Social Media Presence and Digital Footprint

When I unlock my phone in the morning, like many people, I check social media right away to read any messages I may have gotten while asleep. I’m unsure as to whether or not I would consider myself addicted to the platforms I have a presence on, but I can acknowledge that they provide a certain level of comfort in my daily life. The ability to keep up to date with my friends helps maintain a connection to them even as we find less time to spend with each other because of school, work, or geographic obstacles. However, the main concern I have for my social media accounts is the performance that is inherent to the internet, the notion that my pictures, thoughts, feelings, and personal information are made accessible to any social media user is daunting. Not only does that fact influence my content, but it pressures me to present my desired self to the world, as opposed to a more authentic representation of myself.

I participate in just about every social media platform, I like to be knowledgeable about each because of social media’s growing relevance in our society. It does not come as a surprise that school systems, especially at the collegiate level, have recognized the importance of your image on social media; LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook are all points of reference when determining a person’s character, however subjective that perception of them may seem. My footprint, as it were, has been limited to occasional posts with friends on Instagram, retweets I find relatable, and a professional overview of my accomplishments on LinkedIn. Needless to say, I don’t just release disseminate any random occurrence from my life onto the internet, rather, I carefully craft an image of myself that other people, and future employers, in particular, would find respectable.

While I scroll through various feeds and see the weekend exploits of my friends, I can’t help but feel a little left out because I’m not documenting everything on my Instagram, I have to think about the consequences. If you take the idiomatic phrase “footprint” and apply some of the practices I have discussed, the end product will have clean lines, visible grooves, and appropriate forms that would warrant a positive review. Although I have this more reserved philosophy on social media postings, everyone participates for their different reasons, some may even be for therapeutic purposes, but the most important thing to keep in mind is what you are comfortable sharing with the world.

Source:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90315706/kids-parents-social-media-sharing