Most of us in today’s’ world have two different identities, one is real, while the other is fake. The question is it necessary? Let’s discuss.
Professional Online Identity
It is the identity used to learn and professional reasons where you connect with your client on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Now let talk about the pros and cons of such an identity?
Talent Management
SELF CREATED | SOURCE – World Economic Forum
These practices of talent management are established only by maintaining a true identity online, both employee and employers are able to understand each other, are able to estimate whether a person can benefit the company or what can be done to help them.
How we online reputation help you stand out?
Its all about maintaining a professional image when you on an online platform.
- . Create your own profile in all type of platforms
- Keep googling yourself online as a routine practice
- Keep google alert established so that you will know whether good or bad when someone addresses you online
- Create your own domain name with patent rights
- Join networking group so that more industries and companies become much aware of your achievements and happening
- Blog and update your social media platforms with your upcoming achievements
- Join online discussions forum and share your point of view in the most positive way
Fake Online Identity
While True identity is capable of creating a lot of advantages, fake identity has pros and cons too.
A fake identity allows us to :
It is true that if you have any unhappiness or judgement about something and hiding your true identity does help!
The main issue right of having, multiple platforms is that going to create confusion.
By having two different type of identities, you are confused when to use which and this may cause you to lose your own reputation on your hands.
If for example, you shared something not very professional, a potential client who notices will see you and your firm in the not best image. Most importantly, creating the first impression is always the best.
References
- “The Pros & Cons of Your Online Identity.” IFB, 25 Mar. 2011, heartifb.com/2011/03/07/pros-cons-online-identity/.
- Written by Don Tapscott, CEO, The Tapscott Group. “Five ways talent management must change.” World Economic Forum, http://www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/10/don-tapscott-talent-management-millennials/.
- Bonari, Alexis. “The Pros and Cons of Using an Alias for Your Online Persona.” Social Media Today, 5 Apr. 2011, http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/pros-and-cons-using-alias-your-online-persona.
-
Bonari, Alexis. “The Pros and Cons of Using an Alias for Your Online Persona.” Social Media Today, 5 Apr. 2011, http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/pros-and-cons-using-alias-your-online-persona.
- Ronson, Jon. “How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 Feb. 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=1.
- Plaza, Carlos. “Work-and-Learn Programs: Blueprints to Close the Skills Gap.” American Welding Society Learning Certified Welding Classes, awo.aws.org/2015/12/work-and-learn-programs-blueprints-to-close-the-skills-gap/.
- “How to Brand Yourself When Job Hunting.” Business.com, http://www.business.com/articles/not-just-linkedin-how-to-brand-yourself-online-when-job-hunting/.
- Heathfield, Susan M. “Learn the Best Talent Management Practices for a Better Workforce.” The Balance, http://www.thebalance.com/best-talent-management-practices-1917671.
(300 words)
MY LIFE. MY JOURNEY.MY REFLECTION 
Hi, Sahana! You have done a great job for this topic.
There is no doubt that once we adopted multiple identities, there will be confusion and lack of integrity as we will have multiple profiles and accounts to manage and check.
To add on, you have made a good point. I strongly agree that a potential client may have bad impression of people if they shared something unprofessional. Since both of them have pros and cons, we have to ponder over that which one we are suitable to use, single online identity or multiple online identities? To make the decision, we have to weigh up the benefits and drawbacks of both single online identities and multiple online identities.
LikeLike
Yes Pearlyn Ideally whether an individual should be using single or multiple depends on their own preferences!
LikeLike
Hi Sahana, I like the graphics that you’ve done about talent management in regards to maintaining an authentic identity that employers will desire within their company!
I agree that having two different identities might lose credibility and reputation with your future employers if they chance upon your personal account by accident. However, I think by having a personal account comes with privacy control on the user’s end to separate their professional and personal life from their digital identity.
I like to touch upon your point about your point of view on online forums as one of the factors in maintaining a professional image online. If anonymity in forums encourages authenticity of a user by eliminating fear of negative social consequences, do you think that anonymous communities encourages good behaviour in a long run? And is anonymity dangerous or beneficial to web as an individual?
I would love to hear your thoughts about it, cheers!
(Word count: 156)
Reference: https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,801688,00.asp
LikeLike
Thanks for commenting Marianne! For myself, I feel that if a positive thought comes out from the anonymous platform, I will only trust it is a reliable source. Anonymity can be dangerous and beneficial for the web. Anonymity allows a person to talk what they really think of something without considering who are seeing it as identity is not revealed. However, it can be dangerous as some people take advantage of it to do bully young adults online to demand ransom. This is one of my main concerns.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey Sahana! I think that you have discussed about “fake” identities pretty well but I felt that more could be said about a “true identity” or a single identity.
A single identity would allow employers and others to find us easily, with less confusion. However, is it really a good thing if we have to pretend to be a wholesome and pure person? How authentic would that be considered if we really enjoy having a good time with our friends at a bar but we cannot be tagged in the photos on our profile, in fear of having a potential employer see it?
As quoted by Robards (2010), “As the young people in my study demonstrated through their often complex audience segregation strategies, negotiating the identity of friend, son or daughter, co-worker, lover and perhaps future employee (amongst other combinations) in a single performative space is a difficult proposition. Adding the identity of student or teacher to this often competing set of performances provides yet another layer of complexity. If the student presents himself as serious about his education because of the presence of an imagined audience, which may include his instructor, how might this performance be read by his peers with whom he often shares stories of night-before essays or last-minute exam cramming?”
What do you think?
Reference:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.459.743&rep=rep1&type=pdf
LikeLike
Thanks, Rachel, I would like to clarify that, I am not saying it is a fake identity if a person has multiple identities online, rather I would bring up upon of people to be showing similar characteristics on both identities. This is where only the audience they are facing differ not their personality.I totally agree that having multiple profiles can enable you to draw a good bold line between work and personal life.
LikeLike
Hi Sahana,
Thank you for your post! I agree with you that multiple identity will sometimes confuse us for the things we want to post which may lead to unexpected negative results.
“It is true that if you have any unhappiness or judgement about something and hiding your true identity does help!” I sort of agree with you as I feel that hiding true-self only helps temporary. Do you think it will backfires that allow other people to find out who you really are? What do you think? You might want to see this about the harmful effect it caused: http://www.news18.com/news/lifestyle/hiding-true-identity-harms-career-and-sense-of-belonging-1438449.html
You mentioned that “practices of talent management are established only by maintaining a true identity online”. There are many other ways in which the company can do to understand and know more about the person such as interviews, not just through online identity. Also, do you mind explaining to me how does talent management linked to necessity of network identities?
Last but not least, Is it necessary to have single identity or multiple identities?
LikeLike
Thanks, Hui Lin! I would like to clarify that, I am not saying it is a fake identity if a person has multiple identities online, rather I would bring up upon of people to be showing similar characteristics on both identities. This is where only the audience they are facing differ not their personality.I totally agree that having multiple profiles can enable you to draw a good bold line between work and personal life.
it may definitely backfire them unknowingly due to tagging and be mentioned in friends’ posts.
Many talent management practices include learning, most of it starts with online learning workshops. They used it to see whether employees are really interested in that way of working. Moreover, each other online identity can help employers decide better to choose the right employee to give extra recognition for efforts.
LikeLike
Hello Sahana!
Love the touch of infographics! Makes my learning much easier 🙂
But I got to disagree with you on having multiple identities means one is real, one is fake. Take, for example, myself, I own 2 twitter accounts, one was the account I created when I was 14 (purpose: to connect with my friends and celebrities) another one was for #MANG2049, but both are the ‘REAL’ me, just portraying different aspects of me.
Speaking from my perspective, I behave in a more professional way on my #MAN2049 account because it is an account meant for my school and perhaps, work-related. Is this necessary the ‘fake’ me?
Love to hear from you!
Caiying x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Caiying, I would like to clarify that, I am not saying it is a fake identity if a person has multiple identities online, rather I would bring up upon of people to be showing similar characteristics on both identities. This is where only the audience they are facing differ not their personality.I totally agree that having multiple profiles can enable you to draw a good bold line between work and personal life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Reflecting on Topic 3 | Song Cai Ying
Pingback: Identity: Do we know who you are? – Marianne's Soliloquy
Pingback: TIME FOR REFLECTION – Site Title
Pingback: Thoughts about online identities – LIVING AND WORKING ON THE WEB