The world enters swiftly into the digital age, whereby everything is done online. Regardless from purchasing of products such as shopping, groceries shopping; making friends; payments etc, all these are happening and changing in today to bring convenience to people. Well hence, having an online identity is inevitable, as it is only so, then we can accomplish these things.
So what is the definition of an online presence? Wiki tells us that it is an online persona, that has a social identity that users establishes communities and networks online. Furthermore, it is also considered a strategic constructed presentation of oneself.
What’s good?
There are benefits in having multiple identities online. It will be extremely beneficial for someone who wants to keep his personal life and work life separately. For instance, if I was a teacher, I would choose to have a “Ms Lim” Facebook account whereby I would have hundreds of students as friends, posting educational information such as articles, websites and perhaps posting homework on my Facebook page for student’s completion the very next day!(*hahaha so evil) In addition ,presenting myself as a good role model for students to follow. However, my role ends there as a teacher.
On the other hand, if I am Amanda Lim; the daughter of my dad, the best friend of Rosie(#imaginary),the Aikido club member of Tanglin Community Club. I would post pictures of the lovely dinner my family and I had together two weeks ago or a selfie of myself on my own personal Facebook page, including many other posts on the troubles that I have suffered or learning points I have obtained from that I had in the week, basically my personal emotions. And that is the personal life that I have.
Keeping your personal life and work life separated can warrant your professionalism, be it a doctor or an auditor. Moreover, it safe guards the privacy of your personal life.
So what‘s so bad about it?
Oh well, as I mentioned above that having multiple identities is a good thing! It also has its drawbacks. So now we ask ourselves it is possible to distinguish work and personal life so clearly? I’m not very certain about that. Because even at work we still have our emotions and personal thoughts, however, we are forced to separate our personal emotions and roles so clearly, it might not be possible. Furthermore, possessing multiple accounts might make the user feel unreal, that someone segregates himself and expresses different aspects of his life to different audiences, you might wonder after a while whom exactly is the real you.
My preference? Stay tuned to find out;)
Alright thanks for reading guys..till I write!
Cheers,
Amanda
In-text: (Google.com.sg, 2014)
Bibliography: Google.com.sg, (2014). Google. [online] Available at: https://www.google.com.sg/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=x2p8VIzBHYuCuAS794H4AQ&gws_rd=ssl#q=what+is+an+online+identity [Accessed 1 Dec
ASSERLY, M.
Multiple Personalities And Social Media: The Many Faces of Me
In-text: (Casserly, 2011)
Bibliography: Casserly, M. (2011). Multiple Personalities And Social Media: The Many Faces of Me. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2011/01/26/multiple-personalities-and-social-media-the-many-faces-of-me/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].
Amanda's 
Howdy there Amanda~ Your post is thoughtful with your views on multiple identities (a ‘Ms Lim’ or ‘Amanda Lim’). I noticed you shared the same sentiment as Michael Zimmer (2010) where he presents himself differently when he is lecturing compared to when he is out having drinks with friends. I too, am concerned with segregating private and professional identities online, and thus decide to adopt several identities to maintain this principle. I thought it is worth mentioning Angie’s views that she doesn’t see herself as having multiple identities but instead showcasing the different aspects of her life depending on the situations. I suppose it is what we generally are trying to achieve, to only showcase what is necessary or relevant to the different audience, while being sandwiched in between digital ‘Resident’ and ‘Visitor’ typology. Looking forward to see your preference soon! 🙂
xoxo,
/ novina ✿ ladyskorpios /
References:
Zimmer, M. (2010) Facebook’s Zuckerberg: “Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity.” Available at: http://www.michaelzimmer.org/2010/05/14/facebooks-zuckerberg-having-two-identities-for-yourself-is-an-example-of-a-lack-of-integrity/. (Accessed 2 December 2014)
Ng, A. (2014) Is your digital footprint within your control? Available at: http://yjangie.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/is-your-digital-footprint-within-your-control/. (Accessed 2 December 2014)
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Dear Novina,thanks for paying attention to my posts so far! Yes I do think its important that we know how separate personal and work life(I mean thats all what my entire post was about,haha!) But it is whether is it possible to differentiate it that clearly. Yes I also agree with Angie as that is true as well ,but another school of thought:) All in all, I think it is crucial to be able to filter the data of what you present to your audience and considering its appropriateness and selectivity.
Cheers,
Amanda
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Hi Amanda!
I really like the way you structure your post and the examples you give for every portion of your post. A really well-written post I would say!
It helps me to understand better with the illustration of your examples especially when you separated what can a teacher do and what you as a student can do. I do believe that there is a need to separate the various profiles for many professions, but I do not believe that there is a need for all professions.
This makes me wonder, do you think we as marketers should separate our profiles? We have to show our creativity to our employers for them to appreciate our work. Fun-loving is all what marketers love and I would say that it is much easier to work with fun-loving people!
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Hello Aet!
I gave it a thought too whether is it necessary to apply my stand of segregating various profiles to all professions.And yes, my reply would be it shouldn’t apply to all types of professions.
To answer your question, marketers might not have to do so! Like what you mentioned, it is important to show our employers that we are fun loving,in trend,modern and a creative bunch of people not only at work but also in our daily lives.In addition ,to display our love for marketing.(*HAHA drama-mama) I mean it is said that how you act is what you believe in, thus it is important for us to show how fun people we are as our employers might use our online profiles as a good indicator of our true personalities (including attitudes and beliefs). Thanks for reading and sharing!
Cheers,
Amanda
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