Final Blog

    I love social media. I am painfully aware of the impact it has had on my self image and mental health since I first made an Instagram account when I was 11 and bought an iPod Touch with all the money I had saved from holidays over the years. Currently I have a Tumblr, two Instagram accounts, a Facebook, a Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, and four emails not including the one assigned by HPU for student use. That means my name and face are floating around the internet a lot. Googling my name will bring up my mention in obituaries and all of my social media accounts. As a minor I became a victim of online abuse, stalking, and grooming behaviors, the exact same behaviors I'm learning through my generation's use of TikTok that hundreds, if not thousands, of girls my age experienced around middle school age and did not realize were wrong until recently.

    My Instagram account alone will tell people what I look like, what sorority I'm in, where I go to school, what my internship is and the fact I'm a Communication Fellow. After having my entire account wiped about a year ago by a spiteful person I have taken the opportunity to include less information about where my home in California is, because I feel that HPU is more secure than my home, even though if someone really looked that information from my deleted account is still floating around somewhere in cyberspace. 

    I post more liberally on my Snapchat account because it's easier to control who gets to see it, though I refuse to turn on location services for the app. I feel more comfortable posting my thoughts and ranting on my story about things that are frustrating or exciting, while other more visible sites I keep professional because they are easy for future employers to find with a simple google search.

My Facebook account is not nearly as active as all of my other accounts. I have to have it to be part of announcement groups for my youth group back home, my sorority, clubs I'm involved with, and extended family nationwide. Most of my posts are just shared from posts other people wrote and I resonated with. You would find the most personal and public information about my life on my mom's page. Most mothers like to take silly or embarrassing pictures of their kids and write heartfelt posts about their kids' accomplishments or milestones. There you can see where I live, ever place I ever went to school, much of my medical history, how old I am, and my current job as an RA on campus.