Topic 2: Reflection on Online Identity
This week, looking into the pros and cons of online identity has certainly kickstarted my journey of beginning to think more deeply about how I should consider my actions on the web as an intrinsic part of life but also that if I am to use it, I must also respect the fact that the web has its own dangers and pitfalls that we are not often taught about.
From Tatiana Sieff I realised just how real the threat of having our intellectual property taken and redistributed, even for financial gain, is. This is only exacerbated by the fact that multiple social media sites such as Twitter have created complicated terms and conditions which both state that any photo you upload is your property, yet at the same time gives them the rights to:
“…do just about anything with it. The company claims the right to use, modify or transmit it your photo any way”
(1)
If anything this certainly makes one think of all the times you’ve simply clicked through the terms and conditions companies have to agree on with you to use their service touched on by Hayley in relation to registering to sites. This can in effect allow companies to access your identity and portray it or share it however they would like.
It is for this reason that fair representation may be out of our hands before we know it, which is why it is swiftly becoming more and more important as our lives become more public online, that we take measures to protect a fair representation of ourself. I still believe that this comes in the two options of simply acting purely professionally online, or ensuring that if you do want to use the web more widely that these liberties come with a cost.
Comments:
https://tatianasieff.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/seeing-double-multiple-online-identities/
Sources:
1. The Telegraph – Facebook terms and conditions: why you don’t own your online life (04/01/13)
