Virtual is (still) reality
Since childhood, we are engaged in identity formation… But this era demands digital identity. Today we live in an interconnected world which comprises technology. These technological tools keep everyone connected in one or the other way. This connectivity demands every individual’s identity and it is in our hands to form our digital identity. Many times we are fooled by the thought that our digital identity doesn’t matter or it will not affect us… But we forget that this virtual world is being accepted as the new reality. Everyone tends to believe what they see or read about an individual online. The digital identity is not only shaped by the users with what they say about themselves but also by what they do. The type of posts or content they share and the type of people they interact with depict a lot about a person’s identity.
I am not a social media-friendly person but whenever I posted I was always conscious about things that I post on my digital world. I am very selective about the type of people I add as friends/followers on my accounts. I think when I stepped into this field I was a teenager and my first social media account was on Orkut.com. I started by using pseudo names like curlyexplorer (and others I don’t remember!!!) But I was lucky enough to have an elder sibling and she taught me about the negative effects of these applications. She made me friendly with every aspect of this digital world and I believe through her guidance I was able to protect myself.
Before taking this course I never precisely thought about my digital identity but now I have realized that I have been keeping myself protected in my own ways. Digital identity is a permanent collection of data about us that is available online. At present, my Facebook and Instagram are private accounts and I have only my friends and family connected on them. I like to keep my personal and professional life separate and the same goes on with my digital world. So, my Twitter and Linkedin profiles are used for my professional purpose only. But I am very conscious about the content that I post on my personal or professional accounts. Due to this current scenario, I am even afraid of the trolls that take place very rapidly. They spread like fire and soon you are a joke to this whole world… Thus, I have always been very alert about what I post, comment or follow online.
When I googled my name I could see my LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. Also, I could see my name on the list of lecturers at a college website where I worked in India. Earlier, very little information was available about me but I believe after I took more interest in digital tools and started using Twitter and Linkedin I am being recognized more. I prefer to post positive thoughts and educational content on these platforms. Moreover, this course made me realize the importance of digital citizenship and made me a digitally active person.
If I think about my future digital identity I know it will be far better than what I have now… coz now I have become more aware of it and I am gaining a lot of knowledge as well. Additionally, I would like to create awareness about the negative side of posting recklessly on these platforms. I had my elder sister to guide me and fortunately I was never trapped in any of these negative aspects but as an educator, I would like to educate the young generations. In this technological era, educators cannot work on just the offline lives of children but their online lives have to be monitored as well. I would like to help them and give them space to talk about the difficulties that they are facing in their digital world. Therefore, I am working towards this and I will keep on working to create awareness among younger generations to protect their digital identity.
Just sharing a video about digital identity… which I found interesting and informative at the same time. Let me know your thoughts about the way in which you protect your digital identity……
~~ Thank You 🙂
About The Author
Shristy Deep Godara
Educator | Learner | Traveller | Dog Lover
I liked the Youtube video which you have shared. Moreover, as you wrote that we all try to build our identity but in this digital era, it can backbite us if we reveal everything on Social Media. I was also unware of maintaining privacy online but slowly I learned after having some bad experiences. Such type of experiences can break you and also people undergo depression. I do not found issues with myself if I google my LinkedIn or Facebook account as I have a very common name and people can’t find me easily. So, I am on a safer side.
I too Googled my name to write this post. I am always amazed when people Google their names and find so much on them, that they didn’t even know was there. It’s such a quick thing that a person can do, but it can prove some surprising results. Looking at our past experiences, I think that we can all be better for sure. But at the time we may have been following best practices, or maybe not even aware of what we were doing. Learning from our past to guide our future is so key.
Shristy,
I think it’s great that you had a good digital role model in your sister. I was hesitant too to post anything on social media due to criticism. I feel like the more I do it, the less afraid I am. I still feel I curate, and I don’t post about my personal life either. My husband doesn’t like having any social media presence, and I have to respect that as well. Out of curiosity, what do you feel is the difference between your private accounts vs. Twitter in terms of positivity (as you mentioned you liked to post positive thoughts)?
Well, with respect to positive thoughts… I tend to post them whenever possible. But on my professional accounts, I have people added from many different backgrounds and I just don’t know what they might be going through in their lives… So I like to post positive content or content which might help someone in one or the other way. On the contrary, my personal accounts comprise of few people who are my friends/family… and there I post more about me and less about positive quotes because these are the people I talk to on a daily/weekly basis…..