THE DIGITAL
SELF
Module 6
In the world of social media, perception is
everything. We all have an ideal self. We all wish to
exaggerate our careers, our profession, and dream to be
like those who we find most successful.
On social media sites, we consider our profiles to be
presentations of who we are. the real and ideal selves
intersect through interaction with the social medium; and
the ideal self is at least partially actualized. In essence,
our online selves represent our ideal ad eliminate many
of our other real component
Research suggests that your “real self” is what your
are – your characteristics, your attributes and your
personality. Your “ideal self” is what you feel you should
be’ much of it due to environmental and social
influences. From a societal standpoint, many of us are
driven by achievement, competition and status; hence,
the creation and portrayal of our ideal selves.
DIGITAL NATIVES AND DIGITAL
IMMIGRANTS
• Digital natives are those were born after 1980, who
have access and skills to use digital technologies
especially social media.
• Digital natives lives most of their lives online, without
distinguishing between online and offline.
• Digital natives are constantly connected.
• Digital Immigrants are those who learnt to use
computers at some stage during their adult life.
• a person who started using digital technology,
computers, the internet, etc. during their adult life
but did not grow up using them: People age 30 or
older are digital immigrants because they can never
be as fluent in technology as a native who was born
into it.
digital identity
• Digital Identity is a representation of a person's real
self, online.
• it is particularly on social media is “a conscious
construction, it can evolve subconsciously over a
period of time, or it could simply be a reflection of the
user in real life.”
• It is like re - creating ourselves in digital form.
Part of Digital Identity
• Self-presentation is any action you take with the
intent to influence how other people perceive of you.
• Self-regulation is the ability to understand and
manage your own behaviour and reactions. Self-
regulation helps children and teenagers learn, behave
well, get along with others and become independent.
digital footprint
• It refers to one’s unique set of traceable digital
activities, actions, contributions and communications
that are manifested on the internet or on digital
devices
Classification of Digital Footprints
Passive Digital Footprint
is created when data is collected without the owner
knowing.
Active Digital Footprint
is created when personal data is released
deliberately by a user for the purpose of sharing
information about oneself by means of websites or social
media.
impression management
Impression management
is a conscious or subconscious process in which
people attempt to influence the perceptions of other
people about a person, object or event by regulating and
controlling information in social interaction.
understanding and creating the
digital self
• The last 15 years have been an age of vast creation
of different technologies and platforms in which the
self has been projected.
• The introduction of World Wide Web (WWW) led to
greater connectivity with people and information, and
people with other people anywhere in the world.
• Emailing and chatrooms led to real time
communication of people, even if they have not met
before.
• The social media revolution that started with
platforms such as Friendster, Myspace, and which is
currently dominated by Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram has connected people in so many ways
that was beyond the imagination years before.
implications of the creation of digital
self
• In an article published in 2012 in Forbes Magazine, it
was posited that women are now more active than
men across major social media platforms such as
Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook and have a stronger
attachment to social networking than do men.
• The Digital Self, as presented in social media, also
places the people open to the voyeuristic gaze of
others in uncountable small-scale private
performance that are socially mediated for public
consumption on an often large-scale.
• In this social media reality the public not only follows
crimes and justice, but participates and adds their
own performances, the most noticeable being
performance crimes.
benefits of social media usage
Facebook and Twitter differ from traditional web
applications as pages are easy to:
• create and edit
• are easily accessible
• promote and support mobility
• have real time communication
• free or cost effective
Digital over physical
• A digital identity has the potential to live forever
wherein the physical world we are faced with death.
• Traditionally genetic codes are passed on to offspring
and offer a family history that lives forever, or
through a lineage.
• An online identity is remembered for how it
interacted in a particular time in a digital
environment.
how to manage social media profiles
• Follow that college account and that business account
you found in the scavenger hunt.
• Use social media to reach out to organizations that
may help you achieve your college and career
pathway goals.
• Interact more with the people you identified who are
supportive of your goals, and spend time with them in
person.
• Try to keep everything you share on social media
clean and professional, and keep your publicly shared
content minimal.
• Always be kind!
steps to creating a positive digital
footprint
1. Google yourself
2. Use Facebook wisely
3. Take charge of your photos
4. Don’t overshare
5. Monitor linking accounts
6. Use secondary email
7. Thin before you click
The material/
economic self
