The person I interviewed is Mariuxi one of my best friends. She is 24 years old and lives in Quito, Ecuador.

1. What social media platforms and apps they have used now and in the past?

“In the past, I used to have account in hi5, but once Facebook became popular, I changed to this platform. Now, I have accounts on LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and whatsapp.”

1. Do they use their real name(s)? Have they ever used aliases or created fake accounts? Why?

“I have always used my real names and have never create fake accounts. But, I do know many friends who have fake accounts to spy on their couples or have a separate accounts. One for friends and one for their families.”

3. What different personas do you construct in each of these platforms and how do you relate to aspects of your experiences in life?

“In my Facebook account, specially when I just started using it, I used to use this social media platform to share poems, short stories or songs written by me. On Instagram, I used to post pictures with poems, or quotes from books I read.

I have always like literature and painted art. I am a lawyer, and my profession requires me to read a lot. But painted art has nothing related with my career. Therefore, I use social media as a tool to express that part of myself that I cannot share in my professional life. I think, social media is the most appropriate space I have to share this hobby.”

4. Do the digital personas they construct help them cope with the problems they face or do they create new problems? In what ways?

“Through social media, I had the chance to express myself in different ways specially showing my interest with art and literature. I did not have problems regarding the personas I construct on it. But, social media got me in many problems with my boyfriend. I received many friend requests from people I do not know and fake accounts that tried to hurt me and hurt my relationship. I had problems that I have not experienced before but in social media.”

The article “Introduction: Identity in the Age of the Internet” by Turkle, Sherry refers about the relationship between people and computers and the way technology is causing us to reevaluate our identities in the age of the Internet. Turkle also in chapter seven “Aspects of the Self” says “the internet has become a significant social laboratory for experimenting with the construction and reconstruction of the self that characterize postmodern life” (Turkles,180). Internet has become one of the most powerful tools to communicate worldwide. Though the combination on internet, technology, social media platforms and games people create different characters or personas with different identities that express themselves in different ways. Mariuxi, says that through social media platforms she has the option to take the role of a persona who likes painted art and literature. This part of herself she is not able to share in real life.

Athique in chapter five says “participants in online forums were seen to compensate for the lack of social cues by expressing themselves in new ways, such as the early use of emoticons to provide a graphical representation of the mood of the writer.” (Atique,118) Athique points out that people are using life on computer screens to become comfortable with new ways of thinking about life and identity, but at the same time as a way to express themselves. As Mariuxi mentioned she likes to post or share pictures with quotes or painted art. Her pictures are a representation of her mood and hobbies. Nowadays, social media is a way to express yourself not only about hobbies or personas you cannot express face to face with other people, but a way to express your feelings and mood. The easy way to share or post images, videos or any graphical representation let other people know about your life, interest and mood.

Photo source: Philippine star

This picture makes me think that human beings are leaving  and sharing all our identity and personal information in web. Just with a click we can login to our profiles in different social media platforms. All our personal information is out there, we are sharing everything we do and everything we think.  We do not know how safe our information is right now. Just with a click we are making our life public.

Meghan Casserly,  in the article Multiple Personalities and Social Media: The many faces of me by Forbes says how media platforms give us the chance to show different sides of our personalities such as professional and personal. It is a way to communicating and self-promoting.

Questions:

1. Have you ever created a different persona in any of social media platforms and why? What are some of the experiences you had?
2. What are some of the biggest changes you see in apps you used five years ago and the apps you use now?