Multiple Online Identities | Good or Bad?

The term “Online Identity” refers to a broad spectrum of online behaviours that stretches from online transaction which requires your authentication of your identity (e.g. Internet banking), to our online persona that are made visible through selective acts of self-disclosure, such as writing a blog or sharing our Facebook profile. (Warburton, 2010)

Multiple online identities allow one to effectively target their intended audience. An instance of such will be that I created a new twitter account for this current module instead of continuing with my existing account. This allows me to keep my professional updates such as new articles which I have written or a marketing post which I have retweeted, so as to make sure that my circle of friends will not be bored by those posts and at the same time, refraining my professional contacts from seeing irrelevant details of my personal life. (Henry, 2012)

Separating online presence into professional and personal spaces have become an important issue in today context. (The Reppler Effect, 2011)

“A Research conducted by Reppler in 2011 found that 91% of recruiters uses social media sites to screen prospective employees.”

Since the introduction of this module MANG 2049, I have understand the importance of online presence by limiting my Blog, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts for professional purposes and Facebook for my private social interactions.

This separation of social media platforms allows me to filter my online presence by using privacy settings to make sure that my private interactions are kept private. However, as someone who falls more on the “Digital Resident” bookend as mentioned in my previous post, I find it difficult to keep these two entities separated, a point which (Costa and Torres, 2011) have noted as well.

(Miicard’s Channel, 2012)

The main purpose of having multiple online identities is to offer a layer of anonymity. The use of invented personas allows people to discuss sensitive topics they might otherwise not be able to. For example, someone who is suffering from illness, might use an anonymous persona to seek advice or help. However, this also brings about problem on whether we really know which online identities are genuine or fake. Unfortunately, there is a minority who uses and abuses the power of the internet such as cyber bullying, identity theft and even extreme cases like “catfishing“.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, who once famously said:

“Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity.”

Have also backtracked in this guiding principle by allowing people to log into third-party mobile apps anonymously (Bort, 2014). In my opinion, I believe having multiple online identities is a “must” for anyone who wishes to pursue a career whilst maintaining a personal social online presence.

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References

Bort, J. (2014). Mark Zuckerberg Just Backtracked On Two Of Facebook’s Guiding Principals, But That’s A Good Thing – Business Insider. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.sg/mark-zuckerberg-backtracks-on-principals-2014-4/#.VHxsYWSUfpA [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Costa, C. and Torres, R. (2011). To be or not to be, the importance of Digital Identity in the networked society. Educação, Formação & Tecnologias – ISSN 1646-933X, [online] 0(0), pp.47-53. Available at: http://eft.educom.pt/index.php/eft/article/view/216/126 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Henry, A. (2012). Should I Keep My Personal and Professional Identities Completely Separate Online?. [online] Lifehacker. Available at: http://lifehacker.com/5898370/should-i-keep-my-personal-and-professional-identities-completely-separate-online [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Miicard’s channel, (2012). On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a …. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hNZ8LFE5DA [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Peterson, H. (2013). ‘Catfishing:’ The phenomenon of Internet scammers who fabricate online identities and entire social circles to trick people into romantic relationships. [online] Mail Online. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264053/Catfishing-The-phenomenon-Internet-scammers-fabricate-online-identities-entire-social-circles-trick-people-romantic-relationships.html [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

The Reppler Effect, (2011). Managing Your Online Image Across Social Networks. [online] Available at: http://blog.reppler.com/2011/09/27/managing-your-online-image-across-social-networks/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

Warburton, S. (2010). Digital Identity. [online] Digital Identity Matters. Available at: http://digitaldisruptions.org/rhizome/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/rhiz08_DigitalIdentityMatters.pdf [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].