My Online Presence

In today's society you see people constantly online, shaping their image to people on a social media platform. That is what the world has come to these days as people have given in to the idea that their image online and on social media is important. As someone who is at the point in their life to try and make my image as professional as possible  I try my best to protect my image online.

I do have accounts on most, if not all of the major social media sites (instagram, snapchat, facebook, twitter, linkedin). On these sites I limit myself to how much I put on these accounts. I do this for many reasons like to keep my privacy and to keep my accounts looking somewhat professional if they can. I use these social media sites normally to just keep up with what is going on with family, friends, and to look at news as well. The key for me is to not post very often and to keep my accounts private. When I do post it is usually something to do with what I do professionally at school or about playing sports which is what people who visit my account will only be able to see. I do this to ensure privacy because privacy is a big reason why some people are getting exposed on social media. They give away phone numbers, emails, and sometimes even credit/debit cards. This is known as "shedding data" which is when people are gullible enough to give away personal information to online sites that store it and are subject to expose that data under certain occasions. To ensure privacy I never give out payment information on social media. I only give out my phone number and email which are two things mainly used to verify accounts.

There have been actions taken to protect a persons privacy. Every year it seems facebook is always updating their private policy because their previous one is not good enough (will it ever be?). Recently there has even been a creation called OK2SAY which is a Michigan-based student safety program that alerts the Department of Human Services and law enforcement about threats online. Even though new actions are taken to ensure privacy you should take action yourself by limiting the amount of information you release because you cannot always rely on private policies and law enforcement to keep you safe online.

Since social media has become so popular and people are on it constantly there is a concern that the amount of time a person spends on a screen can make them feel lonely. Right of the bat, when a person's only interaction with people is through online contact they are for sure going to feel lonely. Also, if you are in front of your screens so much you are for sure going to feel isolated because people are living in their own world of their computer and phone screens. There are statistics that prove social media causes loneliness among many other factors. For instance a study showed that from 1985 to 2004, the year that social media began to rise, there was a 15% increase in people who have nobody to discuss important matters with. The feeling a being alone is dangerous and could lead to many other life changing thoughts like depression and anxiety.

I have taken these factors of privacy and loneliness into account to protect myself and my own well-being and I hope other people can recognize this as well.

Related links:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/is-facebook-making-us-lonely/308930/