Watch Out Your Social Media
Have you ever heard of or used Second Life before? If you have not, you are not alone. Since its launch in 2003, Second Life, which is online game-like virtual world developed by the Linden Lab has been around for 14 years. I used to read some articles about it, but last week was the first time I actually saw this virtual world and I was surprised.
In contrast to what I thought about a not-so-common virtual social network, Second Life features a cutting-edge 3D design as well as the ideas of having a second, yet virtual life to try out important life decisions and being another person as one’s choice are so catchy. In the virtual world, anyone is free and safe to try whatever he or she may want to do in the real life without taking any risks and unexpected consequences. In other words, Second Life creates a risk-free environment for us to carry out social and life experiments that would be difficult, not to say impossible in the real world. Career orientation can be an exemplar of this point as high schoolers can try out a career that they want to pursue in the future to see if it is good fit for their interests and personalities before applying to college. In addition, anonymity supported by this virtual platform enables users to create identity of their choice and opens endless possibilities for everyone to do whatever they can think of.
On the other side of the spectrum, Facebook urges its users to use their authentic identities and that distinguishes between the two online platforms when it comes to user behaviors. Facebook does not draw a solid line between our virtual and real worlds, yet what we do in one world is intertwined with that in the other. Most of the time our online world reflects who we are, how we think, and what we do in the real world. Restaurant check-in or traveling posts are sort of activities inundating Facebook newsfeed nowadays. However, it has not been uncommon that what happens in the real world is the effect or consequence of an online event. There are many cases that people cannot get a job or lose their current job because of what they post on social media.
It is needless to say that once our identity is revealed to the entire world, we need to be more conscious of and cautious with our online representation. One of the advices that I heard from time to time in college is that students should take a good care of their online presence, just like what corporates do with their online branding. That said, it does not mean that we have to create an online identity that is different from who we really are for the sake of good online presence. We just need to be highly aware of and careful with what we share on our social media because it has become a wide belief that you are who your social media represent.
Below are four advices from A Beginner’s Guide to Establishing a Professional Online Presence that I found relevant and useful for us as graduate students.
Be professional – You may already have a Twitter account for personal use, but what impression would it give to a potential grad school or post-doc mentor?
Follow copyright laws – Many of these sites allow you to upload publications, but it is up to you to be aware of whether or not this violates rules of your publisher.
Be consistent – With so many options for building your online presence, it is important to be consistent across sites. Learn more about branding yourself online in a previous GradHacker post.
Maintain control – Once you establish your online identity, make sure you keep it protected.
