After reading Ariel's post, let's talk about who we are.
First of all, I'll fully admit that I'm in what Dr. Burton referred to as the typical "BYU identity crisis" - meaning that since marriage I haven't quite switched my last name in the BYU system. So I want to move beyond my so-called crisis and look at others' crises.
What portrayal of ourselves are we putting out there for the world to see/read/judge? What's our purpose in the online identity we've created? Are we trying to inspire our peers? Maybe we're trying to be adventurous. The point is... is that really you?
Scenerio 1
I remember an interesting conversation with my best friends about posting pictures on Facebook. It went something like this, "This one time we went to a casual party/get together at a friend's apartment and it was pretty boring. I was there the whole time but later on Facebook I saw pictures of the same event and it looked like a super fun time even though it wasn't!"
Scenario 2
A recent post that has caught my interest comes from a mom that stands for something. She's calling out to teenage girls who post way more of themselves than she'd like her teenage sons to see. I strongly recommend checking it out! I think it's great that this mom is starting a conversation that means something to her. But more importantly, she's raising questions about how a significant portion of teenage girls are creating an image that is not so becoming, to say the least.
Do you think these are relevant issues? Is this something worth our attention? I'd love to get your thoughts because I think these are worth digesting.
These scenarios call great attention to the question of online identity. Do we think enough about our image on social networks and other digital sites? Don't worry, I know my audience and I know that my peers are not going to be found scantily clad online. However, I believe that we can choose what we want to represent ourselves.
Are we so focused on impressing others that we lose touch with meaningful ways to use our digital tools?
Show the world who you are and the positive things you're interested in and capable of. Show the world that you care about God. Show the world that you are an academic and you care about the human condition because that's why we're here.
I think your ideas are super interesting! I also find it interesting that you linked that particular article about the teenage girls. I've read the article and read several responses to it. A lot of my friends were saying on facebook that it's super inspiring and I can definitely see why they would think of it that way, but at the same time I found it interesting how the mother was portraying her boys online. There are various readings of them, either the mother views her sons as "perfect" or that they will be "corrupted" I found that though agreed with the mother's call for women to dress modestly and respect themselves, I think it's wrong that she puts all the blame on the women and insinuates that her boys have no ability to control themselves.
ReplyDeleteBrittany, I think you addressed valid concerns in society today of how we portray ourselves through technology. This questions was briefly brought up in class of how there are appropriate way to create an identity online. I think that one way to address this concern would be to educate people(maybe make them take a digital culture class), in how to appropriately use technology to create their online identity.
ReplyDeleteLove it. These are some very interesting ideas.
ReplyDeleteEven though I don't post scantily clad pictures of myself on social media websites, I am guilty of frequently using only professional photos of myself as profile pictures. In fact, I've never really had a silly profile picture, partly because I'm just not that silly, but also because I want to present myself as *always* collected, beautiful, and kind. This isn't a bad thing per se, but it does allow me to put up a sort of front and have more control over the way others view me.
I'm going to skip over addressing the Mrs. Hall post, because I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate it (the post, not you). I clearly support modesty, but I believe it takes the complete wrong approach to it. I could write a long post of my own, but others have covered that for me (here, if you are interested, is my favorite, though not without flaws: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865585841/How-to-see-a-woman-A-conversation-between-a-father-and-son.html?pg=all)
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy your scenario 1, though. I find that it works both ways. Some people that I like in "real life" I cannot stand on Facebook. Maybe what I know would have been an interesting discussion in person becomes a status that just sounds stuck up on the Internet. On the other hand, some people that I don't know too much outside of the web are people that I love online.
I'm always going to support something that encourages others to be better versions of themselves (in this case, not post seductive pictures of themselves online). But I agree with Victoria's comment regarding the mother's blog in that it's wrong to put all of the responsibility on the women. It's definitely a two way street where men need to learn to control themselves and women need to start being more clean in their pictures.
ReplyDeleteThis post advances the discussion beyond just online identity to gender issues (and even parenting issues). Do men and women represent themselves differently online? We might even think of time of life. I think that lots of teens and pre-teens post a great number of selfies (does this weight more to women than to men, I wonder?). It is a fairly obvious reflection of the self-oriented nature of those in those transitional years. Of course you are touching on other issues, here, too, such as how genuine we are in our online portrayals. I don't think that taking a picture of yourself at your worst is always a more authentic self-representation than trying to look serious and professional. Do you?
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