As just a reader, I immediately felt slapped in the face when Bohkari, unintentionally, proved to me that I hadn't done enough reflecting when I was younger. My parents followed the same script, that we weren't allowed to have social media until we were 13, even though I didn't get my first smartphone until later.
I had experienced the same realization, though, first and foremost stalking my mom's social media, only to find that many aspects of my life had been posted. Even if it isn't an "embarrassing" photo or story, or just a good photo of me that my mom wanted to share for my birthday, bottom line, it is a photo of me. It's a photo that starts my online footprint when I wasn't even aware it was starting.
Bokhari expresses that she felt it was a violation of her privacy, as her permission was never given. Thus, I think it is only fair to conclude that while teenagers are limited till a certain age, or lectured on a day to day basis, especially when social media as a whole struggles, many begin to wonder when parents get lectured; When they get told how dangerous online presence can be and how much, while they can't take back, they can slow down for the future?
In reflecting, then, on my online footprint, I'd admit that I'm very proud of it. While probably relatable to others, I posted things when I was younger that I wish I hadn't, but my online presence is insanely limited since growing up. I have deactivated more than half of my social media accounts, and have settings on my phone that only limit me a certain amount of time using them, before manually closing out of the applications.
On them, I don't share any locations, any information about what I'm doing or where I've been, and sometimes don't even tag my friends or family unless they specifically ask me to. I am very "walking on eggshells" when it comes to my friends or family online because I don't want to do the same thing that was done to me, where my presence starts earlier than I wish it to. Thus, I don't think a stranger could get much information off me other than my face and maybe a bit of sense of humor, which is what anyone could on the street.
When I google myself, I don't find any of my profiles, past or current. The only thing I found on myself was my high school's award page, listing my name as a part of the Yearbook Committee. However, you would have to know the city I'm from to find this, and again, I don't include my locations in any of my posts.
I've given out my email address to Instagram, as that is the only social media I have. However, that doesn't take away from the email address I gave to Facebook and Twitter when I had them.
So while it is clear that I have a decent-sized online footprint, you might be wondering, as a reader, why I said I was very proud of it. I am proud of it because it is so much improvement and personal growth since I was younger. So much desire for social media and sharing photos of myself and my life, to now a bad taste in my mouth whenever I think about it.
I think social media is isolating and makes people hurt. I think that it is embedded with ways to co-compare yourself to others, which can turn into a very nasty feeling, especially for a young girl. I grew up thinking my hair was too thick, my eyes were ugly brown, and I was too fat. I thought the scars on my body needed to be removed by a painful laser, and when I fought for it, I said "beauty is pain", to laugh it off.
I don't see myself going back to using social media heavily, and I definitely will be smart about how I implement my children and allow them to use social media.
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