Blog Post #3

Do social media profiles accurately display one’s taste? Obviously, as I think it is with most questions regarding identity and social media profiles, the answer is individual to each person.  This can sometimes make it difficult to assess others’ profiles because we don’t know how true the information provided is (ex. Fakesters, people being sarcastic) or how much is being withheld or embellished. It is for this reason that I don’t find myself too concerned with how well my profile ‘matches up’ to my friends.  Also, since have friends in various ‘social circles’ (ex. work, school, etc.) it’s likely that the tastes amongst my network will have a large variety.  However, if investigating a ‘page’ for a television show or band and I see that a friend of mine likes it, I am more likely to sustain interest on the page since the mutual interest from a friend gives the page more relevance- similar to the concept of ‘word of mouth’.  On a further level, let’s say you think highly of a certain friend’s opinion, you are even more likely to engage in a particular page and simultaneously feel a sense of self-validity if you like the same thing. 

 

For my personal Facebook profile, I leave the ‘info’ section pretty sparse or ‘play down’ my interests.  I leave my tastes vague for a variety of reasons.  If you think of your profile in terms of an extension of self – you wouldn’t walk up to someone you’ve just met and start listing off your favorite books, films, etc.  I’d rather not allow people to judge me based on my ‘taste’ alone and for those that already know me well, they’re aware of my likes and dislikes without having to need it spelled out on Facebook.  More than anything though, it’s a matter of how much time and dedication you want to give to your profile.  My interests and tastes are constantly changing and evolving—if I were to 100% accurately display all of this, I would probably be non-stop ‘liking’ and ‘un-liking’, revising, etc. to keep up.  Similarly with photos, I don’t upload every photo I’ve ever taken or have which means that my profile becomes in essence, a selection of what I want portrayed and not necessarily revealing the ‘whole’ self. 

 

Continuing on from the discussion of ‘taste’, structure also plays a role in the portrayal of identity.  Let’s say you have 15 television shows listed as your favorite.  It’s unlikely that you’re completely devoted to all 15.  Maybe a few you watch every week, keep up to date on the actors, behind the scenes footage, etc. while the others you’ve seen a few times and thought were cool.  There’s no way to add a ‘disclaimer’ as to your level and degree of interest in something (ex. “this is my absolute favorite show”).  Essentially, you lose the ‘shading’ and variety of your personality.  Due to technology, things become more black and white; you like it or you don’t.  The format and structure of each individual social media site determines how you can portray your identity.  For example, on Twitter, you are limited in space for your profile bio.  Your identity is primarily based on your stream of tweets which are limited to 140 characters.  Additionally, you may post links within your tweets or post media like photos and videos.  While the technology itself limits your options of self-presentation, it’s up to you to choose content and decide how you’re going to utilize the site to suit your needs.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I try to keep my profile so that it doesn’t require much revision. I’m also conscious of my audience when posting.  For example, while both my Twitter and Facebook are both ‘private’, I have a more carefully selected audience on Twitter which allows me to post a bit more freely.  Facebook makes it easy though to narrow your audience if you wish (Ex. Message = most private, directed to specific people in a contained ‘space’, Wall post = to a particular person, knowing their friends can see it as well, Status = to your whole network, or smaller defined network). This ability to direct content to certain audiences is a way of pre-editing.  If I post something like a funny video that I don’t necessarily want left on my profile long-term, I’ll sometimes leave it up for a few days and then take it down when it’s not relevant.  Occasionally out of boredom I’ll also quickly go through my profile and clean it up a bit.  I generally spend more time thinking about posting something in the first place rather than going back and making changes.   


Emma L.