Who Are You in the Digital Age?

Our online identity deserves to be protected and made secure, and yet it is also a presence that we want to be seen. Where is the balance between protection and presence? We want to be involved in society while still maintaining our individuality. How can we be involved in the global identity without being swallowed by it? We have an opportunity to share opinions with the world, but we don’t want differing opinions to dissolve into pointless arguments. Where is the line separating crowdsourcing and fiendish feuds?

Kotahi Tarawhiti: MOLDING OUR IDENTITY

I have a sister who adores social media and I worry that with all the time she spends following and liking things, she’s becoming less of an individual and more of a speck inside of an online globalized mass.

Read Kotahi's views in more detail in "Identity and the Social Media Barrier."

Jolene Kirk: SECURING OUR IDENTITY

As an exercise, my teacher assigned us each a partner who would search our social media platforms and extract as much information as they could. My results shocked me and I realized that we have the right to have our online identities protected from unauthorized viewers.

Read Jolene's views in more detail in "Securing our Identities."

Katelyn Dalton: THE PERCEPTION OF IDENTITY

While working as an editor for a youth summer program, I realized that our society is finding our reality amid the 0's and 1's of the virtual world. As such, I believe that it is completely ethical for employers to view the social media profiles of job applicants, and essentially use those profiles as the first interview.

Read Katelyn's views in more detail in "Tracking Our Digital Footprints."

Mitchell Cottrell: GLOBAL IDENTITY

You know, a month ago, I purposefully started a fight on Instagram by making a strong claim about a BYU coach. People accused me and tried to impose their opinions of me by telling me who I “really” was based off of one comment. I’ve concluded that there’s no stopping online slander. But coincidentally, doesn’t that tell me a lot about who THEY are?

Read Mitchell's views in more detail in "Global Identity."