Online Personas – My blonde hair makes me look stupid
Online personas are they real? Just because facebook/ twitter and these other social platforms encourages people to use their actual identities doesn’t mean they are presenting themselves online the way they do in real life? Are they just putting up a façade that people want to put up to portray a side of them that they want people to see? ( for instance, posting up pictures of party pictures only on your facebook account, so to speak when someone who doesn’t know you, or a complete stranger who looks up on your facebook, the first thing that comes into their mind would be that she/he is a party animal.) Other factors of where you come from, what you do other than partying often gets omitted. And often, party animals are often associated with the stereotype of being an alcoholic, just plain fun, never serious, probably most people who know how to party do not know to get grounded and study, all they do is party drink and have fun. (Speaking from experience)
A conversation that I had with a guy friend of mine is a fine example of what I meant of how online personas that you built in the cyberspace, are often assumed to be the real you.
“ What was your GPA in Year 3 after you graduated” –him
“ 3.6/4?” – me
“WHAT !?!?!” – him
“I’m surprised, your blonde hair makes you look really stupid and you party so much… Then why didn’t you apply to a local university in Singapore?”
“ I didn’t want to be stuck in Singapore, studying the same thing for 4 years, I guess as a creative student I needed more exposure, and experience of the outside world. I saw Melbourne as my escape plan and a room for more creativity to flow. And btw, I do care about my studies. You ass. I guess people have their own ways of managing stress and studying. I party to relieve stress” -ME
Often facebook and other social media platforms are awesome playgrounds for all of us. The intention varies from group projects, connecting with people, showcasing of portfolios, a collective of images, memories videos and status … etc. We are often plagued by all these that we seem to have lost the true value of what it takes to actually get to know someone. I find it rather sad, while being online, users tend to exaggerate their personas because they have much more time to revise and calculate the content they present than in spontaneous face-to-face interactions. We never know until we see it for ourselves. Design portfolios are a really good example. Take for instance, a designer who is really talented and produce amazing work, uploads his work on facebook. People who dont’ know him/her would probably think he’s a cool due, a hipster, talented, somewhat fashionable, and popular. (stereotypes) but, in actual fact… he’s a really shy guy.
Like what was discussed in the previous class, we were told to come up with a blog and write blog posts that reflects your online persona. Honestly, I had trouble coming up with my own persona, It got me thinking : What kind of online persona would I want to portray and what would make things interesting? Do I rant about my interest and hope that my readers would have similar interests as well? How do you actually get readers? What keeps them coming back for more? Do my blog posts have to be funny to get them entertained or should I just be subjected and tied down to linking academic references within my blog posts? Oh, the drama. (Sometimes, I think too much for my own good) It’s so hard to come up with something these days >:(