When I google my name the first three things that come up are my Youtube account, which has all my science projects from highschool on it, my Instagram account, and my twitter account. My Instagram account is private so anyone that opens this page will not be able to see my pictures unless I have accepted their follow request. My twitter account, which would be deleted if I could remember my password, is also private and has not been posted on in about three years. I am not very present on the social medias that I have. I am usually the type of person that will open Facebook or Instagram and scroll through for about a minute and then leave without posting anything.

I used to regularly go through and delete all of my old posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Looking back, this was a good and a bad thing. It was a good thing because all of those embarrassing posts from fifth grade are now gone and cannot be brought back to haunt me. But, this is also a bad thing because I deleted many of the pictures that I had from when I was younger on my Facebook and now these pictures cannot be retrieved again. At the time, I had deleted this posts because I thought they were weird and embarrassing, but sometimes I wish that I had kept them. Many times some of my best friends will social media stalk themselves and find old pictures and posts from many years ago that are embarrassing, but these posts will make them laugh and remember and make fun of their younger self. While I did save myself from the embarrassment of having these old posts resurface, I also lost the chance to relive some of my old memories.

After reading the articles about social media auditing, I decided to take their advice and google myself. Besides finding many pictures of an actress with the same name, I didn’t come across any of my social media accounts or pictures of me when I googled my name. Pictures of me or links to my accounts are probably less accessible since I’ve never had a Facebook account and my last name is often assumed to be a misspelling of the word “fairly”. During my application process for college and jobs, I put both my Twitter and Instagram profiles on private in order to make sure that my accounts did not hurt my chances. Even though I don’t post anything bad on social media, I wanted to take these extra precautions.

After this application process, I took my social media off of private, since I don’t really mind who else (besides colleges or companies) sees what I post on the internet. If someone was to look at my account, I would come across as a friendly person (at least I hope). I mainly only post pictures of me and my good friends on Instagram, since I value pictures with meaningful people in them. I use Instagram to look back on memories, and pictures with others always hold more meaning to me than a picture of a flower or a mountain. I don’t try to put too much thought into what I post, or try to have a certain “aesthetic” to my account, because I feel as if this takes away from this memorable aspect of Instagram.

After reading the three articles about social media branding, I felt like a social media loser because I basically don’t do anything that they were saying. I don’t “Google” myself, I don’t care enough to delete my ugly middle school Facebook pictures, and I’m pretty sure I have a different user name for all of my social media accounts. The main reason I’m so behind in my social media branding is because I don’t really look at my social media as a brand. Do I want people to get a good impression of me from my social media? Sure, but that doesn’t mean I sit there and obsess over the way it looks. There’s nothing wrong with that because the first article was right about our online voices weighing heavily these days, but I look at social media as a fun platform to share cool pictures and funny posts with people. I don’t have a huge social media following, so it isn’t really necessary for me to try and brand myself. I also don’t post frequently enough for my posts to be anything more than just a snapshot of a fun experience I had at some random time.  I’m still cautious of what I put on social media because I’ve learned the hard way (aka middle school pictures on Facebook) that what you put on social media never really goes away, but I don’t really look so deep into social media as to try and have a personal brand. I honestly wouldn’t know where to begin and am too lazy for that 🙂

Each article presented strategies to audit your personal brand, some in the same way but some had different strategies. I thought it was very interesting that they all said go type your name in Google and see what pops up. I did that and the first three things that popped up were my Facebook page, my Vine account, and a Prezi presentation that I once created in high school. I then clicked on images and none of the images were of me, they were all of Simone Biles, the U.S. Olympic Gymnast.

Referring to the article, “A Painless Way to Do a Personal Social Media Audit,” the author asked “Do you collect social media and networking accounts?” I had to stop and think because there are some accounts that I have that I haven’t used in a very long time. They are just sitting around and nothing is happening on them because I don’t use them. Going back to the Google search and my Vine account popping up, I can’t tell you the last time I got on Vine which means I could probably delete it. I guess Twitter could be one that I don’t keep up with either because I rarely get on it. On Twitter there is just too much going on and people are always tweeting so I’m never up to date. Skype is something else I have an account for and haven’t used it in years, don’t even think I know my account information anymore. Pinterest, I don’t usually get on it unless I’m really bored or need like a cute idea for something.

I’m very careful with what I post on social media. I know that there’s someone always watching the account or looking at it. I don’t want people to think differently of me because of what I post on social media so I don’t give them a reason to. The impressions someone would get about me from my social media account would be that, I love kids, have a passion to serve and go on mission trips, love my family, and love the Georgia Bulldogs. I don’t have anything to hide on my social media accounts. I don’t think I need to make changes but I could possibly delete my Vine account because I will most likely never use it again. I would say my social media is accurate about my life.

(*umm, do I have a “social media brand?”)

Read these websites and work through some of the exercises they suggest (but please note that I’m not asking you to delete anything unless you want to):

• “How to Perform a Social Media Audit for Your Personal Brand” (Cooper)
• “Would You Pass a Personal Brand Audit?” (ThoughtWire)
• “A Painless Way to Do a Personal Social Media Audit” (Shona)

Then report back via a blog posting. Some possible questions to get you started:

• What did you find? (Any surprises?)
  • What impressions, if any, would a classmate get about you from your social media presence?
  • What about an employer or a graduate admissions committee?
  • Is there anything that seems particularly misleading or particularly accurate?
• Did you think about making any changes in your social media presence or in the way that you use social media?
• Do you feel that you have a “personal brand”? Do you feel that other non-celebrities do? Do you think you should have a personal brand? (As a college student? As a person?  Or does the whole idea seem a little… weird? Would you want your grandma to have a personal brand?)

This article  opened my eyes to how addicting technology can be and how I fall for it. When I read the statistic that smartphone owners check their device about 150 times a day, it made me reflect on how many times I use my phone and realize how much unproductive time I waste throughout the day being on my phone. This makes sense, though, because according to the article, creators purposefully create ways to make the user want to check his device and apps. That kind of blew my mind because I’ve never really thought about social media and technology that deeply. While this is a great business strategy, it makes me want to use their “products” less because I don’t want to play into their hands. I don’t see a real solution to this problem because so many people are already addicted to technology (including me), but I think it is important to realize when too much is too much. The concept of apps and media as being “junk food” is incredibly accurate because at a point it becomes unhealthy and addictive. While I don’t think I would pay for an app to control my usage, I do think it would be beneficial for something to be done. Harris’s envision for more user-controlled tech is a step in the right direction.

This article really brought to light how much I am on my cellphone and checking my social media. I think the reference to social media being like junk is very accurate, because the more we use social media and our phones, the more addicted we become. I have never thought of apps being modified to make them more addictive to their users, but after reading this article it is clear that I have played into their tactics. I definitely am addicted to snapchat, and I think the modification that made it that made it even more addictive than it already was is the creation of the “story”. With this new invention, snapchat users could see what their friends were doing all the time, making users, especially me, constantly refresh their stories to see if something new was going on in their friends lives, or more importantly if they were missing out on something. I have a friend who deleted her snapchat because she said it made her anxious and constantly have “fomo” when she saw other people’s stories or snapchats. She told how much better it felt to not have the responsibility of a snapchat, and how she could be more in the moment because she wasn’t constantly checking her phone.

I personally think that I check my phone a little too much throughout the day, but it has become such a habit that I would never download a software that modifies my usage. I think that social media and apps are continuing to become more addictive, and that at this point, no one is willing to give up any time spent on their smartphones.

The topic covered in the article that I found most compelling was the concept that certain changes made to social media can cause it to become more or less addictive, as I can immediately think of an example of each of these instances. I remember when Snapchat first updated their app to include interactive filters. Everybody at my high school couldn’t put their phones down, as it was hard to resist playing around with these fun filters. I can admit that this update with filters made the app a lot more addictive than it was before, as I still use these filters just as frequently today. On the other hand, I became less “addicted” to Twitter after they updated their app and took away the “Activity” page, where you could see what those you follow are doing, such as who they follow or what tweets they “favorite.” This update made it harder to find new accounts to follow and discover funny tweets.

I also found Harris’ social media tracking software very interesting as well, as it would lead to new findings about our excessive usage. Personally, I wouldn’t download a software like this, probably because the results would scare me and I would be in denial about how much I actually use my phone/social media. If somebody was to use Harris’ software, I think it would be beneficial to discover which forms of social media they use the most, and for how long. This would allow them to cut their time spent on social media and learn how to use it more efficiently.

First off, I’d like to acknowledge my extreme delight in how social media was compared to junk food and how this overload of social media was like a junk food binge. That was rather clever.

Secondly, as I’ve stated before, I truly don’t see an issue with my social media usage. Honestly, I don’t binge it; I use it in moderation. This article made me realize just how addicted to their phones people are. There are actual people who constantly check their phones. They can’t go a single minute with checking to make sure that they aren’t missing anything. I, on the other hand, only use my phone when there’s not much else to do. In fact, I accidentally messed up a fifteen day long Snapstreak this weekend because I forgot to check my phone all day. I was with my friends that I was streaking with, so I completely forgot to snap them back. Because I was so engrossed with reality (and also sleeping a lot), I forgot about the world of social media.

Because I’m not addicted to social media, having to pay for it would anger me. I use it honestly because everyone else does, but being forced to pay for things even when everyone else is using it, is pointless to me. When new phones come out, a lot of people want to buy it, but I’m not buying something just because it’s popular. In that case, I won’t use anything at all.

All in all, I’m certainly not a part of the group of people who binge social media. Truly, I find it rather pointless and annoying to invest so much time into something that may not matter later.

This article intrigued me because it gave me insight into the psychological effects that technology has on us. We are subconsciously addicted to our smartphones and social media, constantly checking to see if we have any new notifications or not, even if we don’t hear the phone buzz because maybe we just didn’t hear it. Seeing the screen light up with notifications gives people a certain satisfaction because they’re getting attention and appreciation from people not within the vicinity. Apps are definitely designed to manipulate their users by offering sorts of prizes with followers, likes, comments, and views. It gives users a satisfaction that the content they’re posting seems important, entertaining, or exciting.

When I read about the strategies that Snapchat uses to keep its users addicted, I realized that I was unfortunately guilty of succumbing to their tactics. Snapstreaks make it easier for you to talk to certain people constantly, and it feels almost accomplishing when you can get to triple digit streaks. I definitely have given my friend my login information just to keep up streaks while I was on vacation before.

While I do think social media is worth the time because they are platforms for communication, sharing, and memories, I think I spend more time on it than I should. I believe apps should be curated to be more organic and user-friendly so that we can balance our lives in the real and digital world. It almost seems sad that it makes people angsty if they go too long without checking their phone, but the app creators are also responsible for sucking up users’ time and attention by the design of an app.