The Hand-y-down society

Frankfurt School

The world around us changes day in day out. Many new and innovation forms of technology surpassing anything we previously had. This allows us to see a new world that we wouldn’t normally see. As a result of this, a vacuum has formed around different classes. This was more noticeable in the 1930s as very few households had what we regard as essential forms of media e.g. radio. The Frankfurt school found this out, as a result many people and theories have wondered why this is the case. Why people on lower-income become somewhat less informed of the world around us.

One key point of the Frankfurt school was the fact that society can act almost like a hand-y-down between siblings. But instead of person belongings it was mass media. A prime example of this was in the early 20^th century where upper class and some of the middle class had a radio or as they knew it a wireless. On the device you would get a small yet useful array of daily stations which provide you with news, music, plays and classical music just to name a few. As can be seen this is a massive leap forward to what we now know as modern mass media. However, this rise in modern media did has some consequences on the lower and middle class families. This is partly a result of big boom in people living in cities instead of living in the countryside. Or more commonly know as the industrial revolution. This massive revolution had completely changed the way in which the whole world worked. Now people were living within feet of each other instead of the big open air countryside. This then lead to the improvements of mass media by making it cheaper and more accessible to everyone.

So why would we say that the world around us acts like a hand-y-down. Well it’s partly due to the way in which our society is structured however it’s mostly due to the way in which we consume mass media and how quickly it can change around us. This results in the higher, well paid get the latest and most expensive device out there while compare that to a low-income family who wouldn’t get it straight away. As a result, you could say that may low income families are less educated due to now being able to fund such changes however this is not always the case since, after all we are humans and we are best at adapting to new environment’s and challenges.

Tony Basten

End Note

One of the most interesting bits that I found while writing these blogs was researching the variety of online communities on the web. They are a place where people from all over the world can connect and engage in discussions with people from all across the world.

The online community that I focused on was SoundCloud, but I found reading other posts about different online communities interesting, too, because it seems there’s not a subject that’s not covered by one of these online forums.

A lot of the other subjects that was covered in Network Society and Media were engaging, as well, because all of them are still relevant in our lives today. We covered useful online resources that would help us with our essay, we discussed media that uses audience participation and considered the safety of our online-selves through the visibility of our social networks.

Sometimes a lot of what we have covered has shown the negative side of social media, or sometimes even it’s users. However, I have learned that Media in a modern day society is important for networking, connecting and accessing information, and that is probably the most important thing I learned during the last 8 weeks of Network Society and Media.

Open Post: How important is convergence?

This module has presented itself with fascinating topics that have been of interest to me. Whilst I have enjoyed learning new things about how the internet influences society, I have also learned how to identify different views and perceptions of our society and how we relate to the media. However whilst convergence presents itself with several advantages, you could question whether media convergence is more beneficial to its industry or society.

I found the topic of convergence to be the most interesting to me because although I learned about it briefly in A2 Media studies, I wasn’t aware of the impact that it had. People of the media tend to get excited about convergence because it holds so much promise, the merging of mass communication outlets (print, radio, television) through digital platforms is both overwhelming but impressive.

As a music fan, I especially liked learning how convergence has made an impact to the music industry, changing how audiences access, listen and use music. Also due to popular demand social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace to distribute the music and promote the artists.

Since gaining a better understanding of convergence, I’ve learnt that converged communication provides various tools for storytelling as a way of presenting information and allowing audiences to interact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Obsession with Perfection

Firstly guys let me just say how interesting the last few weeks have been, ive learnt so much concerning internet and how social media affects our everyday life. In this last post I would like to briefly touch upon the influence that social media has on individuals (females in particular). As females we obsessed with looking good but do we take this a bit to far? Perfume adverts present a stereotypical image of how we want to look as the models have been emphasised to look beautiful. Phone apps such as facetune, afterlight and Instasize have been created to transform the way females look. personally, I feel like these apps have been formed due to female insecurities however it removes their actual identity and makes them something they want to be.

 I have so many friend that use this app to change the size of their hips, the structure of there face and even the tone of their skin, is it all worth it? On YouTube lifestyle blogger and make-up enthusiast, Patricia Bright, even gives a tutorial on how to use such editing apps which shows that editing has become the norm in society.

 

 

What do you guys think? Is social media affecting body images and appearances? Leave your comments below thanks

Who’s The Boss?

In the past few weeks we were examining the power of the media, and the internet in particular, from so many different views. We discussed comunities, we argued advatages and disadvantages- on us as a community and as individuals.

One topic that attracted me the most was the “Audience Participation”. I believe that this topic is also related to the last lecture- the issue of protest movements and their connection with the internet. I am fascinated by the way in which the internet became a game-changer through our engagement; I regard its wide impact on our mentality and culture- the way it constatly shapes our society and reality.

If we are to understand this relationship between the media- I believe that a lot of theory is required- to connect the dots between the issue of community, of the internet history, the online visibilty etc. I believe that the enormous power that we may recognize in each topic is related to the others.

Audience participation however, represents for me the connection between the dots. It is our direct activity, our visibilty and the process of change of the internet platform throughout the years. This topic may be count as a key discussion on matters as power, control and abilities- that have certainly changed, and keep on changing.

Dear everyone,

I thought that perhaps this final blog post should be a thank you letter.

Every Wednesday and Thursday we wake up and drag our tired selves to an hour long lecture followed by an hour long seminar. I am thankful for sitting next to people in the theatre who can relate to this amount of tiredness.

Not everybody is confident enough to present to a group of students (most of whom they have never met before) and it takes courage to just stand in front of the class. I thank my two co-presenters who presented with me- It’s not so scary if you are not alone. I learnt that copyright doesn’t have to be so serious once turned into an interactive activity and there’s more to what you copy than you think there is.

Speaking of presenting, I am thankful to my seminar leader who allowed us to laugh a little whilst still delivering us knowledge. He guided us along a path as we did his job for an hour and gave honest feedback the next week on how we did. I laughed so much in our meme themed seminar and the presenters did a really good job of explaining what they are and how they work.

I am also thankful for this module as it has allowed me to bond with friends I made last semester when we were all freshers and confused about times and rooms and floors (and sometimes what we were actually supposed to be doing). Thank you 🙂

Also I thank the lecturers because even though, sometimes the lecture went on forever and the topic was confusing (Or dare I say a little bit tiresome), they carried on with their job and answered our emails when we sent them without complain. Thank you muchly (Yes it is now a word). The use of videos made concentrating a lot easier. The campaign lecture stuck in my memory as the kony campaign surprised me by proving that no matter what lies you tell, if you are convincing, you can be fooled.

In conclusion… we have sat through ten lectures, ten seminars, written and thought about eight blog posts, commented on 16 pieces of work and delivered one presentation for a whole hour in a lead the debate discussion.

This was all done with other deadlines in mind (The dreaded production proposal will be the decider that makes or breaks us) yet we drudged on through the mess and come out on the other side as brighter students at the University of Westminster.

NOW GO FORTH! And er…finish the rest of the deadlines…

Happy Easter everyone xx

 

Living the internet life.

Overall, throughout this module, I have learnt the importance the internet plays in our current society. As we live each day with the internet sometimes we forget to critically think about its existence and how it influences our lives.

Ever since I was young I have been using the internet, as a source to gain from, I use to play Barbie, Polly-pocket and MyScene games, now I use it to profile myself on each social media app that I use, I have a lot of friends that know my ‘internet’ self more than my original ‘real’ life self, which sounds crazy but the same applies for me too. I have become good friends with people just through Snapchat and Instagram just by their posts and what they say, but if I knew them in real life maybe we wouldn’t be as close as we are now. I think the internet is a beautiful creation by the human kind, however, it comes with a lot of trials, it’s another world, which makes it a place of ‘escapism’.

Everyone can not be trusted in the real world and the same applies to the internet. The film ‘Catfish‘ (2010) explores this idea that people can be lied to and made to believe what they see and hear, and these sorts of issues can leave the person with emotional, physical and mental issues and problems. The internet can hurt you as much as it makes you love you. It’s quite an up and down bipolar relationship.

Open Post – Media Convergence

Out of all the weekly topics the one that was the most interesting to me was Media Convergence, not because it links directly to parts of my course but because the possibilities and outcomes of using Media Convergence.

Media Convergence plays a very big role in media because we are simple putting  our idea which might not be a full picture, but when it is put into pre-production then it starts to develop more and starts to become a full picture. This is when people who have gained ideas from another production add it to the pile of ideas, anything which is produced today is a form of convergence as is almost anything today.

Since I have gained a better understanding of convergence I have started to slowly notice the role of it in our society today as well as how often it is used in products which are Media related as well ones which are not. As well as gaining a better insight in what is Convergence in the Media industry I have also been able the benefits of using convergence effectively and negatively. Effective forms of Convergence are Films, Tv shows, Phones, Laptops but some forms of Convergence don’t always work out as planned mainly when it come to Films which are adaptations of comics or a novel.

 

Spotify

 

Spotify is an app where people can keep up-to-date with the latest chart music, make their own playlists and discover new music with their ‘browser’ option. This allows them to view playlists and songs which are most suited for them. Spotify charges their subscribers £9.99 per month, this allows them to listen to their music with no advertisements and they will also be able to listen to their music offline.

Primarily, student access the free version off this app. However, they would not be able to skip songs and have to listen to the advertisements when listening to their music. There is controversy with artists that do not agree with Spotify’s regulations as they do not think that people should listen to their music for free. Such as Taylor Swift, who does not allow any of her music to be streamed on Spotify as she thinks her fans should pay it as she thinks it is unfair on the fans that have paid for her music.

Taylor Swift is not the only person Spotify have had issues with about streaming their music. There have been issues with other artists such as Prince and Jason Aldean. Since the launch of Spotify, they have had the reputation of being untrustworthy as they have broken infringement laws and have been severally fined for not paying artists their correct loyalties.

The interruption of  constant adverts is a good way to make people want to pay for Spotify. Buying the Spotify reduces the number of people committing copyright via YouTube converter and other media platforms.

 

WHY PAY FOR MUSIC AND MOVIES ANYMORE?

To be honest with you guys i dont see any point of all this licence on music and movies anymore seeing as there are so many other ways to listen and watch the latest stuff.
Apple music is a new app which was launched last year. it is another music streaming app that provides hand-pick songs, artists and albums based on what you listen to and like. although there are a variety of online music apps such as sound cloud, spotify, tubidy and Youtube, apply music provides you with the latest hit when exactly when they come out. the app gives you three months free trial before you subscribe to paying £9.99 a month.

Creative Commons licence allows the app to showcase new music in comparison to sound cloud and tubidy which does not have a CC licence which means that people can stream for free and even upload there music for others to share and list yen to it. to be honest from that its even arguable whether apple music is even necessary as in today’s youth generation, no body really buys albums or even videos for that matter, we all just wait for one of these music apps to upload it first.

I’m sure most of us have heard of putlocker, it is an online website that allows free movie streaming, it does not have a a creative commons licence as it provides illegal streaming of movies which we all love (lets not lie to ourselves). Nowadays noone want to pay for cinema tickets just but your popcorn and stay in the comfort of your own home.

 

 thanks for reading guys 🙂

Flickr: Creative Commons

Flickr is a well-known online picture sharing platform, and many of its users have chosen to share their work under a Creative Commons license, forgoing traditional copyright.

This allows for users to differentiate between the types of Attribution License, Attribution-NoDerivs License, Attribution-NonCommercial License, Attribution-ShareAlike License, and finally two forms of Public Domain for their work, leaving creatives in full charge of how they’d like their work to be hosted.

Given the free features of the site and the obvious benefit unknown artists reap from getting their work spread and altered by other users, leading to “getting their stuff out there”, I’m a bit skeptical.

Looser copyright regulations, especially when it comes to visual artwork, can often lead to someone using your personal pictures for questionable purposes – even identity theft, or finding ways to capitalise on your work or altered versions of it. It would suffice to be uninformed about the different forms of licenses for someone to allow a mishap like that themselves, and accidentally pick the wrong kind of license for their intentions, which is why being informed about internet laws is vital.

Nevertheless, Flickr emphasises that it is a community, and seeks to aid and cater to all sorts of people in the creative industries, a concept which has definitely been working. They “want to help people make their photos available to the people who matter to them”, ensuring that photographers get their work spread in an adequate manner.

YouTube CC Licence

YouTube is a well-known website for being able to access free content and is currently under a Creative Commons licence. The use of this licence stops people using music or footage that belongs to a certain company or co-operation. If they do use it they will have to either remove it or ask for authority. If you use someone else’s creations you have to ask permission; especially if you are making a profit from it.

If YouTube was put under a strict copyright control, there wouldn’t be as many videos on the website, a lot of the videos would be removed. The advantage of YouTube is that it allows a lot more freedom of using different peoples work, it’s not as strict as a TV programme.

The advantage of it being like this is that it keeps a fair share between the actual owner of the song or image and they receive praise as much as the video itself.

The limitations are that it stops people from being more expressive and creative with their work – a lack of freedom. For example, I have a YouTube channel and I edited a video and I needed good music to put on my video so I decided to use the music given when you are uploading the video onto your channel. There wasn’t much choice and none of the music were from well-known bands or artists.

 

 

Tidal: A quality music streaming service

Tidal is a music streaming service established in 2009. The company has 500,000 paying subscribers and was bought for 56 million by a company controlled by Jay-Z, by adding music videos the site increased its fee to £19.99 a month . Therefore if Tidal was under a creative commons licence, streaming sites like Spotify would lose a lot of subscribers, as Tidal is known for its quality streaming service.

The biggest names in music: Rihanna, Usher, Arcade Fire and Calvin Harris all appeared in the advert to help launch the campaign #TidalforAll. Tidal intend to make sure subscribers hear the latest songs before anyone else. The website was also introduced as being “pro music artist” and by not offering a free ad supporting tier for its music.

The copyright policy for Tidal is very strict in its approach. For example subscribers have no right to engage in the commercial use and making versions or copies of the content they stream. However while I think that this is fairly reasonable, surely sites like Tidal would appreciate any form of advertisement that will increase the number of people joining the site. It would be nice listen to songs without having to make some form of payment, surely artists like Beyoncé wouldn’t benefit from my 99p contribution.

 

Where’s my ancestry.com?

Last year, around Christmas I wanted to dig deeper into my family history. I wanted to go beyond the 32 grandchildren/cousins I already knew. So I did what any person would do in this situation. I signed up to ancestry.com.

I filled in the details I knew and then a pop up appeared across my screen: Please subscribe to find out more information and to find more people in your family for just blah blah blah pounds a month…. Oh joy.

Perhaps under the creative commons licence this information would be free and available on the grounds that you can prove your identity and a family member can confirm your heritage (This way, being free still keeps you safe from identity theft- in case anyone was wondering).

If it was put under strict copyright control, then absolutely nobody would know their past. This is assuming, only the government can see your records. This would mean you could not print or record or mention your own personal heritage despite it belonging to you. How awful?

It’s bad enough we can only access the third generation of our family trees for free before being told that’s all we get (unless you are willing to pay. I paid for a month and realised that in order to get the most out of the fee, you need hours and hours everyday to get something…and you have to search the details yourself.)

I believe I have mentioned enough limitations above and the only advantage I can really think of would be the protection of who you are and who is allowed to know what about yourself up to a certain extent.

I guess you could call this a rant instead of a post but hopefully you can see my point of view.

 

Original Netflix content.

Netflix is one of the most obvious examples of content that is copyrighted and only accessible for a monthly fee of £6.99. Some people might find it too much to pay as most of the films/tv shows that are available can be found for free, however they are online pirated/illegal versions in lower quality for example on Putlocker. Many Internet Service Providers have blocked users from accessing these websites as they go against copyright laws including the Creative Commons license. However, Netflix has created some original films and TV shows such as Orange is the New Black which I could not find on these illegal websites, probably because of Netflix’s strict copyright regulations which causes the content to be removed from any other sites other than Netflix. This is done so customers will still maintain their monthly subscription and the website will have some profits. Why would anyone want to pay if the content is available online right? This is why it’s very important that we have a Creative Commons license, which doesn’t only keep the company going, but also gives some credit to the original creator of the TV Show/Film and not misuse it by uploading them to illegal websites. However, I have come across different versions of Original Netflix shows such as ‘The Returned’ in foreign websites which the Internet Service Provider does not recognise, however the website requires you to watch adverts and click on links to access content for free, which cannot be trusted due to possible viruses, so I think it is worth to pay that small amount to enjoy content in a HD quality without worrying about copyright license breaking and viruses. If Netflix did not have these restrictions, people would take advantage of enjoying free stuff without anyone benefiting from it financially; therefore I think Netflix should stay under the Creative Commons license to maintain its content.

Keep Literrature Respectable

Sadly, I was struggling to think of a content in which we do not have a free access to today. The accessibility that is featuring our contemporary world is wide, convenient, and is changing the face of various industries, mainly the creative one. Although, I believe that in terms of copyrights and access- most fiction books are still rather protected.

 

Even with the shift of modern literature online, or alternatively, to Kindle- it is impossible to access the full content of fiction books without paying for it. E-books that are still under the copyrights law are being accessed through platforms such as Amazon, or Kindle- but you must pay for those.

 

Personally, I find the limitations positive. I believe that financing literature content is crucial to allow this industry to exist. Copyright law and creative commons concept tend to respect the producer, protect intellectual properties and to make culture valuable. If e-books were produced under creative commons concept, it could potentially broaden the audience. However, in the same time, it would make writer’s career impossible.

Strict copyright vs Creative Commons Licenses

For this blog post, I thought it would be interesting to compare content which is restricted by strict copyright laws and that which is more freely available to share and edit through a creative commons license.

Music is under strict copyright laws.

Tidal is an American music subscription service on which the content is under strict copyright and cannot be accessed (i.e. streamed) without purchasing a subscription. On the service, artists upload content which is specifically for the service and therefore it is illegal to have access to the content without a subscription service. The purpose of this is to ensure that artists are paid fairly and fully for their intellectual property. This differs from a streaming service like Spotify, which allows audiences to stream content without a subscription (although they do have to listen to adverts between songs). Comparably, iTunes is a site where audiences must purchase music to listen to it. It is illegal, therefore, to download music which artists are selling if you have not paid for it, from example downloading illegally online. However, SoundCloud is a music service whereby audiences can upload content as well as download and share content legally. This has benefits for content creators who want to share their material and appeal to new audiences, as well as audiences who get to listen to music that they enjoy for free. If this were under the same copyright laws as the previous services, all users of the site would lose out.

Other content is available under Creative Commons Licenses.

Wikimedia Commons (the multimedia repository of Wikipedia) allows its users to upload and edit content on its pages. All content is available under a Creative Commons License meaning audiences can contribute to and develop ideas – the main advantage of the license. Compared to copyrighted books, audiences are unable to contribute to ideas in the same way (unless they properly reference) as this could be seen as plagiarism. Perhaps is copyright laws on books were less strict then academic research and theories could be better explored and advanced.

Do you agree with the use of copyright in these cases?

Me and my visibility

Admittedly, if you search me under the correct nickname, you’ll find a lot about me on the internet. I was smart enough to make several nicknames from the start (this was probably influenced by my parents decision that I could not have a Facebook account in secondary due to privacy fears… so I created an alter ego).

Being very young, I had written a book that I am very glad people do not know how to find (it has cringe factor written all over it)  I have the usual social media apps like Facebook , twitter  and Instagram  and also of course, WordPress but for my own other purposes beside writing this module.

I share most of my information  with my friends but I don’t really have my family in that connection apart from a few cousins on Facebook. I prefer to talk face to face with my family and close ones (also, it’s better to avoid embarrassment when you post silly pictures).

I control everything I do on social media and avoid posting anything that could affect my future as a journalist. I learnt that you are taken more seriously with a professional  platform on all levels. You cold however create a professional  persona online but think of how many passwords you would need to remember!

As a member of a university campus that focuses on the arts, I feel it is important to own at least two forms of social media because they can lead to connections with industry professionals (think Linked-In and twitter). The downsides to owning so much online is that anybody can find you easily and use information you don’t want them knowing. For example, you can now access your medical records online that displays your whole history from the start. People can also find out your family members just through searching your surname and viewing images of you with them.

As long as we protect our data online, nothing terrible should happen but its a case of us making the first move and deciding what we post in the first place.

My Online Self

I use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on a daily basis. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check all three news feeds to keep up to date with what is happening. And I do all this before I have even got out of bed.

I have set up each of the social networking sites that I use to the highest privacy setting, as I would like to think that my details are private, but they are not. No matter how secure I think that the information that I upload is. It is not. The cookies on websites and the social networking site itself, has the right to keep that image or data that I chose to share with them. So no matter how private I make my settings, nothing is private on the internet.

Before writing this blog post, I was curious and thought it would be interesting to Google myself. I was shocked to see that images of my family and friends as well as my address were being shared on the internet for the whole world to see. This made me realise that no matter how much you think you’re being safe on the internet and how many precautions you’re taking, nothing is safe.

 

 

IF YOUR LOOKING FOR ME ADD MY SNAPCHAT

How visible am i online? Well lets just say if you  needed to find me just add me on snapchat (whitsxox). I feel like in today’s generation we put ourselves at risk due to the things we post online. Whilst doing the regular readings a few weeks back i came across a text by Papacharissi (2010), according to him he discusses that ‘our privacy is becoming a luxury commodity’ which simply means that we basically put our information out there in exchange to be social with others, so really isn’t privacy in our own hands?

 bet you thought id show the video lol

For instance once i made a YouTube video of me singing, i thought i was the next Beyonce so i posted it but after coming to my senses i realised i was actually more of a Rebecca Black. I managed to deleted the video but somehow my friends had fund a way to access the video and re-share it. So i guess the question is once you’ve posted something online do you still consider it to be yours or the Internets? Personally, i think its no longer under your control, whether your account is on private or not people will still somehow have access to your account. In another reading i did it also mentions that privacy is a dynamic process of optimisation, which is influenced by two psychological needs- ‘The need to preserve privacy but also the need to interact socially and therefore has to disclose personal information’. Again proving my point about privacy and what we post online is in your own hands.

I don’t know why googling myself is such an uncomfortable thing to do – almost like you get irrational premonitions of something unfortunate coming up in the results. Luckily, I made sure this wouldn’t actually happen to me long ago, because I was aware of the embarrassing and concerning outcomes disclosing too much about yourself could have, be it purposely or unintentionally.

It might be due to having lived in various countries, where my surname was always butchered somehow, but surprisingly there is nothing to find about my sports rankings and achievements at school – which in retrospect is a good thing, because that sort of information can still reveal your whereabouts. When my then-underage classmate’s (absurdly famous) grandfather died a few years ago, Spanish gossip magazines managed to draw up profiles of her and her siblings without them ever having said anything, just based on Google search results and their activities at school, as well as Facebook pictures, which scared them out of their minds and ended in a lost lawsuit since the information belonged to the domains it was on.

Luckily Facebook now gives you the option of making your account untraceable on search machines, as well as regulate people being able to find you through other information (like your phone number, which is now mandatory to use the messenger), which I’ve definitely made use of. My Instagram and other social profiles don’t have my full name on them – except for LinkedIn.

I guess we’ve all heard stories about people being denied jobs they were set for after getting their ‘background check’ done – because of “unprofessional” tagged pictures on Facebook or ever so slightly offensive tweets. Obviously I try for (the little) content I post to be unproblematic in the first place, but it’s always best to make sure and not mix private affairs and business to ensure our road to professionalism and security otherwise will go without bumps.

Look at Me! Online Visibilty

Having various social media accounts can be beneficial for networking with people and exposing our content to the world, especially on Facebook or LinkedIn. But how much exposure in the online world is a good thing?

I rarely use the two main social media sites- Facebook and Twitter- but when I do I know that the content I share can only be seen by the people I want to see it. I used to post on them all the time, but even when I was 13 I knew that the only people who could see my posts were the people I wanted to see them.

 

Most of the time, though, I will use Tumblr or SnapChat to communicate with people and share things online. I would say I felt more comfortable posting on either of these more than Facebook or Twitter because the privacy settings are a lot more comprehensive.

SnapChat is a good place to post pictures and videos because only the people you’re friends with can view them and only for a limited amount of time: your SnapChat story will only last 24 hours. Furthermore, the app lists the people who have viewed your pictures and screen shotted your pictures so you know exactly who is viewing your content. Like all other social media accounts, users can block and report people on who they feel uncomfortable sharing things with.

Social media can be a good thing. It can be great exposition for people’s content that they want the world- or just their friends and family- to see. But, I think, users should be more aware of their privacy settings because it would lead to a safer, more enjoyable experience while using social media sites.

Adios Creepy Followers

I have always been an active social media user since I was very young.

I use to use Facebook all the time until I came to a point where I had enough and started hating the changes – such as a rise in advertisements and fan – based content filling up my Newsfeed timeline. So I deleted it. But created a new one a few weeks ago because I had to join group chats which are part of my TV module, and if I didn’t I would have missed out on a lot of information. Personally, I didn’t really want to return back to it but I had no other choice.

Just this year I have started being extra careful with what I am posting, and I have deleted my old Instagram account which I had been using for almost 5 YEARS and created a ‘private one’ so I can select my followers, as in my old one I was getting weird ‘men’ following and messaging me, and I didn’t feel comfortable having photos of myself which were easily seen by random men. Now, I use a private Instagram knowing that my posts are only seen by people I want them to be seen by – making me feel more comfortable.

I have accounts on Twitter, Snapchat, WatsApp and YouTube. They are all private, which I prefer. Before my old Twitter account was public and I would get so many weird followers tweeting me virus websites; again just like Instagram I created a new private account.

The good part of being online is that you are able to block people and have a choice in your safety. Even though, I don’t believe it keeps you ‘super-safe’ at least it’s better than having a public profile with random creepy followers.

My Online Presence!

To an extent I think that online visibility can be beneficial if used correctly. An example being platforms like Facebook and Twitter is a great way of sharing your own material that will get people’s attention. This can also benefit you in terms of employment as employers will get an idea of what kind of person you are.

The thought of someone typing my name into Google and having access to these sites that I have registered on seemed quite scary, but I realised that I didn’t have anything to hide and anything that I didn’t want people to see, I had the control to secure my privacy settings.

I am registered on the main social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. I would say that it is mostly general information (what university I attend, and what course I’m doing) this type of information is shared only with people that I am friends with, and this information I would say is under my control. This is because I am aware the future employers can easily access what type of person you are online, therefore it’s important to keep in mind what form of identity you are portraying online.

Facebook and Instagram are the platforms I enjoy using. It seems like now people use Facebook to share world issues in forms of pictures and videos and it’s fascinating to see how quickly they spread. Overall I would say that my online presence is not too strong yet not too weak, which reflects me as a person. I would say having the right balance is important so that a clear distinction is made between who you are online versus who you are in reality.