Digital Identities

Are people really who they say they are online? With different platforms for people to express themselves and their ideas such as Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, etc, it is easy for people to convey the lives that they want others to see. So think to yourself, are you really the same person on and offline? Your answers will vary of course, but if you put yourself in a teenager or young adult's shoes and ask yourself the same question, your answer may change.

The chances that students at this age have a cell phone or some sort of device are very high and therefore the chances that they are on some form of social media is high. When looking at Instagram or Snapchat, the 2 most used apps by teens and young adults, there are users who put themselves out there to the world. In the case of Instagram, there are models and celebrities trying to make money by advertising products that they may or may not even use. I had recently watched the Netflix documentary that looks deeper into the Fyre Festival that did not go as people had expected. This is a prime example of an identity proving to be false online. The workers and promoters for the festival used social media and influencers online to portray something amazing when it clearly was nothing of the sort. I think it is important for educators to discuss these ideas around the internet and reveal to them the issues that arise with false digital identities. Sonia Arrison says that people put the better, healthier person they aspire to be online for everyone else to see. Another point made in the same video (below) states that people are constantly performing for their viewers online.

Again, as an educator, I believe it is important for teachers to discuss these performances versus what is the reality with our students. I think that by having these discussions with our students, they are more likely to realize and questions what is real and what is not real on the internet. I also believe that these discussions would lead to students having a better understanding of the different implications there are with the items that they put online for the world to see.