Online Identity Reflection
Unfortunately, I spend a lot of time on social media; I use the word, unfortunately, because I almost feel like it has become an addiction. I am constantly checking my social media applications on my phone like, Facebook and Instagram. I first created my Facebook account in 8thgrade, right before entering high school, although I didn’t start using it until about 10thgrade. When I first created my Facebook account my mom would always remind me to be careful of two things, first, to be careful of the people I add, and secondly, to think before I post. To this day, I remind myself to watch what I post because anyone can see it, and I want to maintain a professional online identity. You could say my mom’s words really stuck with me, and because of her, I have become so cautious that I almost rarely post online. I would consider my online identity as of currently to be used mainly for a social purpose in order to keep in contact with family and friends. However, I still keep in mind that one day any of my accounts could be seen by potential employers. If or when that day comes, I would say my online identity is not a very clear or accurate reflection on my personal/academic identity. Although I do spend a lot of time on social media I don’t usually post, I tend to spend a lot of my time just browsing around.
When comparing my social media accounts, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn I would say my Facebook is what I would consider being more professional, and also up to date compared to my Instagram and LinkedIn. I only say that my Facebook is the more professional of those two because I have many family members, previous teachers, and even some previous employers that are connected with me on there. Therefore my posts on Facebook are very well thought out to ensure I don’t embarrass myself.
My most frequently updated social media account would have to be Facebook. With such a wide variety of people whom I share my Facebook account with I like to maintain an appropriate and professional online identity which tends to merge with my academic identity. To keep it professional, I make sure to think carefully about what I’m going to post. I usually share things that are related to the career I want to pursue, academic/life accomplishment, my religion, political views and even some fun family pictures here and there. Since I want to maintain a professional online identity, I can’t always express myself the way I’d like. Some pictures are not always posted, some of my thoughts or feelings are also kept to myself in order to not offended anyone. Nowadays, it’s easy for people to blow things out of proportion, for example, some people might not agree with me if I post something about politics or religion, because they are such controversial topic and it might begin an argument in my comments that I don’t really want to be a part of. I find myself being extremely cautious about the things I post on social media, and it doesn’t stop at Facebook, I do the same with my Instagram (Vanessa Londono, Facebook).
Instagram is a social media application that I use frequently, but I never really post anything. With this account, I usually only share with friends and a few family members. That being said, I have a little more “freedom” in the things I post. The people who see my post are usually my friends or peers from school, who are around my age and have similar post, like group pictures at different events with friends or family, selfies. Although I mentioned “freedom” in what I post, I did say “a little more,” meaning not much changes from the rules I apply when posting on Facebook. Even though my Instagram is set to private, there are still ways my post can be released. Before I post, I think to myself “would someone consider hiring me if they saw this?” I know that might sound funny, but it’s something I’m constantly thinking about. Academically risky posts on Instagram could harm my acceptance to grad school, but at the same time if posts are appropriate and show the different extracurricular activities I’m involved in they could do some good, almost like a resume based solely on pictures (Vanessa Londono, Instagram).
Lastly, LinkedIn, the account that potential employers might look at. Although I don’t regularly check my LinkedIn account, I go on it enough to make the important updates. I usually keep my experiences up to date, as well as my profile picture. The purpose of LinkedIn is to find jobs and/or internships, as well as to network with people you meet. I have used LinkedIn to connect with people I’ve previously worked with or know and people I would like to work with, in the future. Therefore, what is posted on LinkedIn should be kept neatly organized and professional, which doesn’t always give me the opportunity to show a real genuine representation of myself. Yes, LinkedIn allows you to enter your work/volunteer experience as well as your education on your profile, but what it doesn’t allow you to see is the little flaws in between. By having to appear clean cut on LinkedIn, people miss out on the real representation of an individual, many people tend to sugar coat a lot of the information they list on their profiles, for example, skills and experiences. Another good example of not being able to genuinely represent yourself on LinkedIn would be by your profile picture. Personally, my profile picture is a lot clearer and detailed, I also seem to look a lot tenser because I’m trying my best to look as professional as possible. It is very important to have a professional picture on LinkedIn because it’s the first thing people see before basically looking into your resume. (Vanessa Londono, LinkedIn).
Overall, I would say my social media identity has grown and improved throughout the years, but as I mentioned before it is still, unfortunately, something I use too often without a real purpose. I plan on cutting back my use of social media for entertainment and more for a professional use. Now that I am at that young adult about to enter the real world stage, I believe that social media can affect me in a negative way if I continue to use it for entertainment purposes only, even though I consider myself to be slightly more professional now, than I was a few years back, I know there is room for improvement. A negative effect social media has on me right now, as I’m sure many others struggle with as well, is that I spend too much time on it that it seems like I prioritize it more than other important things and begin to lose focus. As I get older I need to set more rules to become more professional. With a professional online identity, people will be more likely to take me seriously as well as offer me more opportunities based on what they see online. Along with that, I believe that online identity can be very deceiving, in both a good and/or a bad way. Online representations can be hard to understand because there is always a back story to everything and the only way to know that is if you personally know and have met that person. There is so much that is not told online because we are so focused on appearing professional, that sometimes our real personality gets lost throughout the process, and that’s why I strongly believe it’s best to interact in person instead of online.
