social media audit

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Let's talk about me! In terms of my online footprint, I have been fairly careful with where and what information about me exists in that sphere. I have accounts on pretty much all of the relevant social media channels, but they are generally minimal in activity and I have taken good steps to keep private what I need to keep private. 

My Instagram profile is not under my name, and is not associated with my mobile number, so people generally have to ask me for my handle or I will find their account first. My Twitter has been inactive for years but is still private, I keep the account usually to see what other people are up to or if something is in the news. Snapchat is by request only, and I personally know well everyone I have "added" on there as a friend, so I know who's seeing what and only communicate to people I don't see in person on a regular basis. Facebook is essentially my harmless public front, I accept personal and professional contacts through there which is necessary because a lot of college groups rely on that service for group communications. 

My use of social media differs, I tend to look at it more when I'm bored or am looking at the platform to find something or see content. I post infrequently, but I post what I think will be most relevant and entertaining to those in my follower feed. I dislike the use of social media for personal self-promotion. I understand why celebrities or those in public life use that medium to spread messages or promote themselves, but so many people without that kind of a job tend to use the medium as an endless scroll of bragging or more often, bluffing. I think people that do this are for a lack of a better term, full of shit, and are perpetuating a cycle amongst their peers that is neither healthy or productive. I think if you're using social media to tell stories, entertain, connect with those you can't see in person, or spread meaningful messaging, that's the ideal use for it. But that's my personal preference, and others have their own philosophy on it.

In terms of personal information, I give cell numbers and email addresses, because that is what social media sites need for registration. I don't really care what they do with those, because I can ignore calls and delete spam email easily, and I have nothing to hide that they could track that way. As long as no one has my financial information or sensitive identification information, that's fine. Those sites don't ask for that anyways, so I've never worried about how my data is used. 

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In my experience, social media can be empowering, or it can be debilitating. Having spent a lot of my formative years using social media platforms when they were still new, I learned several lessons the hard way from my own mistakes and others. One being, if you're beginning to tailor your posts so that a specific person or people will respond or like them, you're posting for the wrong reasons. At the end of the day, these mediums are about you and your self-expression, so if you're adjusting that self-expression to someone else's fancies, you're not being honest and you're not expressing fully. Entertainment is great, and giving your followers something relatable or interesting is great, but always consider the cost and who you're really doing it for.