Discovering Online Identity

Social media gives us the power to shape a powerful online identity established across many communities and websites. Every piece of content a person contributes builds onto this unique, far reaching identity. For the most part this sharing of information is voluntary—we choose what to share, what to add, and who to communicate with. A handful of years ago this was not possible, but nearly everyone now has a social identity that can help or hinder them depending on how they go about sharing and shaping how they are seen.

In talking about online identity, I may be one of the worst people to take advice from. This isn’t because I follow terrible practices. I simply have a very small online presence. A Google search of my name brings up an almost pitiful list. The ever-present list of profiles on Facebook to look out for with that name—my account is quite low on the list, given my lack of activity. A link to my Google+ profile, a defunct Pinterest account I no longer have the password for, and the blog I use for these assignments. Going further through results even takes me to old, unimpressive comments on various blogs through the years. There are no images, no videos, and so little else it almost makes me laugh.

 
Privacy online is one of the areas many people feel is most important, and it is provided we don’t become completely silent in a digital world. This lack of presence means my privacy is safe. It also means I have no way of making online connections, contributing content, and building a carefully curated online name for myself. When building a carefully crafted identity is a requirement versus a luxury (Dixson and Arruda), I have fallen short. A plan for me to manage and grow that online presence means two things—crafting positive image for myself and creating a plan of what to contribute. 

As I head into job hunting this is important. Protecting ones privacy often means there isn’t much for prospective employers to look at. Whether we want to or not, everyone from schools to workplaces look at social media. They make judgements based entirely on what they find online (Dixson and Arruda) and simply keeping content about a person offense-free and positive is only the beginning of how to create a positive experience. Your name should be tied to your accomplishments, qualifications, and interests based on what is shared and contributed. 

For me, I don’t have to correct any damages. I know the major points of keeping my identity safe—such staples as guarding unique passwords, monitoring my name with alerts, keeping information I don’t want shared or to be attached to out of the way. Without a presence I have the unique ability to simply start from the ground up. My profiles can be optimized with the pieces of information that matter. I can choose what topics, blogs, and websites to offer thoughtful comments to. I can even deliver detailed reviews to products, books, and services I am familiar with. By keeping growth steady and my contributions positive there is little damage I can do.  

A blank slate is a nice starting place. Not everyone is afforded such a luxury, but we know the ways to begin tidying up and, in extreme cases, reversing damage. Controlling Google results—from a company with a staggering online market share (Schawbel)—is a start many people forget to keep track of. Right alongside managing passwords and shared information should be tracking what is being searched about you and why. Tracking Google gives us a chance to improve on what is being said and viewed, and to continue boosting with positive accounts on a social media resume of sorts.

Online presence and identity can be daunting. Privacy is something most of us learn about online, but curating a presence from virtually nothing can be a bit tricky. Taking time to find areas where we can contribute thoughtful information, deliver a positive experience, and show exactly the parts of ourselves we want people to know will create a powerful identity that takes us to the goals so many of us set. I’ll be working from the bottom up to create a strong presence for myself. Not everyone gets to work like that, so I’m sure to be careful so as not to make any missteps along the way. The online world can be tricky to navigate, after all.

Dixson, K., & Arruda, W. (2007). Managing Your Reputation Online. Retrieved from http://www.cio.com/article/142550/Managing_Your_Reputation_Online

The Internet Society. (2016). Protecting Your Identity Tutorial. Retrieved from http://www.internetsociety.org/protecting-your-identity

Schawbel, D. (2009). How to Take Control of Your Google Search Results. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2009/02/19/control-google-search-results/

Real Change or Slactivism?

                Social media is seen as having great potential for social change. As with any platform, there are critics and valid concerns around this issue, as Malcolm Gladwell presents in his article “Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted”. There are points in the article that can’t be denied—social change has been a massive part of history, and often takes great physical effort to be realized. I agree with Gladwell’s points if not his overall message. Slacktivism is real for some people, but it is not the majority face of the platform.

                Large campaigns using social media do tend to fizzle out before much is achieved. Unless a certain amount of viral notoriety is found, these campaigns are made up of too many unique, out of sync pieces to not have their issues. Such large campaigns will always start up and face many obstacles on the road to completion. In fact, I believe many people who become active within campaigns don’t understand what they should be doing for a successful end result. Such articles as “8 Tips for Effectively Using Social Media for Social Change” review key steps that many campaigns lack, although there has been a substantial learning curve as of late with modern campaigns.

                I don’t believe this discredits the power of social media as a tool for activism. There is power in pursuing such powerful goals. Instead, I believe it shows that how people plan and deliver their ideas are developing. Attempts at change with measurable success do exist, outlined in such review articles as Ravi Kumar’s “Social Media and Social Change” and Henry Timms’ “Creating Social Change with Social Media”. These successes exist and the vast majority of social media users do believe there is room for change in everyday life, political matters, and general goodwill.

                Smaller campaigns do of course have the largest foothold in the environment of social media. There is a closeness to how people take key issues they identify with and break them into smaller pieces for a tangible impact. Often these succeed for the simple fact they have an immediate, noticed impact. A goal is met quickly in smaller scale attempts. Micro-philanthropy succeeds in many ways—first and foremost for being entirely accessible and feasible for a great deal of people. These smaller efforts, from grading school effectiveness to offering small donations to sharing information, make differences of their own.

Slacktivism is real, and large social change campaigns are met with many failures. This does not mean that social media is not an accessible method of beginning long term changes and for making messages heard. The methods to use these platforms are evolving, and I believe that as time goes on people will be able to take the success of small campaigns and apply them to larger, more visible successes in social activism.

Works Cited

Gladwell, Malcolm. “Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted.” The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 4 Oct 2010. Web. 14 July 2016.

James, Jennifer. “8 Tips for Effectively Using Social Media for Social Change.” Impatient Optimists. Impatient Optimists, 20 Mar 2013. Web. 14 July 2016.

Kumar, Ravi. “Social Media and Social Change: How Young People are Tapping into Technology.” The World Bank. The World Bank, 14 Jan 2013. Web. 14 July 2016.

Timms, Henry. “Creating Social Change with Social Media.” Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Review, 25 Mar 2013. Web. 14 July 2016.

A Digital Sabbatical

                Avoiding social media has become difficult. The rise of such accessible platforms has changed communication and makes the chance to escape from digital media a bit frightening. Tammy Strobel’s ‘A Magical Block of Time: Lessons Learned From My Digital Media Sabbatical’ is a great read that reminds us to take a step back, but sometimes practicing an idea is not so simple. In a digital world ignoring so much can become quite a chore.

                Even though I say that, when making a conscious effort, social media can be avoided. During my forty-eight hour sabbatical, as soon as I told myself to avoid social media at home it was easy to remind myself to stay away. Of course there were a few near clicks, not so much failures on their own, but I am not the average social media user. I’d even say I got a few projects done I wouldn’t have normally taken a look at when scrolling through websites can be so much simpler. 

                Part of my experiment with the sabbatical was not telling anyone I would be staying away from social media. For the first day no one noticed, as this is not unusual. I do little more than like a few posts and reply to a few tweets should I be mentioned. Sometimes I even link to outside sources, but for the most part I use my accounts to look about news and interesting topics for a quick scroll. After the second day I mentioned what I had done to a couple of friends and was meant by something I didn’t expect—they were impressed! The idea of committing to a step back was well received even if it seemed like they would hate to commit. I didn’t find it that awful, but at the same time, I had to cheat a little bit!

                Working without social media became impossible—so much that I would consider this attempt at remaining social-network free a technical failure. Over the forty-eight hours I needed to keep up with advertising and answering patron questions from the variety of channels kept open. My workplace, a public library, relies on social media to connect with customers, and follows several of the practices suggested in a post by Sujan Patel, titled ‘How Businesses Should Be Using Social Media in 2015’. These require active participation, something I don’t always find necessary but keep up with to maintain a presence.

I suppose that might be why I found catching up a bit daunting at first. Information moves quickly. This is especially true on social media. Sifting through what I missed was a bit of a task. Then I came to a new revelation—it was easy to throw away the information delivered during those forty-eight hours. None of it directly affected my life, and I certainly didn’t need a lot of it after all. I’m simply used to having that social media stream there when I want to look at it. Even if I don’t continue to step away from online presences in the future I can be a little more selective in the future of what I do take in. For me, that makes this idea of a sabbatical something of a success in my books.

Social media has changed communication, and while making it at times cluttered and other times invaluable, has also become all but unavoidable. Two days was alright to catch myself when work didn’t break the sabbatical, but I think much longer would be a bit difficult. The total change in media and communication really has been all thanks to social channels being developed and gaining a foothold. Even for someone like me who has very few to look through I find them important and sometimes, unavoidable. 

This forty-eight hour sabbatical was a nice chance to look at where I use social media. I managed to teach myself that not every piece of information I receive needs to be read. I’ve also taken a look at how most of my usage goes into work, and that I might need to submit a better plan of how we can use our channels without falling into overuse outside of patron questions. I would consider this time out to be a great learning experience.

Works Cited

Patel, Sujan. “How Businesses Should Be Using Social Media in 2015.” Forbes. Forbes, 24 June 2015. Web. 14 June 2016.

Strobel, Tammy. “A Magical Block of Time: Lessons Learned from my Digital Sabbatical.” Rowdy Kittens. Rowdy Kittens, 20 Sep 2010. Web. 14 June 2016.