#UOSM2008 Topic 2 - Reflective Summary

Picture source: http://brandconfessions.com/profiles/blogs/5-tips-for-managing-your-social-media-identity

It is time to summarize the second Topic of the module Living and Working on the Web. The first thing to be mentioned is my mistake of misunderstanding the topic’s question (thanks to George Chiverton for pointing at it). The question was to describe the pros and cons of having more than one online identity, when I have gone a bit differently by explaining the pros and cons of just having an online identity. Having read others comments and blogs I have came up with the following notes:

·     Online identities help you to communicate with others, share information in real time and helps to develop your personal employability (Cosmato, 2013).

·    However, it also reduces a very valuable face-to-face interaction between people, takes a significant amount of your personal time (Cosmato, 2013) and increases a possibility of identity fraud (Ibraz, 2010), which as I've later read from the blog of our classmate, Joy Isaac, it is referred as “Catfishing”.

(http://joyisaac.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/online-identity-privacy-and-security/).

·  Furthermore, quite interesting was the blog of our classmates, Alysia Wildman. The differentiation between Anonymity and Authenticity is quite important, as the former depends on a user and could be performed in various ways, via a specific software or just frauding your identity, and the latter “creates an online version of your life that relies on your true identity in order to function” (Masters, 2011).

To sum up, I just want to repeat that, despite disagreeing with this trend, I do have more than one online identity in order to be aware of all events and let others get in touch with me, especially when you are studying abroad. After the research on this topic both online and within myself, I have came to the opinion that it doesn't matter at all how many online identities do you have and in which social networks. The thing that does matter is how wisely and purposefully you use it.  

“Your entire life is online, and it can be used against you. Be vigilant!”

Quote source: www.youtube.com/embed/F7pYHN9iC9I

References

Cosmato, D., 2013. Love to know social networking. [Online] Available at: http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Social_Networking [Accessed 22 February 2014].

Ibraz, A., 2010. Fundamentals of Computing. [Online] Available at: http://mason.gmu.edu/~aibraz/disadvantages.html [Accessed 22 February 2014].

Masters, A., 2011. The Independent. [Online] Available at: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/09/19/identity-on-the-internet-the-pros-and-cons-of-anonymity/ [Accessed 2 February 2014].