My online identity has always been a true reflection of myself (without any tedious
bits, I guess). In recent months though this has changed, as I have begun to
use Social Media in a more purposeful way, constructing my online identity with
specific intent. Earlier this year I started applying for graduate jobs to
commence when I complete my degree, my immediate thought (and action) was to
turn all of my Social Media to private, and attempt to delete any trace that
could have negative connotations, not that there really were any. My online identity is a comprehensive reflection
of myself, I don’t create content around articles I am not interested in and I
don’t post opinions that I don’t believe, yet it is still not completely me,
rather a crafted version of me (Smith, S and Watson, J 2014, p.
75). Then I realized, and I am still unsure as to why I had not considered it before, that my
Social Media profiles will actually help me to gain employment, particularly in
the Media industry. It is almost a certainty that employers will search for
applicants online and “they want to find you” (Markgren, 2011, p. 32). I
need to manage my online portfolio correctly, and this is not an easy process.
As a result of this, I now construct a character and a performance (Marshall, 2010,
p. 40) rather than an erratic online persona.
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| What digital footprint have I made? Image used with Creative Commons permission, Pixabay. http://pixabay.com/en/men-group-painting-crouching-158684/ |
Though I
have always been aware of what digital footprint I have
been making I can standby the fact that I would not do anything online that I would not do in real life. I have never, however, thought critically as to what I was putting online. The idea of now changing the way
I used Social media was a little disheartening, as I enjoy its various uses. It
is well known that it is not fully possibly to completely erase traces of
ourselves, as we, online users, “are implicated in
contributing user-generated content” we become “searchable” Drobock (2013, p. 17). A simple Google search of my name returns a
flood of information that I previously had not considered, school grades,
Schoolies photos, references to my current work, as well as all of my Social
Media pages. Social Media is nuanced, it is both personal and professional, and
for job seekers, it can be a “complex prospect to ‘clean up’ your online
presence to ensure you’re putting your best self out there” (Drobock, p. 17,
2013). For me it is not about cleaning
up my act, my online identity is not bad, I simply make sure that the content I
am generating reflects myself as well as my employment interests. My online identity is, inevitably, the content that I generate. According
to Gabriel (2014, p. 105) Social Media now demands that young people “actively and deliberately think
about and negotiate their own visibility – the image they project, the identity
they wan to have” and this way of thinking is now what has defined my online identity.
So what was and what is? I use a number of
Social Media platforms; Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and now Twitter among
them. I use Social
Media to contacts close friends, and to follow the lives of friends and family
I don’t see as often. Most of this following is, however, passive. The identity
I create though, is focused. As Marshall stated (2010, p. 40), the construction of a
character through Facebook or Twitter is “highly conscious of a potential
audience as much as it is a careful preening and production of the self” and in
a bid to create an active online identity that is attractive to potential
employees I deliberately negotiate what I am posting and generating,
consciously think of things that can enhance my online footprint whilst still
portraying a reflection of myself and my own interests. Pooley (as cited in Smith
& Watson, 2011, p. 75) put it in superlative terms when he stated that “authenticity today is more accurately described as ‘calculated
authenticity’ - stage management. The best way to sell yourself is to not
appear to be selling yourself” and this is what my online identify consists of - calculated
authenticity. I ultimately want to work in Social Media Management, and so it
is obviously imperative that I have a sound Social Media presence, at the
least. So in doing this I have worked to ensure I have a “personal brand”
online, a “public expression and projection” (Margren, 2011, p. 32) of my real
identity, my personality and values, and importantly, my skills, education and abilities.
I have ensured all of my profiles have the same profile picture and similar
themes so that my brand is instantly recognizable. This is
whilst ensuring that I follow particular platform etiquette and using different
avenues to enhance different aspects of my identity. For example Instagram
could be considered more about personal images, whilst Tumblr is about photo
inspiration and ideas.
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| (Screenshot: My personally branded Social Media pages. http://instagram.com/katelynpahlow, https://twitter.com/katelynest91) |
In the coming months or even years, I intend to expand my online identity. I
want to have a presence in the online Media world. Put simply, I want to “gain
more visibility by putting” (Markgren, 2011, p. 32) myself out there, rather
than hiding my online content, and I believe I have done a good job of this so
far. I keep my Facebook private, as you would notice from the lack of hyperlink, but I am trying to create a following on Instagram in particular, to show that
I can use Social Media to its many advantages, and I will continue to do this.
Publicly searchable information is no longer considered private (Bagley et. al,
2014, p. 385) and that is fine by me, as I have nothing to hide, in fact the
opposite is true. I also intend to heavily grow my presence on LinkedIn. While
I think I have done a solid job of setting up my profile, I expect to establish
a solid network through presenting a particular brand that I can use to further
my career.
As technology progresses the line between virtual and online reality is blurred any way, and soon I don’t think there will be much of a difference between my online identity and the real Katelyn, if there even is much now.
Word count: 989 (without citations & captions)
Reference
list
Bagley, J, DiGiacinto, D, & Hargraves, K 2014, 'Imaging Professionals' Views of Social Media and Its Implications', Radiologic Technology, vol. 85, no. 4, pp. 377-389, retrieved 7 August 2014, EBSCOhost Database.
Drobock, K 2013, 'Is Social Media a Friend or a Foe?', Strategic Finance, vol. 95, no. 11, pp. 16-18, retrieved 7 August 2014, EBSCOhost Database.
Gabriel, F 2014, ‘Sexting, selfies and self-harm: young people, social media and the performance of self-development’, Media International Australia, no. 151, pp. 104-12 , retrieved 1 August 2014, EBSCOhost Database.
Markgren, S 2011, 'Ten simple steps to create and manage your professional online identity: How to use portfolios and profiles', College & Research Libraries News, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 31-35, retrieved 7 August 2014, EBSCOhost. Database.
Marshall, PD 2010, ‘The promotion and presentation of the self: celebrity as marker of presentational media’, Celebrity Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 35-48, retrieved 1 August, 2014, EBSCOhost Database.
Smith, S & Watson, J 2014, ‘Virtually Me: A Toolbox about Online Self- Presentation’, in Poletti, A & Rak, J, (eds.), Identity Technologies: Constructing the Self Online, The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, pp. 70-95 retrieved 1 August 2014, Deakin Library.
