For EDTC300, we were asked to partner up and cyber sleuth one of our classmates.
I started my sleuth by simply googling my partner’s name. A bunch of different online profiles came up, meaning I had to sift through a couple of different users to see if any of them was my peer. I was able to find my partner’s blog, Instagram, and TikTok by googling their name. I then switched my sleuthing technique and began searching their name on specific social media platforms and was able to find them on Twitter and Facebook as well.
From the various platforms they use, I was able to learn information about where they’re from, their relationship status, and their family. Although certain platforms had more privacy settings such as Instagram, I was still able to learn more about my partner via their bio.
After this exercise, I believe our digital identity does play a larger role in how we interact and socialize with one another as well as how we choose to portray ourself. Based on what I could see of my partner’s digital footprint, they use different platforms for different reasons. Their blog is education related, offering examples of my partner’s course work as well as personal learning and beliefs. Their Twitter was also very educational, and one could easily tell that my partner was a real person and not a troll. In contrast, their TikTok shows way more of their family than any of the other platforms I had full access to. It was cool to get to know my partner better by looking at majority of the platforms they use rather just the platforms we use for class including blogs, Twitter and Discord. This aspect of digital identity allows one to gain a more rounded understanding of the individual behind the screen similar to how one gets to know another better in person.