Post 12 - My Online Pesence

 My Online Presence: 

    In middle school and high school, social media is the biggest thing. All that matters is what you post and how many likes you get. Once I got out into the real world I realized how little social media matters. I noticed myself posting less and not worrying about how many followers I had. I had other things to deal with and real problems to face. I saw how artificial people's social media accounts were and that they only posted the highlights of their lives. Because of this, I would say I have a medium-sized online footprint. Online doesn't just mean social media, so while I don't use social media that much I do go "online" in other ways. I use google for everything even though I know it tracks what I'm doing. I also do have a personal website. This website has projects I've worked on and my contact info. Due to that, I would say I have more of an online footprint than I thought which is why I think it is medium-sized. 

    My most used social media sites are Instagram and Facebook. I occasionally post photos on them and rarely look through other people's photos. I like these social media because they have videos on them. I enjoy watching short, 2 minute, craft, or baking videos on these platforms. Because of social media and my website I have voluntarily given out information such as what I look like, my email, my university address, and my phone number. The only thing my social media has to give out is what I look like all the other information is from my professional website. If someone were to visit these sites they might know where I've vacationed in the past because of pictures I've posted on Instagram. They might also find out what kind of work I've done from my website. But I am okay with people knowing all of the information I put out there. I don't post pictures of vacations while I'm on them because I don't want people to know I'm not home, that is the only thing I'm wary about. But a visitor to my social media won't learn more about me than if they visited someone else's account.  

    While people look at social media as a good thing because it brings people together it is also harmful because it is taking people out of the moment. People can no longer enjoy a vacation or lunch with a friend because they are so worried about getting a picture of it to post. So depending on the definition of loneliness you want to use then I believe social media has made people less capable of properly socializing, making them lonely and isolated. It can also make people depressed because they are constantly comparing themselves to others. Social media has many effects on us, some that we might not even be aware of yet.  

    This class has taught me so much about the internet and made me really aware of what my online presence is about. I've learned that what I post represents me and my future. Not only with social media but with everything I do online, my emails, my Google searches, etc. I learned that everything is tracked and that everything represents who I am. That was really eye-opening and I will keep this all in mind for the future and I will never look at social media the same way again.