ALC201
- EXPLORING NEW MEDIA: USERS, SETTINGS, AND IMPLICATIONS
SHELBY
TRELOAR 212191842
DUE:
MONDAY 12/5 5PM
MODULE
1 EXERCISE – TOPIC 2 REFLECTIVE TEXT
My online profiles
are a representation of how I choose to present myself in the online world,
through many websites such as, About.me,
Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Blogspot and Instagram, I maintain quite a balanced
online identity. As a young student, I, like many others, have grown up using
many technological outlets such as social media websites to portray an ‘online
identity’ to my peers. Personally, I choose to represent myself on the Internet
in the most respectable way possible for myself, as I need to be comfortable
with what personal information I am allowing others to see and read. I enjoy
having a balance between my private and professional identities throughout
varied social media sites, as I know respected family members that live
overseas can view my profiles.
“Self-identity is
explicitly made a matter of ones assorted enthusiasms and fandom’s.” (Hills
2010, p. 120) With this research, I can agree on some levels. I agree on the
basis that some users mainly use some social media outlets to express their
personal enthusiasms, as I personally use my private twitter account to do so.
“But the self is not just presented through fan consumer identities’; given the
centrality of the Profile picture, users tend to update these frequently, and
they have become a short hand for changing, up-to-the-minute performances of
self.” (Hills 2010, p.120) Drawing on this knowledge, I agree that many users
continuously update their Profile picture to keep their peers updated with
their personal lives. I however, use the same Profile picture for my
school-based profiles, such as About.me
and Blogspot as it is
easier for me to differ between profiles used for assessments, and personal
use.
My About.me profile serves as a general
homepage that provides links to most of my social media sites. The sites that I
have included on this page are one’s that I consider the most professional and
accurate representation of my online identity. According to Marshall, there is a certain ‘necessity of
linking one’s own identities into some sort of pattern’ (2010, p. 42). This
demonstrates why I use a platform such as About.me, and how it helps me differ
between my personal and school-based online profiles.
Sullivan (2011, p. 56) states, “The pervasive
use of Facebook.com and Myspace.com is remarkable” mainly in university
students, I agree with this statement, because as a university student, I enjoy
being able to access social media sites such as these so I can connect with
family and friends around the world. “These sites are organised to connect
friends, but also provide techniques for checking out others… These kinds of
sites describe the wider proliferation of the presentation of self.” (Marshall
2010, p. 119) Personally, I am grateful to hate platforms such as these so I
can stay connected with the people I do not see regularly, and also to create
an online persona that I am comfortable for other people to see.
Through this unit, I hope to expand on my
school-based online profiles as I rather enjoy blogging and discussing my
opinions on issues drawn through research, as I do in others units such as
ALC215. In future weeks, I hope to expand my knowledge of digital identities
through the media, and I also hope that I find the encouragement and enthusiasm
to continue to use one of my social media outlets as a discussion board for my
own personal opinions on research found throughout the unit.
References:
Hills, M 2009, ‘Case study: social networking
and self-identity’, in Creeber, G and Martin, R (eds.), Digital Cultures:
Understanding New Media, Open University Press, Maidenhead, pp. 119-120.
Marshall, P D 2010, ‘The promotion and
presentation of the self: celebrity as marker of presentational media’,
Celebrity Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 42-44.
Sullivan, C 2011, ‘The role and legal nature of digital identity in commercial
transactions’, in Digital Identity, University of
Adelaide Press, Adelaide, pp. 56-57.
Photos courtesy of myself from Facebook
Shelby it is interesting that you claim you have "quite a balanced online identity" I only familiarize myself with Facebook and blog-spot so my online identity is somewhat limited, thus perhaps my online identity may not be perceived as 'balanced'
ReplyDeleteI believe that the fact that your engaging with a variety of social media outlets, will in turn inevitably expand the knowledge of digital media identities that seek. Hopefully by the completion of ALC215 you can find the encouragement and enthusiasm you to continue to voice your own personal opinions to your friends, family and peers via social media. Keep up the good work!