Topic 2 was a very enlightening topic that educated me not only on the subject matter as a whole, but also on my own use of social media platforms and my online identities as a consequence.
Whilst I have never considered it a wise idea to present oneself on the Internet with anything less than what would be considered acceptable social behaviour in the physical world, I found it particularly eye opening to read the blog posts of others and learn the importance employers place on potential employees social media streams. Furthermore, it struck me how the popularisation of social media streams and the evolution of online identity on the Internet have resulted in a thirst for greater anonymity from areas of the online community. This could be for a number of reasons – many of the blog posts I read, such as Harry Kett’s, pointed to the fact that people may not feel that they can express themselves freely whilst also in the knowledge that their name will be attached to anything they post/write online.
I also enjoyed furthering my knowledge of ‘catfishing’ and the advent of online fake personas. Before commencing this topic I had always considered fake personas to be an almost exclusively negative thing. However, Tom Mackenzie’s blog post gave several instances where possessing a fake persona’s can be advantageous. For example, to engage in social media with a select group that may exclude certain individuals. Other blogs also provided good examples, including how important fake personas could potentially be for whistle blowers.
Most importantly perhaps, the topic made me reflect on my own use of social media and whether or not the online identities I have constructed on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can be considered at all negative. The fact I was able to do this after greatly expanding my knowledge of the subject extremely gratifying
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