Who Am I? Really...
Happy Hump Day! This week feels longer than the last. Could be because school lets out in 6 days, which means my workload lightens and I can already feel myself wanting to take a much-needed vacation.
After looking through the different reading options this week, the journal article that stood out most to me was, "Constructing academic alter-egos: identity issues in a blog-based community". The keyword is alter-egos. As I read through the article I kept thinking about Monday's Instagram challenge. I don't just post all the time on my Instagram feed. Only "curated" photos go there. If I want to share a photo or video that doesn't fit my "standard" of what goes on my feed, I just share it to my stories. I hate how I'm explaining what goes where and why, like if I have a mass following and must keep to my brand. Dennen shared a piece from Bruner, that I felt encompassed what I was feeling. "As bloggers weave the narratives of their lives into posts, these narratives, which are acts of self-construction and self-depiction, express a sense of author agency." (Bruner 1994). I don't have a brand, but I couldn't just post a meme for Monday's challenge on my Instagram. That would be so random! I picked a cute video of my daughter being upset at a book to show my Monday mood... because it wasn't something I typically do, I only got three likes 😅 I figured that would happen. This journal got me thinking, I totally was creating an alter-ego for this class. I don't want to merge my personal and school life together.
References:
Bruner J. The remembered self. In: Neisser U, Fivush R, editors. The remembering self: construction and agency in self narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1994. p. 41–54
Dennen, V. P. (2009). Constructing academic alter-egos: Identity issues in a blog-based community. Identity in the Information Society, 2(1), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12394-009-0020-8
I feel like the struggle between alter ego and reality is one that a lot of people(especially teachers) face. I have been toying with the idea of creating an instagram page for my students next year and I know it will need to be separate from my personal one. I don't want to merge personal and professional either. It kind of reminds of writing paper resumes back in the day. I had a couple of resumes geared towards the type of job I was going for. One for teaching, one for retail (every teacher needs a side hustle).
ReplyDeleteOn another note I saw the nervous sweat emoji that you put when you said you only had three likes. I have noticed several young people unposting things because it doesn't get enough likes. Why is this a thing? Does it have to do with community? I am curious to hear your thoughts. Great post and I will be liking the photo of you and your daughter. By the way school ended for our kids yesterday and hang in there, relief is coming.
You know I'm not sure why people will unpost things. I guess when I don't get a lot of likes it makes me think maybe people aren't interested in what I posted. It's an awful thing, but it feels so nice when many people like a post. It makes me feel like I did a good job? It's very shallow and something I've worked on not caring about. Once I post it, it's posted and it is what it is. I also love posting photos for memories as well!
DeleteI hear you! I also have created this alter-ego for this class. Before this class I never, not once, posted to my Instagram. I strictly used it for catching up/stalking my favorite bands, reality stars and movie stars. I certainly didn't blog.
ReplyDeleteBeing in this class and after reading the article about creating a professional web presence, I realized I just may NEED to create a professional alter-ego that boasts my accomplishments and accolades to attract employers as I seek out possibilities outside of the classroom. I agree that my personal and professional online presence should be completely separate.
P.S. I was one of those likes. :-)
P.P.S. I love the background music widget!
I go through the same thought process: who am I to "strategize" about my online presence? Who wants to hear about my life?...Ok, well that may be different from what you are sharing, but that is my tie to it. If anything, what I am getting from your post/share style is a call to remain authentic/have integrity. Maybe a lofty name for social media decisions. Thatʻs what it comes down for me...jumping on the latest TikTok trend just isnʻt me or something I would do...I may enjoy watching certain content but that doesnʻt mean I feel called to produce the same thing. I then begin to psycho-analyze myself. Anyways! Thank you for your thoughts and reflection!
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. I do agree with on who are we to "strategize". Even though I like to not just post anything on Instagram. I still always like to remain authentic. I've used social media to share my struggles of motherhood and breastfeeding. It's not always rainbows and butterflies.
DeleteI hear you on this! My Instagram is set to private, and I had no intention of opening that up, so I actually created a new Instagram just for this class. I do like how you touched on how you decide what goes on your stories versus what gets immortalized in your posts. I do that too. If it's something that I've cooked that I'm extra super proud of, it's going on my posts so it can live forever!
ReplyDelete