Difference between revisions of "Kavya Pratapa"
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| − | <b>All of my life I have been known as ‘Kavya Pratapa’</b>. I initially[[File:Screen Shot 2020-02-13 at 8.43.10 PM.png|400px|thumbnail|right|The images I see when I google 'Kavya Pratapa']] adopted this abbreviated version of my birth name to make navigating the social boundaries of school easier. While there were awkward moments throughout my school experiences when my birth name would make its appearance on attendance sheets | + | <b>All of my life I have been known as ‘Kavya Pratapa’</b>. I initially[[File:Screen Shot 2020-02-13 at 8.43.10 PM.png|400px|thumbnail|right|The images I see when I google 'Kavya Pratapa']] adopted this abbreviated version of my birth name to make navigating the social boundaries of school easier. While there were indeed awkward moments throughout my school experiences when my birth name would make its appearance on attendance sheets, using 'Kavya' took away the stress of having a name that no one recognized or could pronounce. It made it easier for me to interact with my teachers, friends, and classmates on a personal level, since my name was now, in my opinion, easy to pronounce. |
| − | In a world where our name | + | In a world where our name forms a large part of our identity, I believed that being known as ‘Kavya’ made my identity, both offline and online, much more clear-cut. In fact, until I started college, I rarely wrote my full name on anything, unless it was legal business. Therefore, when I embarked on this project to better understand my own online identity, I expected to see a lot of information about myself under my abbreviated identity. Yet, I quickly realized that much of the information online about me was not about ‘Kavya Pratapa’, but actually about ‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’ <b>(my birth name)</b>. |
== My 'Google' Identity == | == My 'Google' Identity == | ||
===Search Query: 'Kavya Pratapa' === | ===Search Query: 'Kavya Pratapa' === | ||
| − | When I first googled my abbreviated name <b>‘Kavya Pratapa’,</b> most of my social media accounts, like Facebook and Instagram came up. I also noticed that within the first page of my search results, there were details about my Quiz Bowl competitions from high school, a couple of local newspaper articles about me from when I used to compete in spelling bee competitions, and my youtube account. However, I very quickly noticed that after <b>5 or 6 pertinent search results</b>, the information that | + | When I first googled my abbreviated name <b>‘Kavya Pratapa’,</b> most of my social media accounts, like Facebook and Instagram came up. I also noticed that within the first page of my search results, there were some details about my Quiz Bowl competitions from high school, a couple of local newspaper articles about me from when I used to compete in spelling bee competitions, and my youtube account that I no longer use. However, I very quickly noticed that after <b>5 or 6 pertinent search results</b>, the information that came up was not related to me in any way. In fact, a lot of the other search results were about a Bollywood film in which the lead actress’s name was ‘Kavya Pratap Singh’ (see above image). |
===Search Query: 'Kavyapranati Pratapa' === | ===Search Query: 'Kavyapranati Pratapa' === | ||
| − | On the other hand, when I googled[[File:Screen_Shot_2020-02-13_at_10.09.49_PM.png|400px|thumbnail|right|The first 4 Images when I googled my full name ]] my given birth name <b>‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’,</b> I was able to find almost <b>5 pages of content</b> that all had relevance to me! The top two search results were my LinkedIn and WayUp profiles, but I also saw many more local newspaper articles about me from my spelling bee days. As I moved through the search | + | On the other hand, when I googled[[File:Screen_Shot_2020-02-13_at_10.09.49_PM.png|400px|thumbnail|right|The first 4 Images when I googled my full name ]] my given birth name <b>‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’,</b> I was able to find almost <b>5 pages of content</b> that all had relevance to me! The top two search results were my LinkedIn and WayUp profiles, but I also saw many more local newspaper articles about me from my spelling bee days within the first two pages. As I moved through the search results, I even found [[Media:Screen_Shot_2020-02-27_at_3.30.40_PM.png]] random blogs that contained my name in heated discussions about the National Spelling Bees and also found a [[File:Screen Shot 2020-02-13 at 8.34.52 PM.png|350px|thumbnail|left|My very own Twitter Hashtag]]<b>hashtag on Twitter</b> of the very word that I misspelled in the 2012 National Spelling Bee! |
Apart from 'spelling bee' related results, there were a couple pages that contained my name from other activities, such as my vocal performances, my Medium blog that I don't post on anymore, from the university's Honors Convocation last year, and even under another data broker service <b>FastPeopleSearch.com</b>. It was pretty shocking to see how many different sources of information contained my name. There was just too much out there. | Apart from 'spelling bee' related results, there were a couple pages that contained my name from other activities, such as my vocal performances, my Medium blog that I don't post on anymore, from the university's Honors Convocation last year, and even under another data broker service <b>FastPeopleSearch.com</b>. It was pretty shocking to see how many different sources of information contained my name. There was just too much out there. | ||
| Line 31: | Line 31: | ||
===Spheres of Identity === | ===Spheres of Identity === | ||
| − | Both my pursuits of a ‘google search’ and reviewing my data broker profile did not portray a version of myself that I found to be compromising of my identity online. At the same time, however, | + | Both my pursuits of a ‘google search’ and reviewing my data broker profile did not portray a version of myself that I found to be compromising of my identity online. At the same time, however, having two different names that I view as the exact same, [[File:Venn-diagram-template-png-6.png|250px|right|thumbnail]] portrayed an essentially curated version of myself. While I don’t find this to be concerning since the 'self' I saw online was ultimately positive, I did realize that my online identity, depending on which name I use, only depicts one sphere of my life at a time. When I searched myself as 'Kavya Pratapa', I did see some information that was pertinent to my previous academic ventures, but for the most part, I only saw my social media accounts. On the other hand, searching myself as 'Kavyapranati Pratapa', provided me with results related to my academic and professional life. Academics have always been important to me and still are, but having fun and spending time with my friends is just as important to my understanding of who I am. It’s only when I use my social identity ‘Kavya’ that you start to see me beyond academics. In a way, my abbreviated name becomes my ticket to seeing my curated online social identity [<b>Sphere 1</b>] while my full name depicts my curated online professional identity [<b>Sphere 2</b>]. |
| − | But, this isn't that far off from our offline lives. Our close friends | + | But, this isn't that far off from our offline lives. Our close friends don't experience the part of ourselves that goes to work at 7 am in the morning, just as our colleagues don't see our 'wild side' at parties. Depending on who we are interacting with, different parts of our identity come into play, and our behaviors reflect the persona that we are trying to portray. While I was initially surprised that I could not find a complete picture of who I was online, I realized as I was completing this project that my offline interactions also don't really provide me with a complete picture of who I am. Because, at the end of the day, I, like everyone else, exist in multiple spheres. <b>And I'm okay with that</b>. |
==References == | ==References == | ||
Revision as of 19:45, 27 February 2020
All of my life I have been known as ‘Kavya Pratapa’. I initially adopted this abbreviated version of my birth name to make navigating the social boundaries of school easier. While there were indeed awkward moments throughout my school experiences when my birth name would make its appearance on attendance sheets, using 'Kavya' took away the stress of having a name that no one recognized or could pronounce. It made it easier for me to interact with my teachers, friends, and classmates on a personal level, since my name was now, in my opinion, easy to pronounce.
In a world where our name forms a large part of our identity, I believed that being known as ‘Kavya’ made my identity, both offline and online, much more clear-cut. In fact, until I started college, I rarely wrote my full name on anything, unless it was legal business. Therefore, when I embarked on this project to better understand my own online identity, I expected to see a lot of information about myself under my abbreviated identity. Yet, I quickly realized that much of the information online about me was not about ‘Kavya Pratapa’, but actually about ‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’ (my birth name).
Contents
My 'Google' Identity
Search Query: 'Kavya Pratapa'
When I first googled my abbreviated name ‘Kavya Pratapa’, most of my social media accounts, like Facebook and Instagram came up. I also noticed that within the first page of my search results, there were some details about my Quiz Bowl competitions from high school, a couple of local newspaper articles about me from when I used to compete in spelling bee competitions, and my youtube account that I no longer use. However, I very quickly noticed that after 5 or 6 pertinent search results, the information that came up was not related to me in any way. In fact, a lot of the other search results were about a Bollywood film in which the lead actress’s name was ‘Kavya Pratap Singh’ (see above image).
Search Query: 'Kavyapranati Pratapa'
On the other hand, when I googled my given birth name ‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’, I was able to find almost 5 pages of content that all had relevance to me! The top two search results were my LinkedIn and WayUp profiles, but I also saw many more local newspaper articles about me from my spelling bee days within the first two pages. As I moved through the search results, I even found Media:Screen_Shot_2020-02-27_at_3.30.40_PM.png random blogs that contained my name in heated discussions about the National Spelling Bees and also found a hashtag on Twitter of the very word that I misspelled in the 2012 National Spelling Bee!
Apart from 'spelling bee' related results, there were a couple pages that contained my name from other activities, such as my vocal performances, my Medium blog that I don't post on anymore, from the university's Honors Convocation last year, and even under another data broker service FastPeopleSearch.com. It was pretty shocking to see how many different sources of information contained my name. There was just too much out there.
Self via Google
Though I am aware of the dangers of having my online identity compromised, I have never given much thought to how easily my online information could be accessed. As Luciano Floridi writes “It’s not that we don’t care about privacy, but that we accept that being online may be one of the less private things about our life”. More than anything, I was pretty surprised to see information about me from 8 or 10 years ago so easily accessible. At the same time, however, none of the information that I found online by simply googling my name was particularly disturbing or harmful to my carefully-crafted online self. While I realized that I had little control over whether I wanted to disclose that information or not, none of it was harmful to me or the identity I wanted to project online. Therefore, I wasn’t incredibly concerned that this information was out there for the public to consume.
My Instant Checkmate Identity
The Inaccuracies
Likewise, as I looked through my data broker report, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The first couple pages were pulled from my Linkedin feed, though I did notice some inaccuracies. For example, I wrote on my profile that I would be interning at Deloitte Consulting this summer, but also had my previous summer internship at Denison Consulting in Ann Arbor listed. When I looked at my report, however, the same company ‘Denison Consulting’ was listed for both my upcoming and my current internships. Another discrepancy I noticed was in my education of the same ‘Linkedin section’. Prior to having been accepted to the business minor, I was a part of the Cappo Sales Track program through the Ross School of Business. Even though I have updated my Linkedin profile to now reflect my most current educational pursuits, my data broker profile still depicted results from when I was still unsure of what my minor would be. As a result, this data is no longer accurate with what my educational pursuits are today.
The Interesting Details
Something that was interesting to see in my data broker profile were my previous places of residence. I have done all of my schooling in the Ann Arbor - Ypsilanti area, but I lived in Troy, Michigan and Dearborn, Michigan in the past. It was pretty intriguing to see the exact addresses of the places I lived in within these cities mentioned in my report. Until I saw this data, I didn't even know where I lived in these cities! At the same time, however, the fact that my residence information is accessible to anyone who utilizes a data broker service like Instant Checkmate was pretty shocking and made me realize how information that I always thought was 'private' was not private. I was also concerned to see the large amount of sex offenders that lived in my area. Growing up, I knew that Ypsilanti wasn’t one of the safest areas to live in, but I never paid that much attention to my surroundings. While learning this information hasn't changed my decision to leave Ypsilanti by any means, I am a little bit more aware of my surroundings and the demographics of the people that live in my general community. Lastly, echoing the phenomenon I observed when I googled myself, I noticed that only Linkedin and my email popped up under the social media category of the report. Though I was baffled at first, I eventually realized that neither my Facebook nor my Instagram accounts would be 'dug up' since they both feature my abbreviated name ‘Kavya Pratapa’.
This led me to ask the same question that Haimson & Hoffman reference in their ‘Constructing and Enforcing “Authentic" Identity Online’: what constitutes as my authentic or real identity?
My online self - Instant Checkmate & Google
Both of my names ‘Kavya Pratapa’ and ‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’ are parts of my authentic self. While I only use my full name for professional and official purposes, my abbreviated name ‘Kavya’ allows me to socially assimilate to a greater degree. Yet, on Instant Checkmate and likely on other data broker profiles, these two names seem to be independent of one another. I couldn’t view any data on my Facebook or Instagram accounts. While I am not incredibly active on either platform, this is still data that provides insight into my social life, such as the student organizations I'm a part of on campus or the moments when I hang out with friends. Unlike what I was expecting, I realized that my Instant Checkmate profile did not provide me with a complete picture of who I was.
This led me to wonder whether the versions of myself I was seeing being projected on Google and my data broker report were consistent with one another. While the presence of several sex offenders on my Instant Checkmate profile was a mild 'blow' to my identity, that is more a consequence of where I live rather than who I am. Apart from that, all of the information about me via Google and Instant Checkmate depicted a pretty positive version of myself: I am a student at a world class institution such as the University of Michigan, I have had the opportunity to engage in a variety of experiences beyond my classes, such as research, and I have been able to pursue professional opportunities related to the field of consulting, which I hope to pursue after graduation. In a lot of ways, my data broker profile echoes the same version of myself as my ‘google search’ results: A university student who has always been involved in academic pursuits.
Spheres of Identity
Both my pursuits of a ‘google search’ and reviewing my data broker profile did not portray a version of myself that I found to be compromising of my identity online. At the same time, however, having two different names that I view as the exact same, portrayed an essentially curated version of myself. While I don’t find this to be concerning since the 'self' I saw online was ultimately positive, I did realize that my online identity, depending on which name I use, only depicts one sphere of my life at a time. When I searched myself as 'Kavya Pratapa', I did see some information that was pertinent to my previous academic ventures, but for the most part, I only saw my social media accounts. On the other hand, searching myself as 'Kavyapranati Pratapa', provided me with results related to my academic and professional life. Academics have always been important to me and still are, but having fun and spending time with my friends is just as important to my understanding of who I am. It’s only when I use my social identity ‘Kavya’ that you start to see me beyond academics. In a way, my abbreviated name becomes my ticket to seeing my curated online social identity [Sphere 1] while my full name depicts my curated online professional identity [Sphere 2].
But, this isn't that far off from our offline lives. Our close friends don't experience the part of ourselves that goes to work at 7 am in the morning, just as our colleagues don't see our 'wild side' at parties. Depending on who we are interacting with, different parts of our identity come into play, and our behaviors reflect the persona that we are trying to portray. While I was initially surprised that I could not find a complete picture of who I was online, I realized as I was completing this project that my offline interactions also don't really provide me with a complete picture of who I am. Because, at the end of the day, I, like everyone else, exist in multiple spheres. And I'm okay with that.
References
5, Privacy.” The 4th Revolution: How the Infosphere Is Reshaping Human Reality, by Luciano Floridi, Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 110–110.
Haimson, O. L., & Hoffmann, A. L. (2016). Constructing and enforcing" authentic" identity online: Facebook, real names, and non-normative identities. First Monday, 21(6).
Shoemaker, David W. “Self-Exposure and Exposure of the Self: Informational Privacy and the Presentation of Identity.” Ethics and Information Technology, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009, pp. 3–15., doi:10.1007/s10676-009-9186-x.
