Online Presence [#11]

Online Presence  

    I have always considered myself extremely cautious when it comes to my online presence. I did not have a phone or access to social media until I was in 9th grade and I thank my parents so much for that. I was able to grow up relatively away from the pressures that social media puts on kids nowadays. I did not even have a personal social media account with my real name connected to it until I was in 11th grade, before then and still today I use an online alias to interact with the type of content I wish to consume on social media, such as memes and updates about my favorite tv shows. I do not have a Facebook account, but I do have a personal Instagram and Snapchat, that I really never use.

    I also have Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and TikTok accounts associated with my online alias, where I frequently am on my toes about any personal information I share. I have never trusted the internet with my secrets and I don't intend on changing. My Mom on the other hand posts frequently on Facebook. Often she posts about us as a family so against my own control information about me does find it's way online and I am not the only one to experience this. In part, knowing that my Mom is so open on social media I do find myself more cautious about what I put out there. My life is private and I would like to keep it that way.

    I have a total of a dozen gmail accounts to my online name. I do not give my personal email to any sites other than professional ones such as LinkedIn due to it having my full first name and last name linked to it. I have an email dedicated to spam sites that want my email for some reason so I can give it to them and not ever read a single email they send me. My phone number is linked to a few of my social accounts, but as soon or if I'm able to I remove it from the system. The most I allow my phone number out there is to important sites as a place of a backup contact if I ever forget my passwords. Being on top of what information you give out, I feel is so important and more people should practice this. The internet isn't your friend. It's a tool that wants to use you so you have to do your best to use it before it can use you.

    Social media as a whole is a blessing and a curse. It brings friends across the country together, but can tear close friendships apart when you see your bestie partying without you. No one is ever really honest with their online posts, no matter what you do to try and ensure that. A photo is one snapshot of one moment of one second of your life, you cannot be put in this box that social media wants you to be in. Be careful online, you never know who you can trust.