In Spracklen’s (2015) article, social media is portrayed as a leisurely activity that we typically participate in every day. It’s where we can connect and share with compatible others, which in turn, provides us with a sense of belonging. It’s worth mentioning, however, that not everyone has equal access to the internet globally. As mentioned by many in the World Economic Forum (2019) video, women in third-world countries often do not get an opportunity to use the internet as frequently as men. If we are lucky enough to have regular access to the internet, when using it, we unintentionally create our own personal digital identity. Eric Stoller describes one’s digital identity as their presence online, which involves what they post, how they share, and how they treat others. The trouble is, our digital identity is not always accurate or genuine (Spracklen, 2015). It seems we’ve all fallen victim to only sharing the best parts of ourselves including our best pictures, happiest times, and biggest successes. Our trials and tribulations, however, always seem to be left out of our social media presence. Due to this phenomenon, the picture we paint of ourselves online may not be 100% who we are.
In addition, being online does not always mean you have a face attached to your online presence, which unfortunately makes bullying more attractive to some (Mahboob, Jawed, & Yasmeen, 2019). By being anonymous on certain social media platforms, people sometimes feel they can become more reckless with their words and are suddenly not as shy to tell people what they think. There are other things involved with being online that can also be problematic. For example, one can lose a job opportunity if their employer uncovers something unfavourable that the person posted. In the Mahboob et al., (2019) article, the amount of time one spends on social media has also been described as being detrimental to a student’s academics.
To summarize, the more we use social media or the internet, the more information is stored to profile us and to shape our digital identity. For example, Facebook’s advertisements always eerily seem to be exactly what we are looking for, or perhaps what we were just talking about with our friends (Spracklen, 2015). This is an example of the digital profiling that occurs whenever we use various social media platforms or other spaces on the internet. This kind of profiling is, for the most part, unavoidable as different data bases use seemingly unimportant information including what times you are most likely to check certain platforms.
Personally speaking, I was honestly not aware of my digital identity until taking this course. Obliviously, I thought that because all of my social media accounts are private, I wouldn’t have a very large online ‘footprint.’ To my surprise, when I googled my Instagram handle, my display picture popped up as well as a few other posts that friends had tagged me in. One being a post my hairdresser had made, which could give someone a hint as to where I live! Growing up in a digital age, I was always lectured about being safe online. Even after all of those high school presentations from police officers or concerned parents, I still had no idea just how easy it is to be looked up and found online. Following this week’s readings and videos my eyes have been opened.
References
Mahboob, U., Jawed, S., & Yasmeen, R. (2019). Digital professional identity: Dear Internet! Who am I? Education for Health, 32(1), 33. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=39e42f65-1a93-4d35-9450-0dfa15be47a8%40sdc-v-sessmgr02
Spracklen, K. (2015). Identity-Making and Social Media. Digital Leisure, the Internet and Popular Culture, 94-112. Retrieved from https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/book/10.1057%2F9781137405876
Stoller, E. (2016). What is Digital Identity? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0RryRbJza0&feature=youtu.be
World Economic Forum. (2019). The Value of Digital Identity for the Global Economy and Society [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-V7lyxrOmw
Great reflective value of “safe messaging” to students about the Internet – being a digital citizen is so much more than having a safety message preached at an audience.
Hi Erica,
I agree with you very much. When we post our comments anonymously on social platforms, we do not feel nervous or shy, because no one can see our facial expressions and inner signals. Therefore, reasonable network usage can make our lives colorful. thank you for your sharing.
Mike