Difference between revisions of "Santiago Perez"

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When I was done checking out these links, I continued to scroll through the google pages, rummaging through links in search of my virtual self. About six google o’s deep I finally find some more information on myself. Some data brokers had a previous address of mine and also knew members of my family, although some of these so called “family members” weren’t members at all. It seems like they fused two individuals together because on the birthdate, they had mine and another one that isn’t mine. This is concerning to me and I will be trying to contact this website to see what I can do about this. I figure if they are going to have my information, they might as well get it right. I will be updating this page as soon as I find out what can be done about this.
 
When I was done checking out these links, I continued to scroll through the google pages, rummaging through links in search of my virtual self. About six google o’s deep I finally find some more information on myself. Some data brokers had a previous address of mine and also knew members of my family, although some of these so called “family members” weren’t members at all. It seems like they fused two individuals together because on the birthdate, they had mine and another one that isn’t mine. This is concerning to me and I will be trying to contact this website to see what I can do about this. I figure if they are going to have my information, they might as well get it right. I will be updating this page as soon as I find out what can be done about this.
  
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===Instagram ===[[File:Instagram.png|400px|thumbnail|right|Ig]]
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=====Instagram=====
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[[File:Instagram.png|400px|thumbnail|right|Ig]]
 
After googling, I proceeded to Instagram, but I got a little clever with my search this time. I actually created a fake profile and page then tried to search for myself. I quickly popped up, but not as the first find. I was near the bottom half of the people with the same name as me, so I proceeded to investigate. I already knew that I would pop up pretty quick because my profile is public. However, I think I am going to change my profiles visibility to private because this made me realize that people could study me, for good or for bad, and I would have no control over that. I quickly proceeded to change the visibility, then went and redid the search. This time I didn’t po up, no matter how much I scrolled down the list of Santiagos. This gave me more peace of mind because now, if someone is interested in me, for whatever reason, they must send me a friend request, or I must give them access to my profile.
 
After googling, I proceeded to Instagram, but I got a little clever with my search this time. I actually created a fake profile and page then tried to search for myself. I quickly popped up, but not as the first find. I was near the bottom half of the people with the same name as me, so I proceeded to investigate. I already knew that I would pop up pretty quick because my profile is public. However, I think I am going to change my profiles visibility to private because this made me realize that people could study me, for good or for bad, and I would have no control over that. I quickly proceeded to change the visibility, then went and redid the search. This time I didn’t po up, no matter how much I scrolled down the list of Santiagos. This gave me more peace of mind because now, if someone is interested in me, for whatever reason, they must send me a friend request, or I must give them access to my profile.
  
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===Facebook===[[File:MarketPlace.jpg|400px|thumbnail|right|Marketplace]]
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[[File:MarketPlace.jpg|400px|thumbnail|left|Marketplace]]
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The Instagram search made me question my other profiles, hence the Facebook searching. Facebook is another one of my social media accounts, but I use it for the marketplace more than anything else. I like searching through the marketplace for good deals and I also post things to sell. I have sold quite a few things on the marketplace, and it is very convenient. I created a fake page then searched myself and I came up rather quickly. You could see everything about me on Facebook, such as school I am attending, jobs from the past, old posts, and even things that I once sold on their marketplace. At first, I did not know what to make of this, but I gave it some more thought. I concluded that I really did not want strangers knowing all this data about me so I made my profile private, although you can still see the items I have sold through the marketplace. This does not bother me as much because in my opinion, a buyer or consumer should always be able to research the seller. A seller should be as transparent as possible when doing online sells for many reasons. Consumers must have the peace of mind when shopping online that they are getting what they are paying for and that it is not a scam that they are buying into. When I first started buying things on Facebook, this was my main concern, and I would only shop with those individuals that kept that transparency throughout their profile and the buying process. Therefore, I will do the same… but I do not think it is a choice, I think that just how Facebook marketplace works; you cannot make your transactions private.
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===== Facebook =====
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The Instagram search made me question my other profiles, hence the Facebook searching. Facebook is another one of my social media accounts, but I use it for the marketplace more than anything else. I like searching through the marketplace for good deals and I also post things to sell. I have sold quite a few things on the marketplace, and it is very convenient. I created a fake page then searched myself and I came up rather quickly. You could see everything about me on Facebook, such as school I am attending, jobs from the past, old posts, and even things that I once sold on their marketplace. At first, I did not know what to make of this, but I gave it some more thought. I concluded that I really did not want strangers knowing all this data about me so I made my profile private, although you can still see the items I have sold through the marketplace. This does not bother me as much because in my opinion, a buyer or consumer should always be able to research the seller. A seller should be as transparent as possible when doing online sells for many reasons. Consumers must have the peace of mind when shopping online that they are getting what they are paying for and that it is not a scam that they are buying into. When I first started buying things on Facebook, this was my main concern, and I would only shop with those individuals that kept that transparency throughout their profile and the buying process. Therefore, I will do the same… but I do not think it is a choice, I think that just how Facebook marketplace works; you cannot make your transactions private.
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===The Interesting Details ===
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Something that was interesting to see in my data broker profile were my previous areas of residence. I have done all of my schooling in the Ann Arbor - Ypsilanti area, but I've 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 to me and made me realize how information that I always thought was 'private' was <b>not</b> private.
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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 certainly 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 my Linkedin profile and 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' by the data broker since they both feature my <b>abbreviated name</b> ‘Kavya Pratapa’.
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This led me to ask the same question that Haimson & Hoffman reference in their ‘Constructing and Enforcing “Authentic" Identity Online’: <b>which name constitutes as my authentic or <em>real</em> identity?</b>
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==<b>My Online Self - Instant Checkmate & Google</b> ==
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For me, 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’ has allowed me to socially assimilate to a greater degree. Yet, on Instant Checkmate,  these two names seem to be independent of one another. As 'Kavyapranati Pratapa', I couldn’t view any information about my Facebook or Instagram accounts via the Instant Checkmate report. While I am not incredibly active on either platform, it's still data that provides valuable insight into my social life, such as the student organizations I'm a part of on campus or the people I choose to hang out with. Unlike what I was expecting, I realized that my Instant Checkmate profile <b>did not provide me with a complete picture of who I was</b>.
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This led me to wonder whether the versions of myself I was seeing on Google and on 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 the 'self' that I wanted to project, 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 like 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 in the consulting industry. In a lot of ways, my data broker profile echoes the same version of myself as my 'google search' results: <b>A university student who has always been involved in academic and professional pursuits.</b>
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===Spheres of Identity ===
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I realized that conducting both a ‘google search’ and a review of my data broker profile did not portray a version of myself that I found to be compromising of my identity online. However, having two different names, though both are equally important to my identity, [[File:6a0120a8cae999970b01a5119de533970c-2.png|250px|right|thumbnail|We all exist in different spheres based on who we interact with]] portrayed an essentially curated but positive version of myself. I also realized that my online identity, depending on which name I use, only depicts one sphere of my life at a time.
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When I first searched myself as 'Kavya Pratapa', I did see some information that was pertinent to my previous academic ventures, but for the most part, only saw my social media accounts. On the other hand, searching myself as 'Kavyapranati Pratapa' provided me with results mostly related to my academic and professional life. Academics have always been important to me and are still crucial to my identity, but I realized that having fun and spending time with my friends is just as important to my own understanding of who I am. It’s only when I use my identity ‘Kavya’ that you start to see me as someone beyond academics and schoolwork. 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>].
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But, this isn't that far off from our offline lives. Our close friends in a social setting 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 don't really provide me with a complete picture of who I am either.
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Because at the end of the day, I, like everyone else, exist in multiple spheres. <b>And I'm okay with that</b>.
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==<b>References</b> ==
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5, Privacy.” The 4th Revolution: How the Infosphere Is Reshaping Human Reality, by Luciano Floridi, Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 110–110.
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Haimson, O. L., & Hoffmann, A. L. (2016). Constructing and enforcing" authentic" identity online: Facebook, real names, and non-normative identities. First Monday, 21(6).
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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.
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Revision as of 16:50, 19 February 2021

Abstract

I have never met anyone with the same name as me and growing up and even now that I am older, I still haven’t met any “Santiagos” in my life… until today. I have googled myself and have found some pretty interesting results. Not only did I google myself, but I also “instagramed” and “Facebooked” myself (did a search on myself). To start, I can now say that I have been made aware of 20+ “Santiagos,” virtually, that all have very interesting and diverse stories. I hope this doesn’t come off as creepy or intrusive, but I did click on some of the other Santiagos. It was very informative and entertaining to virtually “get to know” some of my fellow Santiagos. There is a whole slew of individuals that have the same name as me and some of those people are professors, artists, Baseball players and people from all walks of life that have the same name as me. Now, back to my focus, which is what data the internet spits out when I google myself. The internet got many things right, but it also got many things wrong, lets first look at the things they got right.

My Internet Identity

Google

When I googled myself, like I said, there was a lot of people with the same name as me, but then as I kept scrolling through the google pages, I finally found myself! There were three or four pages that mentioned me and some of the accomplishments of mine from when I was attending Schoolcraft college in Livonia, Michigan. The very first page that mentioned me was a website called “Expresso” that serves as a competition platform in which people all around the world can connect with each other, online and with their exercise equipment, to compete for the number one spot in endurance. The competition I participated in was a nation-wide competition between community colleges to see who can do the most miles on exercise bikes. The fitness center at Schoolcraft has an entire section of these bikes, and students along with professors are invited to compete against other schools. We would take turns on these bikes, so when someone gets tired of pedaling, they would tag someone else in. This website takes everyone’s times and total number of miles traversed and then adds all this data up to announce the winner. The link I clicked took me to my exact time and miles traversed! This took me on a trip down memory lane and it was really nice reminiscing about those days and all the fun I would have at the fitness center.

The second link that came up when I googled myself was another Schoolcraft College affiliation and this one even included a picture of me! It was from a time that I remember like it was yesterday…. I was walking the halls, on my way to class, when one of my friends notices me and flags me down. I approach her and she proceeds to inform me that she is currently interviewing people for this poll she was collect data for. It was a very simple survey in which she asks only one question: “Do you prefer Black Friday or Cyber Monday and why?” This was an interesting question to me, and I had fun participating in it, but I wasn’t expecting to dig that up. I believe that I must have agreed to let me data be used in any way the interviewer seems fit, so this did not upset me. However, I am going to be more aware of these types of surveys in the future because I wouldn’t want some of my responses to make me look bad in any type of way. When I gave permission to my friend, the interviewer, I was not thinking about the ethical implications that arise from these exchanges. Thanks to the course I am taking now, which focuses on technology and information ethics, I am much more conscience on protecting my data.

The third website that cites me is one that I am proud of and I am glad is associated with me because I worked very hard in order to be considered to be an associate. While attending Schoolcraft College, I applied for one of the most prestigious and well-known scholarships in the nation. It is called the “Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship” and I actually made it to the final round of applicants! There were three rounds that a student must pass in order to be granted this scholarship and I passed two of them. Even though I did not pass the third, it was still very nice to know that I was competing amongst the brightest and most talented individuals in our great nation. Making it to the finals caught wind at the college and I was quickly recognized by my professor and peers. They were all rooting for me and helped out in any way possible, which really put my hard work in perspective. Well… this third link took me directly to the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship website and there I was! Listed amongst the final contestants in the nation. I was amongst 11 other students representing the great state of Michigan and we were all listed on this page.

Social Media

The Inaccuracies

When I was done checking out these links, I continued to scroll through the google pages, rummaging through links in search of my virtual self. About six google o’s deep I finally find some more information on myself. Some data brokers had a previous address of mine and also knew members of my family, although some of these so called “family members” weren’t members at all. It seems like they fused two individuals together because on the birthdate, they had mine and another one that isn’t mine. This is concerning to me and I will be trying to contact this website to see what I can do about this. I figure if they are going to have my information, they might as well get it right. I will be updating this page as soon as I find out what can be done about this.

Instagram
Ig

After googling, I proceeded to Instagram, but I got a little clever with my search this time. I actually created a fake profile and page then tried to search for myself. I quickly popped up, but not as the first find. I was near the bottom half of the people with the same name as me, so I proceeded to investigate. I already knew that I would pop up pretty quick because my profile is public. However, I think I am going to change my profiles visibility to private because this made me realize that people could study me, for good or for bad, and I would have no control over that. I quickly proceeded to change the visibility, then went and redid the search. This time I didn’t po up, no matter how much I scrolled down the list of Santiagos. This gave me more peace of mind because now, if someone is interested in me, for whatever reason, they must send me a friend request, or I must give them access to my profile.

Marketplace
Facebook

The Instagram search made me question my other profiles, hence the Facebook searching. Facebook is another one of my social media accounts, but I use it for the marketplace more than anything else. I like searching through the marketplace for good deals and I also post things to sell. I have sold quite a few things on the marketplace, and it is very convenient. I created a fake page then searched myself and I came up rather quickly. You could see everything about me on Facebook, such as school I am attending, jobs from the past, old posts, and even things that I once sold on their marketplace. At first, I did not know what to make of this, but I gave it some more thought. I concluded that I really did not want strangers knowing all this data about me so I made my profile private, although you can still see the items I have sold through the marketplace. This does not bother me as much because in my opinion, a buyer or consumer should always be able to research the seller. A seller should be as transparent as possible when doing online sells for many reasons. Consumers must have the peace of mind when shopping online that they are getting what they are paying for and that it is not a scam that they are buying into. When I first started buying things on Facebook, this was my main concern, and I would only shop with those individuals that kept that transparency throughout their profile and the buying process. Therefore, I will do the same… but I do not think it is a choice, I think that just how Facebook marketplace works; you cannot make your transactions private.

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