Your Online Presence

   

I am on pretty much every social media platform- Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn. It's a part of our culture and I immediately created accounts in middle school when it was becoming popular among kids my age.

Although I am on all of these sites, I keep my information somewhat hidden. All of my accounts are private so I am able to filter who sees my posts. If people want to look me up, they will see a name and profile picture but that is all. I am careful about accepting follow requests from people to make sure I know them or at least have some mutual followers.

Many websites ask for your email or phone number before signing up. If I can avoid providing my phone number I will, but if it's required I will give my home number first, then my cell if I have to. I have no problem providing my email address, but I always use the same personal email that I primarily use for signing up for things. I only use my High Point University email if it is something related to school, such as my LinkedIn account.

Although the internet can be a scary place because of hackers and stalkers, I don't think it should be too much of a concern as long as you keep your information private. If you google my name, almost nothing comes up in the results. People make it out to seem so dangerous to be on social media, but there's no reason to be completely hidden.  Social media is an awesome tool to connect with people, therefore it'd be hard to use if your account is impossible to find. Be smart; use privacy settings and be careful what you post, simple as that.