Looking back, this topic is actually broader than i thought. It’s not as simple as having two accounts with different names but it could actually either potentially make or break your reputation online or help you secure your private information to prevent it from destruction.
After reading a few blogs, I’ve attained a few insights on a different outlook of having multiple identities from Charmaine and Sylvia‘s post. Both of them are more towards having multiple online identities but for different reasons as Charmaine made me realize that we should use an alternative identity to protect ourselves for privacy purposes. Sylvia reminded me that should my employer happen to browse through my profile and come across something explicit, separating work and social life would create a more professional impression.
An interesting term I’ve learnt from this topic is “Catfish” whereby a person pretends to be someone they’re not using any social media sites to create false identities commonly used to create an online romance. I went to search more about it and found that there is TV show on “MTV” that goes on a mission to expose catfishes!
Here’s a trailer of the show “CATFISH” on MTV if you’re interested :
I can’t wait to watch some of their episodes as the victims seemed so heartbroken. Why would people put so much trust and feelings into someone they have never met? Lastly another key takeaway would be the problem with putting our trust in the incognito function every web browser has as I found out that what we attempt to hide may actually still be recorded in the websites itself.
Therefore I feel that a person should work on themself to be approachable if they want an online romance instead of hiding their identity behind closed doors, acting as someone they’re not. In terms of having a professional virtual outlook, we can always activate privacy settings on places like Facebook, or private our twitter accounts for only selected people to see.
So who can we trust now? Ourselves.
References :
Anon, “Catfishing:” The phenomenon of Internet scammers who fabricate online identities and entire social circles to trick people into romantic relationships | Daily Mail Online. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264053/Catfishing-The-phenomenon-Internet-scammers-fabricate-online-identities-entire-social-circles-trick-people-romantic-relationships.html [Accessed December 2, 2014].
Charmaine Marn, Charmaine Marn, marnmon or both? | charmaine on WordPress.com. Available at: http://verycharmainemuchopinions.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/charmaine-marn-marnmon-or-both/ [Accessed December 2, 2014].
Dictionary, U., Urban Dictionary: catfish. Available at: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=catfish [Accessed December 2, 2014].
Kang, S., Topic 2 – One or more than one online identity? | Sylvia. on WordPress.com. Available at: http://sylviakangkang.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/topic-2-one-or-more-than-one-online-identity/ [Accessed December 2, 2014].
MTV, CATFISH: THE TV SHOW TRAILER – YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMA4x7aXJT0 [Accessed December 2, 2014].
Sherdale. G 
