Talk:Emily Reitzel
Comment #1:
Hi Em!
WELL DONE! This piece is awesome. It's personal, you go in-depth on how you use Facebook, and the page looks beautiful. You'll have to forgive me for making this a short comment, but I truly think you've hit the nail on the head on your first go of it. I love the mentions of myspace lol, sounds like you've been on the social media scene for a long time. I can completely relate to having different levels of anxiety and willingness to share in different environments, AKA online vs. offline.
Less as a critique and more as a point of discussion, do you think it's possible to create a true representation of identity online? In my view there is simply not enough social context to allow someone to create a true representation of themselves. It's not a black and white issue as many people like to make it. I think you can approach a true identity, but it does not come anywhere close to a persons offline identity where physical and environmental cues add to a persons representation and authenticity. Even then, offline identities manifest themselves differently depending on social and environmental circumstances. My identity as presented to my best friends versus my employers would be viewed as starkly different, but that does not mean I'm acting in a disingenuous fashion. Also, I'm always slightly bothered when accusations are thrown around that someone is being "fake" on social media. Just because they choose to represent themselves differently online doesn't mean they aren't representing themselves. By making conscious decisions to conduct themselves in a particular manner on Facebook they are displaying an aspect of their identity, albeit perhaps one that is misaligned with the visible aspects of their offline identity. For example, you say you feel more free to share and interact online than in person, does that constitute disingenuous representation? (I wouldn't say so! And I'm not accusing you of that haha) Or is it just another way that an aspect of your identity manifests itself in a specific environment? What we post online is revealing of some underlying motivation -- whether it's to deceive others and create an entirely different persona, or whether it's a genuine approach to reflect our being. Maybe we can talk about this some other time haha.
Critique:
You've knocked it out of the park already, but your writing may benefit from further discussion of ethical implications. It couldn't hurt to explicitly address some of the ethical consequences of the Facebook environment and how you choose to maneuver within it. I don't think these changes are required, but they may help improve the influence of your piece!
Thank you for letting me go off on my own little riff about authenticity of identity haha. I'd like to hear your thoughts sometime! Let me know if you have any questions about my comments or if you'd like me to check out any changes you might make in the future!!
Comment #2: Lexi Leftakes
Hey Emily! It was so refreshing to read someone's story about how Facebook has so positively impacted their real life. Sometimes it just gets tiring to hear everyone say that Facebook is so bad. Thanks for sharing your story! I would suggest that you explore some of your actions on Facebook like what it is about the Facebook environment or community that allows you to be able to speak up more and share about your life. I think your situation is unique because you express that being able to have this identity on Facebook is something that you aren’t able to show in real life. However, some people would say that it isn’t your true self because of this (like Joey said in the comment above). I think you have a great opportunity to explore your identity offline vs. online and show how this can be a positive thing. There is a lot of negativity regarding Facebook and people not portraying themselves like they are in real life. But where is that line? If someone puts a filter on a picture, is that not an accurate representation of their life? There is so much room for discussion so it would be interesting for you to expand on how this online environment has created this outlet for you while still maintaining your offline identity on your profile as much as possible. Also like Joey wrote, you could explore many ethical implications that your situation and actions entail.
