My online presence is tied to the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Tumblr, as well as my Spotify account and the blog my friends and I started (and ended) in middle school. The most accessible of all of these is probably my Facebook page, which I started as a senior in high school. The least accessible is likely my blog, since it does not use my name, my email, or any real identifying factors, and can only be accessed with a direct link. I view social media as a way to connect with people I actually care about, and my curation of my accounts reflects this. I don’t post often to Facebook and Instagram and choose only to accept requests from people I know in real life. The pictures I choose to post are often about people or places that are important to me. The only person I follow on Spotify is my sister, since I like to use her playlists. I have playlists on my account that chronicle my changing music tastes as well as what I have consistently liked to listen to since I was a sophomore in high school. My Tumblr account was created for Dr. Stover’s creative nonfiction class, and is password protected. It hasn't been used since I finished the class. My Pinterest is mostly for my own use; I haven’t connected with anyone on it and I only use it to save recipes that I want to try later. Even if I had followers on Pinterest, my boards are secret and not visible to the public. All of my social media accounts are private, and I am picky about whose request I accept. By limiting who can see my posts, I feel less anxiety about what I am posting; I don’t worry about whether or not the people my posts will think they’re cool or worthwhile, because I’m mostly posting them for me and the people I care about. As a whole, I am as much of an introvert on social media as I am in real life. I don’t comment much except for on my very close friends’ posts, and I don’t make very many posts myself. My Facebook page is mostly me being tagged in photos by my social media savvy friends. My lack of social media savviness is intentional, to some degree. My curation has consisted of building boundaries that allow me to post what I think is interesting or appropriate. I’m not sure about the rest of my curating process; how do I decide if a picture is right for Instagram, or if I should start a new Spotify playlist? Mostly, these platforms serve as a place for me to share things about myself with others, and choosing what to share is important. But I don’t have a conscious set of criteria. Some people and places just seem worthy of a post. Some days I feel inclined to put the songs I’ve been thinking about into a playlist. As a whole, my online presence is limited, especially to those I am not friends with. I don’t post often, and don’t have a conscious set of criteria for what I post. The curation of my online presence has been much more unconscious than it has been conscious.
4 Comments
Chor Yi Lilac To
8/29/2018 06:51:10 pm
Nice blog! I'm also a kind of person that only follow someone I know and allow close friends to follow back. That's how we keep a relationship by sharing daily life with each other. But I think one of the function for social media is to connect and explore the whole world. So it will be more fruitful if we follow some international accounts.
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Ashley Harris
8/31/2018 10:21:31 am
I think you are not alone in how you manage and control your online presence. A lot of people tend to use social media sparingly and keep it as private as possible. Obviously, on the other hand there are also lots of people who make it open for anyone to see. Those two polar opposites is interesting to me. I fall somewhere in between. I want to make sure I am easy for friends and potential employers to find, but I don't want to be friended or followed by fake or spam accounts.
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Anna Bates
9/3/2018 03:02:31 pm
I think the way you manage your social media is the best way to go about it, and I wish I monitored more of my social media in the way that you do. You have definitely set yourself up for success regarding potential employers, and while it is obvious you still know your way around the digital side of things, you've limited the anxiety and addiction that often comes along with it.
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Dani Jackson
9/4/2018 01:47:50 pm
“I am as much of an introvert on social media as I am in real life,” I love this quote! I can definitely relate to this, as well as having those "social media savvy friends.” Even though it’s rare to have a small presence on social media, I think you’re right that it relieves anxiety when you don’t have to keep up a big presence.
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AuthorDigital Literacies student Archives
October 2018
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