Check Yourself
Growing up internet savvy parents I've always been taught to seriously watch what you post on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter or Facebook. Although when I was in my younger years I thought it was truly the dumbest thing “who was going to watch my social media?” “I’m not famous so why will anyone care?”. Flash forward 10 years later and 20 year-old me is so grateful that my parents kept a watch on what I posted.
When I came to High Point I was petrified to not know any of my roommates or truly know anyone that I was coming to school with. With that, unfortunately the only way to get to know people was through their social media profiles, and I started to see a trend. Facebook was strictly family posts, Twitter was random nonsense, and Instagram was flooded with pictures at parties, festivals, or large gatherings. With that came pictures of people smoking, drinking, and just naturally posting things that I wouldn't deem “post worthy”. Although at the time of posting it you aren't worried about an employer seeing the post, but it's something that should be in the back of your head whenever you post on social media. There's hundreds of tweets I’ve deleted or not posted just because I realize that maybe one day I will want to work for that team or the person I’m talking about could be a client in the future.
Being born in 2000 social media wasn't entirely popular until my elementary and middle school years. But look at today. Everyone has some form of social media, and when someone has a newborn a picture of that kid is put on the internet within HOURS of it being born. What does this mean? That child's entire life will be a show for social media. Although it will be cool to have every moment of it captured on camera, is it entirely necessary? Look at Sonia Bokhari, she was a 14 year-old whose entire life had been broadcasted to the internet without her knowing. This led to her feeling deeply betrayed since her parents wouldn't allow her to use the platforms until she was 13. Although I wouldn't be as deeply affected by this I can see her perspective. Being told for years that she couldn't use the platform just to see that she was being plastered all over her mothers Facebook wall and Twitter page is concerning to see. Where do we draw the line on personal information? Separating personal information with social media is maybe the hardest part of having an online presence. You want to share your life and show people what you are doing, just not too much of it. With the case of Sonia Bokhari and many others the line was crossed, in this case without her consent.
What most people overlook is how social media works. How do these uber-wealthy tech companies make their billions and billions of dollars each year? For one Facebook essentially steals your information and sells it to retailers around the world. When stores and other companies want to learn information about you they turn to “big tech” allowing them to tailor ads to fit your needs perfectly. Therefore most companies have gone away from TV and billboard ads. Instead they invest millions of dollars in data mining from these “big tech” companies.
Social media is one of the greatest tools at our disposal, instant news, a place to talk about your interests and personalized followings. At the same time it has consumed our social lives so much that we are constantly wrapped up in what our presence online looks like rather than our real life selves.
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