental and even religouschallengs that are still faced. The Metaverse and Immersive environments are notdesiged to solve human-kind issued, these environments can be used to help
build collaborations, partnerships associations and even nations and continents.
Resources:Don’t Allow the Metaverse To Diminish Your Humanity
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | The Danger of a Single Story | https://youtu.be/D9Ihs241zegDon’t Allow the Metaverse to Diminish Education
William Jackson Teaches and Speaks on the Metaverse
GatherVerse – African Summit l https://gatherverse.org/africa/speakers/william-jackson/
GatherVerse Africa I https://gatherverse.org/africa/speakers/william-jackson/GatherVerse William Jackson
William Jackson: Educational Adaptations into the Metaverse, Don’t Let Education Fall Behind
World Metaverse Council Member
https://www.linkedin.com/company/worldmetaversecouncil/
William Jackson (United States) is a Digital Innovator, Digital Evangelist and Content Creator. Sharing technology skills across Africa, especially with young Africans across the continent. William is a contributor to One Africa Forum, Nigerian Development HUB, Africa.com and Modern Ghana as a
respected columnist. A speaker for WordCamp and WordPress conferences.