Reflection On Your Online Presence
The digital world is changing rapidly. In this fast-changing environment, it’s essential to pause and self-reflect on how you present yourself online. This is particularly important because everyone has access to your public profiles.
As Alice E. Marwick points out in her book ‚Online Identity,‘ the digital world serves as a new form of self-expression rather than a direct reflection of our true identity. I agree with her viewpoint. We can choose how we want to be perceived by others online. Contrary to the offline world, where our control over foreign perception is limited, the digital world allows us to portray ourselves in numerous ways with various tools at our disposal. Using these tools however, gives the companies control over how we display ourselves.
The then portrayed image is what is called an Online Identity. Its not a single profile or account, rather the composition of all your accounts combined. I manage multiple profiles on various different social media platforms. Some accounts are personal, revealing details of my identity through consciously shared information and pictures, while other accounts remain faceless, intended solely for content meant to be consumed rather than personal things.
Even the accounts where I remain anonymous or faceless are part of my digital persona, showcasing my skills at navigating various online platforms. These skills are mine and therefore part of my identity. This also goes to show that if you learn something online, it will be part of your offline identity as well. This just goes to show how your online and offline persona are connected but not the same.
Looking back on how I portray myself online, reveals that a journalist could find an abundance of crucial infomation about me. However all of this information that I shared were conscious decisions on my part. The journalist would find my full name, where I live, and the school I go to. They could also see pictures from my public Instagram account, showing me in some situations that might not match a professional image. These pictures could potentially harm me when looking for an internship.
Thats why I’ve consciously avoided sharing content that could potentially jeopardize my reputation. As of now, I have not yet found anything online that could be harmful, However, I acknowledge that there might still be things I haven’t found yet that could cause problems in the future.
What I find interesting how close my online and offline identitys are. They are aligned with each other, projecting an outgoing and sociable personality. This perception of me can be seen across both worlds. This further proves that the so called online identity is an extension of your own and not a new one, for me at least.
In retrospect, I realize that there is a lot of information about me online. However that doesnt concern me because none of that information could potentially harm my career, which is my main concern. Additionally, this made me realize the significance of shaping a digital identity that aligns with your career goals. This way I would even benefit from a job recruiter scouting my social media presence.
Concluding this reflection on my digital presence, I realize the importance of how other perceive you. I understand that I can influence how people see me, which can both be negative or positive. This motivates me to improve how I present myself online.