Blog 6

Lauren Lemelin 

Cyber Stalk.

True so I guess I like myself haha!

Have you ever stalked yourself on social media? What did you find? I stalked myself on the internet and on various social media platforms and I was surprised by some of the content I found. Vega-Castaneda and Castaneda discussed how social media effects how girls look at themselves and creates pressure within them to “present themselves as having a ‘perfect’ life (2019, p. 87).” I most certainly felt that pressure when I first started using social media and I sometimes feel it now. The content I found while cyber-stalking myself shows that I was and still am pressured to appear 'perfect' online. Throughout my time as a social media user I have experienced the dark side of social media such as digital drama, digital over engagement, and even cyberbullying (Stroud & Henson, 2017). Although those sides aren't shown to the public, because my accounts are private but also because of the pressure to portray myself as 'perfect' on social media. However, these experiences definitely effect how I view myself.

Where did I stalk myself?

• Pinterest
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Google

Pinterest 

I began by stalking myself on Pinterest. I thought my account was private, but I learned it is not. That is my fault, but it also showed me that Pinterest isn’t that concerned about protecting their users information and content as I have never received a notice or warning about my account being public. My digital media footprint for this is large as it has tracked and saved every single pin and post I have ever made on Pinterest. I use Pinterest as my “thought-cloud” so anybody that searches my name on Pinterest can view my 9,766 pins. Below you can see my profile on Pinterest, it shows a photo of me, my first and middle name (Lauren Grace), the people I follow and the people that follow me, “richmond” (my hometown), and my "best boards." 

I don't remember adding “richmond” to my profile so I am curious to know if the app is tracking my location and put that up there or if I did. If you scroll down, past my profile you can see all of the Pinterest boards I have ever created. 

Some of my Pinterest boards.

From my Pinterest profile an individual will know my first and middle name, location, estimate age, appearance, interests, religion, sorority, and hobbies. My digital footprint on this site is large and disturbing since I thought my account was private this whole time. While stalking myself on Pinterest I noticed how all of the content I pin is positive, happy, and picturesque which shows how I experience pressure to make my life and myself appear 'perfect.'

Instagram

Next, I cyber stalked myself on Instagram. My Instagram account was created almost ten years ago and it has been on private the entire time. Therefore, my digital footprint on Instagram is minimum as I have maintained a lot of privacy. If an individual were to search my name on Instagram they would only see a portion of my profile. My public profile has my first and last name, a headshot, the number of people that follow me and the number of people I follow, my university, sorority, religion, boyfriend's username, and my business's username.

I never thought twice about the amount of information in my Instagram biography, but after stalking myself, I am debating changing it. My biography also shows how I am trying to present my life and self as 'perfect' as I highlighted all of the positive aspects of my life.

Snapchat 

After cyber stalking myself I realized that my public digital footprint is very little on Snapchat as my account is private. When an individual searches my name on Snapchat only my username, bitmoji, and number of snaps sent and received appears. 

I feel like Snapchat allows me privacy as the amount of information available to the public is minimal. 

Facebook

After stalking myself on Facebook I was surprised by some of the information and content I found. When my name is searched on Facebook you can see my profile picture, cover photo, the university I attend, five photographs, my favorite music, and other interests. I think my digital footprint on Facebook is average, it doesn’t show much information on my public profile, but it does have 2,317 photos of mine. I was surprised when I stalked myself on Facebook, because I didn’t know that my music and “other” favorites were publicly displayed. Based off of my “other” favorites on Facebook, an individual could determine where I live, my friends, hobbies, and religion. This makes me think that Facebook doesn’t maintain the highest level of privacy for their users. Though my Facebook profile shows the pressure females face on social media as it makes me appear more intelligent, sophisticated, polished, and 'perfect' than I actually am. 

LinkedIn 

I was very interested to see what information is available to employers when they search my name on LinkedIn. I was surprised to see that individuals can only see my name, university, major, location, and a short blurb about me. My public digital footprint on LinkedIn is minimal. My LinkedIn account is private, but I thought my connections and profile picture would appear on my public profile. Therefore, I think that my privacy is maintained through LinkedIn. Link to my LinkedIn public profile (click here).

Me when reading my LinkedIn biography compared to my Instagram biography.

LinkedIn Public Profile

Google 

During my Google search I realized that most of my internet use is on "web 2.0." "Web 2.0" indicates types of World Wide Web applications like Twitter and social networking sites (Fuchs, 2017).  I was surprised by one of my Google results, when I saw the photograph below of Christopher Newport University I was eager to see how it was linked to my name so I clicked it. This photo was linked to Christopher Newport’s Dean's List for fall of 2019. Though I was flattered to see that my name was attached to the photo, I was surprised that the list is public information.

 

My Google search also resulted in five photos of myself from various social media sites and platforms. The only photo that surprised me was the top left photograph as it was my profile picture for a deleted Facebook account. I assumed that my profile picture and account data would have been deleted when my account was but I guess not.

Twitter 

Lastly, I cyber stalked myself on Twitter. My Twitter account is currently on private but an individual would be able to see my first and last name, username, boyfriend, boyfriend’s twitter handle, sorority, interests, angels, university, religion, birthday, number of followers and number of people I follow, and the date I joined Twitter. I was surprised to see that my birthday is publicly displayed on my profile. This makes me think that Twitter does not do a great job of providing privacy for their users. Once again, my profile shows the pressure to appear 'perfect' as it is obvious that I put in effort when choosing my biography and profile picture.

When I searched my name I was surprised to see photographs that my friends had tagged me in (shown below). My Twitter account was once public so I suppose these are public as my account was public when they were posted. From these photographs an individual could determine my friends, what sport I played, what high school I attended, and my birthday. 

Comparing the Digital Content 

What can an individual see about me on the following platforms?

	Photos of me	D.O.B.	School	Location	Family/Friends	Hobbies	Religion	Name	Major	# of content displayed publicly
Facebook	X		X		X	X	X	X		6
Snapchat								X		1
LinkedIn			X	X		X		X	X	5
Google	X	X	X		X			X		5
Twitter	X	X	X		X	X	X	X		7
Pinterest				X		X	X	X		4
Instagram	X		X		X	X	X	X		6

Based off of this chart, I conclude that my Snapchat private profile has the highest level of privacy and my Twitter profile  has the least.

After this cyberstalk, I choose Snapchat. 

What it feels like to be a user of Web 2.0

Cyber stalking myself was an eye opening experience. With the invention of the World Wide Web and “web 2.0” a participatory culture has been created which allows individuals to be involved with other users, audiences, consumers, and fans in the creation of culture and content (Fuchs, 2017). As a participant in a participatory culture I have left a large digital footprint. Although most of my online content and social media platforms are private you can still see view my profiles, photographs of me, and even some of my personal information. I realized that most of the content the public can see is appropriate and put-together as I, along with many other young women, face an enormous amount of pressure to appear 'perfect' on social media. After cyber stalking myself I realized that some platforms and websites maintain higher levels of privacy than others, but overall I was pleased to see that none of my private information or content is exploited to the public. 

References

Fuchs, C. (2014). Social media: A critical introduction. London: SAGE Publications. doi: 10.4135/9781446270066.

Stroud, S. R., & Henson, J. A. (2017). Social media, online sharing, & the ethical complexity of consent in revenge porn: In the dark side of social media: A consumer psychology perspective. (Edited by Angeline Close Scheeinbaum). Routledge. 

Vega-Castaneda, L., & Castaneda, M (2019). "Women and Girls and Social Media." In Teaching & Learning about Difference through Social Media: Reflection, Engagement, & Self-Assessment, 86-103. Routledge.