Digital Identity Assignment

Hello all! For an assignment in our Educational Media Theory class, we were paired with a partner to find as much information on each other as we could using the internet. The purpose is to essentially create a digital identity for ourselves based off our research about each other. This was a very interesting assignment because sometimes things about us that end up online are no longer accurate. Some of the resources that I used to develop research on my partner Maria Bast were Facebook, the google search engine, Instagram, and various local websites that contained information. This assignment took more time than I anticipated. The Internet is a vast platform without limitation, and so is the planet in a sense. Since there are so many people in the world, it is not quite easy to narrow it down to one person on the internet. There are several “Bradley Klein” students here at UW-Platteville, just as an example. In a way, this was somewhat of a “stalking” assignment (Ha!). However, the significance of this assignment is very apparent to me: anything that gets put online is accessible by anyone, anywhere, anytime. Kind of scary isn’t it? While doing research on Maria, there was nothing that I discovered that made me uncomfortable or scared to talk to her again. According to my research, she is a wonderful presence to be around and a very successful individual. She seems to be full of smiles all of the time and has a large group of friends and family that care about her deeply. I hope the same can be said about me! While I did compile a lot of information about Maria, I do not feel like I know her. There are so many aspects to the human life, that it is quite impossible to know what somebody is all about just by their online profile. Some may disagree, but there are many things that cannot be properly conveyed through the Internet, such as tone, body language, and facial expressions. Talking to Mariah did prove my hypothesis about her to be correct. She is a very kind, intelligent person that I hope to call my friend in the future. She is very polite, and a good listener. She is also very hardworking as she achieves success in the classroom and in the workplace, it is apparent that she is a valued employee at her place of employment at Pizzeria Uno. Maria was definitely not surprised by my findings, as it is clear that she is very conscious about what she puts out into the Internet. She doesn’t post offensive material, photos, or anything that would make any viewers consider her as unprofessional. I admire the way that Maria not only carries herself as a person, but as a professional. I am happy that I have had an opportunity to complete this assignment because it informed me of information on my social media accounts that was not accurate, which I changed immediately. I highly value the purpose of this assignment and wish that other people would have an experience like this so they are aware of how important it is to keep oneself professional on a platform like the Internet. Keep on keepin' on!