Social media websites have attracted
millions of user’s word wide and with this new technology constantly expanding
it is becoming a very important part of our daily practices (Boyd &
Elliscion, 210). There are many social
media websites available to the public of all ages, races, languages, and even
some based on interests and practices (Boyd & Ellison, 210). Within these social media websites as users
we are able to construct an online profile that we can have open to the
public’s view or blocked so that only people from our friends list can view our
profile. However the issue surrounding
online public profiles is that people begin to develop online personas or
identities on this virtual world. I
believe that Sherry Turkle is correct in claiming that the devices that we
carry around with us not only are changing the world we live in but also how we
live (Turkle, 1).
The criteria that I use to share
information about myself and how I present myself on social media sites is very
tasteful and I try not to share to much of my personal information with the
public. Currently I am using Twitter and
Facebook as my forms of social media and I use both social Medias to stay
connected with friends and family. I do
not post any person information or un-tasteful images that would cause others
to misjudge my character. I am aware
that there is constant surveillance on social media web sites that may come
from new employers possibly in my futures that could make unfair judgments
about myself because of things posted on my social networks. Albrechtslund believes in his article that
having the notion of constant surveillance can pose as a positive on social
media websites because it restricts the amount of information that we share and
also what we share like pictures, videos, and comments that may not be
appropriate.
The only websites that I use to share
information about myself is on Twitter and Facebook. The only information that I have available to
the public (people that are not on my friend list) is my name, the city I live
in and my profile picture. On Twitter I
also have my profile set as private and all that is available is my profile
picture and my name. Even people that
are my friends and have access to my profile are not given any personal
information that would potentially damage my reputation in any way. I have pictures of myself and my family on
Facebook and on Twitter I use it for following current events and being updated
in sports.
References
Albrechtslund, A. (2008) “Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance.” First Monday. 13,3.
Boyd, Danah M., and Nicole B. Ellison. "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13.1 (2008): 210-30.
Turkle, Sherry. The Flight From Conversation. New York Times Sunday Review. April 21, 2012.
We’ve all heard about the increase in companies checking the social media profiles of job candidates therefore managing your social media profile has become even more important now. It’s good that you are aware of this and take this into consideration while using social media sites. Some people recommend creating separate personal profiles, one for business and one for family and close friends only. This sounds better than it actually is because managing two social media accounts is probably extremely hard to do. I also agree with Albrechtslund as well, that surveillance in a sense has brought on some positive changes in the way we present ourselves in the cyber world. The notion of constant surveillance can pose as a positive on social media websites because it restricts the amount of information that we choose to share. Knowing that what we post and share is under constant surveillance makes us think twice about what we share and post. This scares us and pushes us to be more aware and precautious when entering social media sites.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though it is in every ones best interest to take your advice and keep your social life out of the news feel of everyone else's business. Also by keeping your personal information out of your social media feed future employers will not get the wrong idea about you because they will not be able to access that information. I also try and keep my public online profile as private as possible and like yourself I also have set all my social media pages to private so only people I have confirmed as my friends can access my information. Unlike you however I use more social media sources than yourself. I am part of various online communities such as instagram, pinterest, and tumbrl. Although I am also part of Twitter and Facebook and have these online profiles set to private, I do not have my other social media pages private because there is no personal information posted on them and my "followers" do not follow me based on who I am as a person but what my interests are like fashion, movies ect. There is no sense of surveillance on these social media pages.
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