Blog 3: Online Identity

At this point in time, I feel like we have no choice but to consider our online profiles as extensions of our real-life existences. Users don’t have complete control over what they post online; it can easily be passed on to people outside of specific networks in spite of whatever privacy settings have been set. Thus in an age where employers, parents, and prospective friends routinely check up on individuals through their Facebook profiles, users have to consider audiences much wider than their immediate personal connections. It’s somewhat unsettling to know that a stranger can judge you solely on the basis of an online profile. I primarily use Facebook and for these reasons I mostly keep my profile limited to the most basic information about me with limited accessibility to photos and a few page “likes.”

 

I used to have some of my interests in music and film listed, but this part of my profile lagged behind my evolving tastes and became cumbersome to have to revise. They were certainly carefully selected to communicate a certain kind of image, but eventually I no longer cared who knew I listened to which obscure indie band. Now I see Facebook and other social networking sites primarily as tools of communication, to share messages, links, and photos with the people in my life. I have focused less on crafting my actual profile except for changing privacy settings and the occasional update of my profile picture. After years of using Facebook, I’ve found it a bit awkward to scan an acquaintance’s profile and see what their interests are and then to have to feign surprise when they mention it in an actual face-to-face conversation.

 

There are always certain people on your Newsfeed who are much more active than other Facebook friends, updating their statuses throughout the day, posting real-time images, and changing the statuses of their relationships. These people, of course, make Facebook more interesting. But every time I see yet another post from one of these active users, it seems like they are getting close to the point of over sharing. Their frequent updates have shaped a certain identity for them via Facebook that might not necessarily align with how they present themselves offline, but can nonetheless be transferred into real-life relationship. Sometimes it seems like constantly projecting an updated online identity to everyone you are friends with on SNS almost diminishes the value of face-to-face interactions and reduces an individual’s control over the different relationships in their lives.


Cindy H.