Final Blog Post: Auditing my Online Presence

    When looking at my personal online footprint I would say it is significantly large. I have been on social media since I was 13 and became active around the age of 15. I have used platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Youtube for over 6 years of my life. Along with growing up as the internet and social media have been growing alongside me. I have a personal website that I have created for educational purposes, my blogger account. On this website I post assignments I have completed along with work that I am proud of keeping a portfolio in website form. Evolving with the media has caused me to create a large digital footprint myself over the years. 

On a daily basis I use the platforms Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, Youtube and Facebook. I have used these and check on them daily for as long as I can remember. I post on Instagram and facebook pictures of my friends and I and fun things we do. I also post on snapchat random things I do throughout my week I find entertaining or funny for my friends to see. I also use LinkedIn for a professional platform, to network and expand my connections. I have for as long as I can remember have updated these platforms, with age I update them less frequently yet I still do check and see what my friends post. I have never found a concern with my usage of social media as I did not create a toxic addiction to the platforms. I purely use them to check up on friends and family and post about my life to keep them updated. I could delete all my social media and not care because I have no connection to the validation social media gives others. I purely want to be kept in the loop of my personal friends and families lives along with keeping up to date with trends and news within the media. 

I feel as if a visitor would glean across my profile I would seem like any other typical 21 year old woman. I post pictures of what my friends and I do along with some images of myself. I do not keep a theme on any of my platforms like others do as I post what I want when I want. I do not think most people portray their lives realistic through the media and I like to keep it real. No fancy filters or captions just me and my friends and whatever I am doing. I find it hard to watch people of my demographic crying and becoming upset if they don't get a certain amount of likes and or comments on their posts. This is the validation factor I mentioned previously, as this is what many have social media for. Creating a toxic relationship with the media is something I did not want to do and knew I could fall into that cycle easily as a teenager. Setting boundaries with myself within the media was essential. 

I have given all my information to all my social media platforms and websites purely because I didn't think twice about it. I never thought anything of it when creating my accounts along with giving my email and number to companies. Those two things seem so impersonal to me from a broad perspective yet over time I have grown some concerns with doing so. My phone number can be traced, which I had no clue about before when I was 13 making my instagram account. Social media sites use this as a backup method when forgetting your username or passwords yet it is just a way of them getting more personal information about you. I wish I did not give my number to social media platforms along with companies I purchase from. Just by doing that I could decrease my digital footprint, yet once it is in the world it is out there, which is the scariest part of the media. 

I do believe that social media can cause depression and make individuals feel lonely and or isolated. Some people's whole life is purely lived through media and only on media. You can create a very false illusion through the media and what you are posting, people could think you are the happiest person in the world yet you are hurting on the inside. People can isolate themselves from the world yet be such a big part of it through the media. Loneliness is also something that I feel many experience through social media as they are looking at pictures of others with their friends having fun while they could be scrolling alone on their couch. The issue of comparing yourself to others is very prominent in today's society especially when looking at social media platforms. I see the depression factor of the media coming from comments and words said about others from behind the screen. Anyone can say anything they want from behind their screen and not care about the person on the other side. There is a very toxic culture blowing through the media now and it needs to be changed. Yet the only way to do that would be through the mindset of the users.

Blog #10 ETO Terms and Concepts (Alternative Media)

 Alternative media is not something I knew about whatsoever before doing research on the topic. This is the first problem when it comes to today's society as I am one of many that would have no clue when asked what alternative media is. By definition alternative media is “Newspapers, magazines, radio stations, or online media which are not corporately owned and which circulate political messages felt to be under-represented in ‘mainstream media’ (seen as geared towards maximizing profits and supporting a ‘free-trade’ agenda).” Alternative media gives the opportunity for news that is not typically broadcasted a place to shine and be seen. There are thousands of sources giving information on topics the media is trying to cover up and push away. Many individuals are turning to alternative media to avoid fake news as they believe this is the most reliable form to receive and perceive media. Alternative Media forms change depending on what is considered “mainstream” or what is on trend. This form of media can come in the form of print, digital, audio and or video. Alternative media gives the opportunity for those voices and events that go unheard or pushed away. There are so many things that we have no clue about as Americans that are going on within our country. Being educated and knowing what is going on is our civic duty and the government is continuously taking that away from us.

After researching and reviewing some alternative media sources it blew my mind how much I didn’t know. I would consider myself a fairly informed individual as I try my best to keep up to date with things going on within our country. I never knew and or even thought of half of the things that I read while researching. I came across a source of alternative media called South Front, a popular sight and form of alternative media. South Front is an organization that is 100% funded by supporters and readers, and provides the world with daily updates on everything happening with the Syrian War. They provide information that corporate media does not want people to know, yet they broadcast everything being transparent. Transparency is something many look for when seeking news outlets as everyone is searching for those that are reliable. I had no clue about anything going on in Syria as the mainstream news does not keep up to date with those events. Yet there are so many sights that are niche in the way that they are focused on one thing going on within our country and publishing anything and everything being transparent with the reader. There are so many more sights and forms of alternative media that individuals check up daily on. When asking a wide range of people from different demographics many did not even know what alternative media was let alone any of the topics discussed within this type of media. If alternative media became more prevalent and normalized within society the government would feel as if they lost control. As they have control over all media they do not have control over this type as it is simply individual exercising their first amendment. Being informed and staying informed in today's society is important, and alternative media can help those who may not be informed get informed. A simple google search and you have a world of media you never would have thought of. Alternative media is transparent and is a way to give those who want to know what is going on with the world a place to get informed and or inform others. 

Link to Presentation

Source

South Front

Blog #9- Privacy

 After listening to the assigned TedTalks it is hard to believe the little to no privacy we have, even if we think we do. Growing up in an era that technology was developing gave me some sort of insight on how to behave and treat the internet. It was always ingrained into my head that you can never take something you have posted online away. Whatever I wanted to post online, I always had to ask myself am I ok with this being permanent and the world being able to see it. This from the start put a bad taste into my mouth when it came to any sort of social media platform as I saw no benefit as a 13 year old when the media started booming. Yet as time went on and the more people that began to create an online presence started to make me feel okay about it. Privacy being invaded on social media and just the internet in general has been a common theme while growing up. My friends and I used to google our names constantly because we wanted to see what would show up after googling. The friends that were careless and posted and or were tagged in photos they didn't want many to see were broadcasted to anyone who typed their first and last name into a search bar. This terrified me and I have always been conscious of what I put out on the internet under my name. 

Nowadays it is common to talk about your “fbi agent”, this is someone we believe is listening to us all the time through our devices. This seems too good to be true as curated advertisements became scary. Advertisements for products I have spoken to my mother about pop up on her feed and mine just purely off of a verbal conversation. This is not normal and is frightening to many who don't know how their facebook feed would know they are in the market for a new coffee machine. Anything and everything is always listening, trying to get you to buy their product is the number one priority. The tricky part about this all is agreeing to the terms and conditions on any internet sight. This is something everyone clicks over as they just want to get into the app and skip over the terms. With a click of a button you subconsciously are just giving them all your information and privacy on a silver platter. Large platforms such as Facebook and YouTube hide clauses about the lack of privacy within these terms and conditions as they know no one looks closely enough to them. When it comes to current day internet and privacy you just have to assume and expect there is none. People have coped with or thrown the idea out of their head that they have no privacy when having an online presence. Yet, some people find it worth it to maintain a presence in the media, and or just don't care. I will find it interesting to see how the media evolves and if this issue of privacy on the internet will ever be resolved.