As a current student and employee, I prefer to separate my personal and professional lives; however, I am always aware that these two identities can mingle together. In other words, when using social media in a professional aspect, in my case, I use Workplace for my job, I ensure that what I post is appropriate to my audience, who are my co-workers and employer. Social media, such as Snapchat or Instagram to me, would have the audience of my peers/friends, where I intend to socialize, not work. When mentioning that my identities can mingle, it is a cautious sign toward the understanding that what I post online stays online and can travel through our network society.
For example, I work in childcare, and I am prohibited from mentioning a child’s full name. If I were to “jokingly” mention the child’s name on my personal social media, it could be easily transported to many users and social media and putting not only my position of employment at risk but also the child’s. Another example is because I work in childcare, I try my best not to show myself “partying” on social media because of the reputation I want to display myself. When I do post an aspect of my life that differs from my professional identity, I do try my best to keep it private/I have the most control of it as possible. It is always crucial to double-check your security limit and data privacy to ensure you have control of revealing what you would like to share and reduce the leakage of unwanted posts.