IMPRESSIONS

IMPRESSIONS On social media and in waking life, we are put into various environments, each of which require a certain behavior. For example, if we are with close friends and family at home, we can laugh out loud and say what comes to mind without second thought. if we are at a sporting event, we want to act strong and confident to throw our opponents off-kilter. If we are in class with students we do not know, we might act more reserved as we scope out the scene. 

The same is true for internet spaces; if we are friends with older family member on facebook, we may not want to post about wild nights out or re-share that one funny meme with extreme profanity on such a public forum. That is something we should save for our camera roll alone, or maybe a “finsta”.

The point is, depending on who is watching us and where we are, our attitudes and actions change. This is essentially the idea of impression management. This is something we all do wether we realize it or not. For the vast majority of us out there, we are always seeking approval and community. This leads to us putting on a show to get those around us to accept us. But is it really us?

Some of the pitfalls and dark sides to impression management is feeling like you cannot be yourself. Sometimes we feel as though our authentic selves are not worthy to be loved by others so we hide who we are in order to be accepted by those around us. Motivations for such actions come from all over. We may want to fit in with the “cool” crowd, get hired at a new job, or avoid conflict. Whatever the motivation, pretending to be someone that you aren’t or limiting your personality on a day-to-day basis is exhausting. 

Impression management on social media is also incredibly taxing. On forums such as LinkedIn, professional and well-composed is key. People join this network to get in touch with other professionals, so in this environment, good impression management is crucial. However, on more casual social sites the line between fake and controlled is a bit blurred. On apps such as Instagram, people often go to great lengths to get the perfect picture to post. Instagram, for example, is just a highlight reel and not reality. People work so hard to fit a persona that is unachievable and nowhere near reality. So, in this case, impression management can take a negative turn.

Overall, being a human with a soul is hard. There are way too many people to impress and so little time. Impression management is necessary, but like all things must be done in moderation. Being cool or well-liked is not worth it if you stray far from yourself and don’t see YOU when you look in the mirror. However, use it to your advantage; get that job and make that money.

My technology-free happy place

Alex vs. Phone 

I know that I sound like an old person when I say this, but I have to stop living on my phone. I find myself going on it not because I want to, but as a coping mechanism for avoiding awkward situations and unwanted social interaction. 

Now, this could be a product of our generation and the fact that we grew up in front of a screen, but my case may be a bit different. All my life, even before I got my first iPod touch at the age of 11 I was painfully shy. I would never talk to people or be able to look anyone in the eyes as I would stutter to get a simple sentence out of my mouth. Therefore, I had no friends and lived a majority of my childhood on the outskirts of true friendships and cliques. Having handheld technology definitely did not help with this situation. 

Over this past week, I was tasked with the act of keeping track of my screen time. I didn’t really think that I was on my phone a lot throughout each day, but alas, the results were shocking. My findings aligned with my preconceived notions but at the same time I was surprised. Throughout the past week my screen-time averaged 5 hours and 40 minutes a day. Seeing this was disappointing but hear me out: most of the time spent on my phone is to go on You Tube or Spotify for background noise when I eat or run. Additionally, whenever I drive I have to keep the map on because I have no clue where I am going in Maryland. Since we are in the middle of nowhere, every decent place is a hike that requires at least 20 minutes of driving. That is a factor that increases screen time at extremely high rates. Emails and school work also take up much of my screen time. However, the biggest culprit is bedtime. 

I spend so much time on my phone at night looking at memes and finding the answers to the most pressing questions that my brain comes up with at night. Since I am very busy during the day with school, work study, and track, bedtime is really the only downtime I have to look at my phone. 

In conclusion of this experiment, I want to try to limit my screen time and not use my phone as a crutch for avoiding social interaction. As a communication major it is kind of my job to have good communication skills so this is something that I have to improve upon. I personally hate being on my phone but my social anxiety loves it and so does my brain. Memes are my technological kryptonite. 

 

 Let’s cheers to me making it through week two of the new semester! It honestly feels like nothing new. I have gotten into the swing of things way too quickly; it feels as though my routine of eating, sleeping, attending class, running, and homework never halted over break. Though, amidst the craziness and repetitiveness that is my life, things have been shaken up a bit in my social media course.

Every class for the past few days or so, there has been a new Proffessor coming in to give us a lecture alongside the watchful eyes of my original professor. This is because the school is looking to hire another communication Proffessor.  This is exciting as it switches up the class routine a bit and we get to meet more people in the industry.

I loved making a wide range of new connections and having been able to learn from a wide variety of people in my social media course. One discussIon that really stood out to me was from Ms. Christina Riley this past Tuesday. 

In her lecture she discussed the basics of the benefits and downsides to using social media for activism. I thought that this was important to learn because oftentimes what we see portrayed by the media is only the end result of campaigns. 

We are only exposed to the hashtags, the movements that are taken to the streets, and the celebrities and influencers that are mounted at the forefront of these campaigns. Very rarely are we exposed to why social movements choose social media to head their cause. Through Ms. Riley’s lecture it became evident that groups take to social media to spread news, but also get ordinary people involved and make them feel like heroes. 

When we use a hashtag and repost or re-share something noteworthy it makes us feel “woke” or like a good person. In reality, it was just a post that people are most likely going to scroll right past without a single thought. We didn’t take to talk shows or show up to the office of law-makers. We just shared a hashtag with no context thinking that we did something great. Though it is not active activism, it is still something nonetheless and that minuscule actions like this are what large scale social movements thrive off of on social media. Though that one hashtag does not directly create change, it still has the ability to cause a conversation.