I found Brittany’s article, “The Illusion of Self in the Digital Age: Unraveling Our Multiple Identities,” very interesting. It made me rethink how I interact with ‘people’ online. Am I being my authentic, genuine self or a persona of myself in the digital world? I liked how the article talks about the digital realm as a place for us to reimagine our identities. It gives us the opportunity to reinvent ourselves with each interaction. It used to be very straightforward regarding the narrative of our lives, but now, this is an interwoven aspect that dives in and out of the virtual and real world.

I have always found it weird how people can feel such a deep connection to people online even though they have never met them. For individuals that struggle with forming relationships this makes this even more difficult. Now they cannot differentiate between genuine relationships and digital acquaintances.

This quote from the article keeps coming back to me as I think of how to help students discover who they are and who they want to be. “And in this dance of identities, let’s not forget the wise words of Socrates: “Know thyself.” Perhaps, in today’s intricate web of realities, it’s more fitting to say, “Know thyselves.” (Liouane, K., 2023, p. 5)

Josh shared this TedTalk, “Social Media and Teen Identity,” which brought to light the profound impact of social media on teenagers’ identity. In a world where Social Media sets the trends, students are in constant disarray as phrases, clothing trends, etc. always change. Teenagers are already trying to fit into the world in which they live. Now on top of that they are also trying to fit into the digital world. Teenagers struggle with identity and now are having to have multiple identities in order to fit in in a variety of locations.

It is not that social media is a negative tool it is that there is an obsession that individuals develop overtime with interactions with others with similar interests. This takes them away from the real world and real world issues an into a world of fantasy and one in which they are not always able to navigate in a true and meaningful way. They become caught up in getting ‘LIKES’ and ‘FOLLOWERS’ and having others comment on their posts. They also react to comments that others have made and may not fully understand the context in which the comments are made. It is a difficult time for all of us to navigate but as adults our brains are fully developed and are not as influenced and molded by what we see, read, watch and hear. Our youth of today are living in a world of sensory overload and have a difficult time knowing when, how and why they need to learn ways in which to tune out and take a step back from technology.

Josh spoke in his video overview of how we try to instill morals, values and belief systems in our families but this is difficult at times when you are trying to compete with technology. The youth of today have a shortened attention span and look for instant gratification. As a mom sometimes I wonder if I would be able to better communicate with my children if I was in influencer? Would they listen to me more or be embarrassed by me? I think I would have a better chance of getting through to other children then my own.

Do you feel that you wear multiple masks when you are online? Do you have different personas that you exemplify depending on who you are interacting with? How do we help our youth develop healthy personal identities?