Social media networking sites are a true force to be
reckoned with. They have proven themselves to be real social entities which
impact people’s daily lives, their interactions with others and one’s own
self-awareness. While social media was on the upsurge as a new phenomenon
during my college years, I’m sure there are classes now that analyze the
sociology behind social media and all the various ways it shapes identity.
With that being said…I’ve been extremely observant and
developed a list of online personalities we have all seen, perhaps rolled our
eyes at, and may be displaying every time we click the log-in button.
The Digital Narcissist: The digital narcissist has an
obsession with social media sites and looking at how much people like what they
post. They check their various sites at least 10 times a day, make frequent
posts and status updates and enjoy selfies, likes, comments, photo tags and
hashtags.
Pros: At their best,
a digital narcissist is complimentary, enthusiastic, confident and according to
their frequent posts they have a structured life with consistent routines.
Cons: At their worst,
digital narcissists are self-centered, delusional, share too much information,
and send annoying app invites and party requests that no one cares about.
Social Media Socialite:
The social media socialite is fixated on showing how awesome their life
is by highlighting their food choices, their friends, vacations and random
cultured shenanigans. Unlike the digital narcissist the social media socialite
does not rely on selfies, frequent updates and obsessive hashtags.
Pros: At their best, the social media socialite is
endearing, authentic, well-rounded and is a great person to ask when you need
recommendations for food, fashion, travel and leisure.
Cons: At their worst, the social media socialite is contrived,
pretentious, shallow and is a digital narcissist with better clothes and more
disposable income.
Modern Day Philosopher: This social media user views their
network as a platform to enlighten, educate, challenge and promote political
issues, social reform and self-improvement. They are intentional about their
posts and feel that their online presence is substantive.
Pros: At their best the Modern Day Philosopher is insightful,
empathetic, encouraging, and trusted for their posts of thoughtful articles,
quotes, and inspirational videos.
Cons: At their worst the Modern Day Philosopher is
irrelevant, condescending, annoying and overcompensating for feelings of
unintelligence or other unaccomplished goals.
Purveyor of Ratchet Pop Culture: This social media persona
uses their social media as an expansive online conversation between friends to
share their thoughts about any and every thing that happens under the sun. They
use and coin online abbreviations and acronyms religiously. They love posting humorous
pictures and videos from TMZ, World Star Hip Hop or other frivolous internet
foolery.
Pros: At their best the Purveyor of Ratchet Pop Culture is
hilarious, relatable, likable, and have great timing for posting hilarious
memes that can lift someone’s spirits and provide a much needed laugh.
Cons: At their worst the Purveyor of Ratchet Pop Culture is
trivial, crass, prone to gossip, and lacks ambition or drive.
Voyeurs Anonymous: This social media user sees their network
as an entertainment movie in which they have front row seats. They love to
read, like, and share other people’s posts but do not reveal much of their own
thoughts online or make status updates.
Pros: At their best a Voyeur Anonymous is friendly,
thoughtful and stable. When this user does decide to post they share relevant,
meaningful or sentimental information that is well received in their network.
Cons: At their worst Voyeurs Anonymous are online stalkers,
conspiracy theorists, jealous and say some of the most hateful and cynical
things about people offline.
Opinion Chameleons: This social media user is a hybrid mix
of some of the other personas, but it’s true colors are shown during times of
mass public tension and controversy. Their defining characteristic is that they
have no filter when expressing their strong/radical opinions about topics like
same-sex marriage, racial profiling and dynamics or immigration.
Pros: At their best, an Opinion Chameleon is logical,
thought-provoking, fair and can gracefully leave comments in discussion threads
that don’t lead to arguments.
Cons: At their worst, an Opinion Chameleon is insensitive, uses inflammatory language,
is purposefully oppositional/argumentative and will cling to “free speech” as a
means to be verbally reckless.