What you make of it

Just by living in America we all know how strongly image plays a role in our society. Our culture thrives on both good and bad public personas. Juicy celebrity personas and the private lives of politicians rule the nation. It has been this way from the first images of Marilyn Monroe to the introduction of TMZ. In order to shape your own public persona, you take risks and pay the price alongside the celebrities and politicians. It can work in your favor or get you the evil eye on the sidewalk.

Beyond the local criminals on the five o’clock news and the positive community heroes, the average person has their own persona today. Social networking (Facebook, blogging, etc.) has enlarged the images of people that would not have been noticed twenty years ago. Media convergence allows ordinary people with an Internet connection to publish and publicize their own masterpieces. The success of Youtube characterized by Beniger enables us to shape our persona whether good or bad.

This can backfire. The saying “more money, more problems” comes to mind. The more information we put out there, the bigger the security risk. This increasing danger was described well in an entry from Hallsmark’s blog. Even though it is an exaggeration, I’m reminded of the movie Enemy of the State where private information is instantly available to anyone.

Just like on that special Facebook setting, I believe you can pick and choose what you would like the public to see. Take into account the amount of information as well as selected images can have an impact on shaping the persona. The voice and actions online can have an impact on all other realms of society (workplace, bar and television). Today the virtual self is more vulnerable to public perception. How someone chooses to shape it is their own personal mission.