First Impressions...
Themes and aesthetics. These are two things that we as a young culture think about when we create our media pages. Especially in the case of Instagram, people want their profiles to look a certain way. These looks, as we know, are meant to paint a certain picture of ourselves in the minds of our audience. Even if you don't have a theme or a certain "aesthetic," you probably still fall victim to creating a certain face on social media accounts. Even offline, we want people to think certain ways about us. We have a goal of trying to portray ourselves a certain way to the people we interact with. This is called impression management, and it is something that we all do online and in person.
Personally, I can recognize the different personas that I take on different media platforms and pages. My Facebook profile shows mostly pictures of myself in social settings as well as some professional pictures. In addition to this, I rarely create statuses, but will share things about food or local happenings. My Twitter page takes up a different theme. On Twitter, my followers will see a lot more of my humor than on any other platform. Generally, my tweets are funny comments or making fun of myself and an embarrassing situation I may have put myself in. Then, you get to Instagram. Here, I have two different accounts, that show two very different aspects of my life. On my personal account, I post photos in social settings once again, selfies before events, and photos doing cool activities (that I probably don't normally do). My personal account shows me in ideal situations, never where I may look bad, like the way I may laugh at myself on Twitter. Finally, I have an Instagram account for the food I make. Titled "Foodstasam," I use the account to showcase healthy meals that I make mostly in my college apartment. This account shows a side of me that focuses on health and nutrition.
We aren't the only people who use impression management on social media. One of the best examples here to use is Kylie Jenner. Kylie has a goal, especially on her Instagram, to portray a cool, wealthy girl who is always looking chic and sexy. Her Instagram only shows photos of her where she looks nearly flawless and entirely epitomizes sex appeal. Recently, she has had a show premiere on E! Network titled "Life of Kylie." Watching the previews, the first thing she talks about is having to keep up with keeping her media looking the way it does, and that that isn't the real her. She says her media accounts don't show the weird, goofy, crazy person she is, but that she feels the need to upkeep her image as a sex icon mostly because that's why people love her.
Through these examples we can understand that impression management is important to understand. The way people portray themselves on media can be extremely intimidating. It can be the reason why we don't befriend someone, but the reality is that most of what we see on media isn't the real person we may meet.
Personally, I can recognize the different personas that I take on different media platforms and pages. My Facebook profile shows mostly pictures of myself in social settings as well as some professional pictures. In addition to this, I rarely create statuses, but will share things about food or local happenings. My Twitter page takes up a different theme. On Twitter, my followers will see a lot more of my humor than on any other platform. Generally, my tweets are funny comments or making fun of myself and an embarrassing situation I may have put myself in. Then, you get to Instagram. Here, I have two different accounts, that show two very different aspects of my life. On my personal account, I post photos in social settings once again, selfies before events, and photos doing cool activities (that I probably don't normally do). My personal account shows me in ideal situations, never where I may look bad, like the way I may laugh at myself on Twitter. Finally, I have an Instagram account for the food I make. Titled "Foodstasam," I use the account to showcase healthy meals that I make mostly in my college apartment. This account shows a side of me that focuses on health and nutrition.
We aren't the only people who use impression management on social media. One of the best examples here to use is Kylie Jenner. Kylie has a goal, especially on her Instagram, to portray a cool, wealthy girl who is always looking chic and sexy. Her Instagram only shows photos of her where she looks nearly flawless and entirely epitomizes sex appeal. Recently, she has had a show premiere on E! Network titled "Life of Kylie." Watching the previews, the first thing she talks about is having to keep up with keeping her media looking the way it does, and that that isn't the real her. She says her media accounts don't show the weird, goofy, crazy person she is, but that she feels the need to upkeep her image as a sex icon mostly because that's why people love her.
Through these examples we can understand that impression management is important to understand. The way people portray themselves on media can be extremely intimidating. It can be the reason why we don't befriend someone, but the reality is that most of what we see on media isn't the real person we may meet.
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