One vs Multiple Identities : a Reflection
In my blog this week, I wanted to emphasise how it doesn’t matter about the multiple identities you have; its about maintaining it responsibly that’s important.
Looking at the pros and cons of creating several social identities, I like how people can separate their interests into different accounts on social platforms such as Twitter. However Calum’s interesting comment of how too any accounts may dilute your overall perspective online got me thinking, questioning whether having multiple accounts is a good thing. My response to this is what I still stand by, if this content is controlled appropriately, then its just away of organising your followers, helping you to categorise your opinions accordingly. I must add however, this doesn’t mean that interests can’t intersect! Instead, its just a less time consuming sort of way to communicate with others with similar interests.
Yet, there comes a point as to how far people go in creating multiple identities. I asked Andy about this, due to the angle he took in his blog about pseudonym accounts. Its interesting how on sites such as gaming, being anonymous is almost acceptable, creating a profile that may not reflect who are you offline. Where as on dating sites, it shows “a severe deficiency of confidence” (as quoted by Andy).
I have many digital identities, separating my personal (e.g. Facebook) and professional (e.g. LinkedIn) interests. I mentioned in Lucys blog that I recently read a blog on how digital identities can help or hurt us, especially when applying for jobs. Its the fact that companies may use social media to screen applicants, whether you have one or several identities. Either way, it comes down to using the internet to portray who you are whilst bearing in mind what you share and who will see it.
References
Burgess, C. (2014). Identity Crisis: How Many Online Identities Should You Have? The Progressive | Composition and Academia Blog of Calum Burgess.
Hewson, L. (2014). On the internet, nobody knows if youre a dog?! My thoughts on the #UOSM 2033 module: Living and working on the web
Sugden, A. (2014). Online Identity or Online Identites? MY BLOG FOR UOSM2033- LIVING AND WORKING ON THE WEB
Forbes (2012). How Social Media Can Help Or Hurt Your Job Search [Online] Available at:http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/04/16/how-social-media-can-help-or-hurt-your-job-search/
