On page 117, Pariser discusses the differences between the
aspirational and current selves. Pariser then moves on to discuss the
nature of different selves as compared to Zuckerburg's view (ascribed in
part by Pariser) of people having one self. Prepare to stare into space
a bit: go blank. In your teaching and professional work, how many
selves do you have? Which ones are represented online, how much
information do they share, and which ones are the most "mined" for data?
When your students or colleagues or future employers search for you,
which self do the see or find? Can you have any control over that?
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I have always known, in a way, that I have multiple "selves" so to speak. I remember in high school specifically I would be a slightly different person at school than I was at home in that I said words at school I wouldn't say in front of my parents and I definitely wasn't quite as outgoing and enthusiastic at home as I was at school. At home I was more quiet and though I spent a lot of time with my parents, I was often in my own bubble on the computer or playing games or making something. A similarity though that was true in both "selves" was a genuine love for life and a friendliness toward everyone.
Looking at my self today, I still see several versions of my self. I have a work self, a class self, an in a classroom self (which varies a bit with grade levels), a with my boyfriend self, a with my friends self, a with my parents self, a with my sister self, a with my brother Daniel self, a with my brother Don self, and several other "with different family member" selves that are all pretty similar.
In the Filter Bubble, Eli Pariser writes about Mark Zuckerburg's stance on "selves". He basically says that there is no longer a such thing as having "selves". We now have only one self and it is the self we are on Facebook. I must say I agree with this to an extent, but I know it is not entirely true. The self I have displayed on Facebook is one which pertains to the selves I portray in every circumstance. The difference lies in the things I don't post on Facebook but sometimes say or do outside of Facebook. For example, I never curse on Facebook posts and if one of my friends curse on my page I delete it. When I post pictures on Facebook they are viewable only by my friends (Just like real life!) and they are appropriate for viewing by any of my friends which does include my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, cousins and even mentor teachers and my boss at work. I feel comfortable having all of these people as friends on Facebook because that self is my filtered "online self". To be honest, my other "selves" don't differ much from that of the one on Facebook. The only differences might include the occasional alcoholic beverages with friends, the tone of my voice depending on who I'm talking to, and the rare upset self curse word that only shows up around the boyfriend and certain friends. I know that when I'm with my brother Daniel I'm a lot more open and relaxed where as with my brother Don I'm more reserved because of a religion factor. The way we act around others is mostly due to our fear that they may get an undesirable impression of us.
Another set of selves I found interesting from Pariser's book was his example of the difference between our Google self and our Facebook self. It is true that I sometime research things that I would never dream of mentioning on a Facebook post because they are personal, yet the information we give through our Google searches is collected into databases just like the information we give through Facebook. This information being collected creates a self we have little to no control over, especially for those that don't even know it is happening.
This idea parallels with Pariser's points about future and present selves and how they differ in the moment. Although you may want to come across to the world as an intelligent, modest individual to future employers and colleagues, you may currently want to share the pictures you took with your friends at the beach this week on Facebook. Many people do not realize just how much the selves they portray on Facebook can affect them in the future and thus post things that their future selves may regret.
It’s interesting to read about all the different ‘selves’ that you have around your peers, different family members, friends, boyfriend, etc. Almost a different self for each different person you interact with. Although you did mention that there were many similarities across all those ‘selves.’ I had not thought about having that many ‘selves’ when I created my own blog post about this topic. As I think about it now, I probably do indeed have a slightly, or in some cases, a vastly different self when I am interacting with different individuals. Even my own kids have noticed and commented on the fact that I act differently toward others than I do toward my own kids (I imagine most parents are like that, but a few are not!).
ReplyDeleteIt’s also interesting to read how you’ve managed to thoughtfully filter what you place on Facebook so as to have a self that represents you and that you also are aware of the potential impact of any information or photos being seen and misunderstood (by bosses, peers, parents, etc.). You’ve made prudent choices on sharing and privacy that have/will help in maintaining a ‘sanitized self’ online. I have heard of some people creating multiple ‘selves’ just on Facebook alone – one self that is the ‘sanitized’ version for all to see and one self that is the ‘unfiltered’ self for a limited selection of people (usually closest friends) to see. Have you considered that or seen others maintain multiple ‘selves’ on social networking sites?
You refer to the distinction between the self that is represented by Facebook and the one that is represented by our Google searches (and Pariser’s reference to this). I’ve also wondered after ready this in Pariser about what my Google searches would represent. There have been a few close friends/family members that I have been helping them with health issues including researching extensively on the web. If someone were to look closely at the search logs and see the terms I’ve searched for they would wonder about ‘me’ and not know that I’ve been searching for others.
If only we had more control over the data aggregators and purveyors (e.g. Acxiom, Spokeo), then we could potentially more direct control over the different and potentially misleading ‘selves’ that exist for us online. Wishful thinking I know. Thus, it puts the burden on each of us to be cautious everywhere about what we share.