I received a total of 1 comment (expansive and enlightening right?) so I will do my best to reflect here on what my one respondent said.
An interesting point of confidence building via social media was brought up, in reference to Turkle's idea of online alias' providing a chance for people to act out in ways that they normally wouldn't. I was asked: "Do you think there's a different between public and anonymous social media regarding confidence? Does Facebook make people more confident, or more depending on approval?"
I definitely
think that there is a difference between public and private social media
regarding confidence. Both boost or promote confidence but in different ways.
Social media where real identity is used and your profile is a reflection of
your true self seeks approval or confirmation of personal or physical
characteristics one is insecure about. These public platforms give a safe area
to upload or share content and if the response is not what we want or does not
boost confidence it can be deleted and does not have to be faced again.
When dealing
with anonymous platforms, the confidence we seek or build up is achieved
through a different manner. The anonymity allows us to lie, exaggerate or
fabricate ideas of ourselves and/or parts of our lives that we don’t like, or
wish were different. Therefore I argue that public social media is an extension
of our real selves (i.e Facebook or twitter) but anonymous or fabricated
personal profiles are an area for an adjusted or idealized life for the user.
I think this is absolutely correct!
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