Watch out, your next status update might be your last! Social media is a great way to loose your identity. When I first starting researching identity, I found an interest in social media and identity. There are so many ways even through Facebook or Twitter that you could lose your identity. Here are a few ways and tips to never do to help protect yourself.
-Passwords
-Logging in and out is super important.
-Date of Birth--I know its great to see peoples birthdays but is a great asset if I were the thief.
-Full name--put a nickname or just your first or last name.
-Home town--they can track you and find you super fast.
-Be careful of what you share. I know you want to share your last vacation but that could be an avenue.
Now I would like to get to the nitty gritty;
Social media has such great influence on what we do, what we share and I think sometimes people rely on it too much. I know friends that have FB and Twitter on their smart phones and it gives them updates when some one posts on their wall or tags them. Honestly how many interruptions can a person handle in one day. But then I was thinking about it and maybe some people...that's just one of their realities, one of their worlds they are living in.
I found the video, seen below, that particularly caught my attention. "Human cost of social technology" Is it really costing us? What is it costing us?
Many people have different identities on FB, different accounts, or portray themselves as a different person. It really becomes a sense of performance. What pictures are put up, what comments are shared and who they will be friends with.
It is especially affecting adolescents. They are in the precise moment of when they are forming their identities, a sense of who they really are. And what are they consumed with and obsessed about? The web, social media. It is a huge part of their life. My brother is an advocate. He is 15 and is constantly updating his status and talking with friends over FB. Once I saw 147 comments on one comment he posted. CRAZY!
One huge problem with so much time spent on it, is also the fact that they are constantly having to perform and who is doing the training for the performance? Who is the coach? Well it is media itself. It is what they watch and see on a daily bases. There isn't a place to go that is offline. No sense of security without the approval of the web or the public.
I want to ask you; are children changing who they would become because of social media? Are they letting it proclaim their identity?
Are you changing a part of you to perform/look and be something that you want others to see?
References:
http://www.virtuosimedia.com/business/social-media/keeping-your-identity-safe-on-facebook
http://abbicabanding.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/ten-commandments-for-keeping-your-online-identity-secured/
http://simonmainwaring.com/social-networking/sherry-turkle-of-mit-how-social-media-impacts-to-your-identity-part-2/
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