Social Media & Identity Post - Justin Tuma
As I have matured in life and have gone through many phases, I have come to the conclusion that identity is fluid. So when considering if my tastes or interests reflect any sense of ‘true’ tastes, I am not hesitant to say that they never really can be. My interests as a senior in high school share some overlap with those of my senior year profile - but I have no doubt grown and changed as a person. In this last year, I have limited the ability of others to view my interests in books, movies, etc. I have found that most profiles are only a loose indicator of a person - interests in particular. Instead, what they choose to show (and not to show) is more telling - especially with photos. Images for me at least, are a more useful indicator of a person’s essence. Listings of tastes may hardly overlap with the best of friends.
I have mentioned in class that I have felt limited by the profile structure of social networking sites. It may very well be due to the fact that I am a very visual person, but I feel that the profile picture has become the biggest most summarizing part of a profile. It has become the facebook equivalent of the first impression. Since I feel I am not photogenic, and that no single picture can really represent who I am as a person, I have deferred to other images of objects, art works, or fictional characters that I identify with. In a way it is a way out of peer judgement. But for the most part it is is for me - I feel comfortable with this method of presenting myself to the world and to myself. Not having to directly look back at my reflection and summary online, I feel has helped me avoid being neurotic.
I feel the need to update my profile when there is something significant ‘story-wise’ in my life. Essentially I mean, if there is something worthy of chatting with a friend over, or gossiping about later - it is worth putting up. Unlike many who feel the need to document every social event, I try to limit myself to what I label as ‘significant’ trips and ‘significant’ experiences - narrowing down a flood of photographic representation. As time passes, and both my social skills and relationship with facebook have changed, I feel less and less inclined to share online. I have decided that social media is not at all the place to express everything and anything that I think or experience. My life is not that profound or cinematic - and I’m fine with that.