Who Are We Online?
When it comes to establishing your online identity, it is all in your hands. You set out the image that you want people to view of you. You can allow people in just a tab bit of your life or you can allow them to be in all of it. It is all your choice. The power is in your hands and this is discussed in the Ted talk, and the two articles.
In the article by Bozkurt & Tu (2016) it states that “A well-developed social network page not only gives the facts of a person’s life, but also (and perhaps more importantly) a look at how that person wants to be perceived by his or her social environment (Maranto & Barton, 2010).” This means that you have control of how you are perceived on the internet. I agree with this because you can easily persuade a image that you want via the internet because the people on the internet don’t necessarily know you. They know you to a certain extent and that extent is what you allow them to know. I have over one thousand followers on instagram, some know me in real life and some know me only on instagram. I can give out a image on social media that is either me or a image that I want to be seen as. The people that don’t personally know me will believe the image that I give out.
In the Alec Couros’ Ted talk by a question that he mentioned was “How do we help … kids discover and experience the many emerging possibilities [of the Internet] for networked, human connection while allowing them to safely grow and share their identities and the identities of others?” When it comes to the internet it can offer plenty of learning opportunities. A way that is describe in the article is by changing social media platforms in the direction of learning. They will still have their purpose of social networking but by adding learning platforms can help people out.
To me personally the internet is very beneficial depending how it is used. It allows people to connect, build friendships, and allows you to create opportunities for yourself. The way that you can allow people to use social media in the safest way is to educate about the negativity of it. You give people the knowledge of what can go wrong if not used correctly. After you educate them it is up to them to decide. I believe educating someone is the best thing you can do.