If I had to describe my online identities, I'd say . . . cheesy. They betray my nerdiness and fangirl side that I keep on a tight leash in the "real" world. I am not ashamed to be a fangirl or a nerd in real life, but it's a little awkward, especially when you're old enough to vote and start a career. Online, I can let the feels and obsessive, seemingly irrelevant, and unhelpful knowledge, loose. Nobody judges me for having a Tolkienistic creature in my username; everyone else has something to do with TV shows, books, or comics, especially on Tumblr and Twitter.
But what do these usernames and accounts say about me? Overall, I think they say I love books, fictional characters, and TV shows. I think they say I spend a lot of time, effort, and money on the fandoms I am a part of. To other nerds, my username is a neon sign just begging for someone to come over and obsess with me over whatever book or TV show our accounts relate to. A username will definitely direct you to people with similar usernames, and others to you. Employers may not think the same, however. As I said before, I do not think any employers' will be offended by my online identities, so much as they might just be amused before tossing my application on the rejection pile. I might come across as immature or shallow. I don't feel like I am any of those things, and certain employers may be charmed by and looking for book nerds like me, but you can never know what someone is thinking--especially when him or her is searching for potential employees.
Then, there is the question of professional usernames. For example, I didn't want my Twitter handle or business email account to be something immature-- I've gotten the lectures as I'm sure everyone else has in freshman college classes about emails like SexyFarmGirl@yahoo.com or Chicksloveme@hotmail.com sent to professors. But Twitter? I didn't really want my full name as my handle as it's my identification on Facebook. It seemed somehow insecure-- and terribly dull. So, I chose a mix of last name and first initial. Yeah . . . not so creative or clever. It seemed to be a safe medium though, a mix of my carefreeness and "professionalism".
Whenever I am faced with the task of creating a username, I get excited and nervous. I want to sound cool and witty (teenage insecurities have yet to go away), but also sophisticated. Cool and sophisticated do not always wed, like religious grandmothers and cussing. Usually, when I finally come up with a username, I am ridiculously proud. Like, I-am-too-cool-for-this-world proud. Thankfully, this lasts for only a couple of days. After that, I either ignore it or wrinkle my nose in disgust at it.
After the username is made, there is then the question of what I should and should not put on my account. Let's face it: there are lines that we all have thought about crossing. We saw someone else do it before us and get busted, and we made the sign of the cross in thanks that it wasn't us who was the voluntary guinea pig. Some things there is no question about what to post, such as racial or sexist slurs (though some people have not gotten the memo), while other things are blurry, such as an article you tweet that has cussing sprinkled throughout. Do employers care if you read stuff like that? I'm not a parrot: I don't repeat anything and everything I read.
The big question is, as was posed in my class, if I will change any of my identities. I will be graduating not too long from now, and that means employers perusing my online presence. Scary thought, even if you have never had anything controversial or possibly controversial on your account.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do regarding my personal accounts, but I know that from now on I'll be doing a lot more serious thinking about my usernames instead of just choosing what will sound fun.
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