Soumya Tejam
Philosophy
My relationship with my online identity rests on the dichotomy between pathological prudence and meticulous curation. Wary of the responsibility of maintaining a social media presence while upholding a somewhat inflated persona, I’ve tread the sphere of social media with two accounts, zero posts and a lot of caution. On the other hand, eager to develop my personal brand, I’ve catalogued a small army of publications and professional personas for the world to see.
My online identity, then, is built on two principles: I control what information I share on the internet and I must take responsibility for that information.
Revelations
The insights from this assignment are a far cry from the idealism I have cultivated over the past several years. I began with a simple google search query with my full name and made my way through individual social media platforms. With each step, the false safety of having a carefully curated identity on the internet fell apart as I discovered dormant spam accounts that were started as a joke, news clippings about projects and competitions, and privacy statements that reflected none of my values. My most disconcerting discovery was this: my online identity encapsulated far more than what I put out on the internet. Instead it was an amalgamation of posts and articles by the people around me, organizations I was attached to and cracks in privacy policies. My online identity isn’t created by me, it is created for me.