A Self Evaluation
Few college students are using Facebook to create their digital selves. On the contrary, I apply other platforms to create a digital self to engage the technological world. The digital self is useful to me to protect the true self that bears my personality and needs to be nurtured and realized. My true self is complicated and fragile and therefore requires a false self to cover it from the anxieties, unknown fears, and challenges posed before me. Among the platform that has enabled me create a digital self includes Google. This platform has been useful in defining my identity and aligning it to my true self by incorporating some sense of integrity. This digital connection has enabled me remain independent of the digital self irrespective of the fact that it depicts the powerful and strong personality that in most cases I fail to exhibit in my true self.
The fact that I am connected to other digital platforms does not imply that I do not have a Facebook account. I am connected with my friends and at times to my family members through Facebook account. Facebook is a good social platform where people can connect, share, and discuss issues of concern that affect the society. It is a powerful forum to depict and share the strong and influential social self, which is mostly conflicting with the true self. In the social forum, friends and family can criticize constructively and highlight some personal attributes that are detrimental to the professional identity of an individual. I therefore post issues related to social aspects through Facebook and significant issues through other digital platforms. I used to use my Facebook account as a social and digital platform in the past until I realized that the need for a different platform that could enable me apply rich media tags to define me professionally and introduce myself to the technological world. Since then I avoid using my Facebook account as digital platform as it is more connected to the true self while the digital platform is necessary for the false identity that is necessary for professionalism and career success.
Activity # 2-Turn it off
One of the nostalgic days in my life includes the day I consciously switched my phone off for the entire day. This day remains memorable to me as it marked the beginning of new resolutions about my commitment to relationships. It is the day I decided to value my closest relations and improve on my communication patterns. I decided to go for work on a weekend and switched off my phone the whole day. To ensure that I met this condition, I willingly left my phone at home. The day started off well but realized that I could not keep up with my daily commitments since most of the plans had been documented in the phone memory. Boarding the vehicle and travelling all the way to my job place was one of the loneliest mornings I have ever had, especially on a weekend. This is because I could not keep myself abreast of the emerging news through the social media, besides I could not brighten my moods through my favorite music. Meeting some clients was a problem as I had become accustomed to using my GPS when going to new places. I had literally forgotten how to take direction from the street names, as my Phone’s GPS used to alert me when I took a wrong direction. Asking for a direction from passers-by in this technological age became another embarrassment I had to bear since I failed to locate naturally my direction from the street numbers.
In the evening, I had a difficult time meeting with my friends as primarily; I arrived late at our designated venue. It was difficult engaging with them since I could not start the meeting with the latest developments and social chitchats concerning work and social trends. I felt ill equipped for the meeting since I could not share in their joy by giving an account of my social life. My friends were nevertheless overwhelmingly happy that I switched my phone off. This is because we have constructive discussion about our personal lives. Apparently, as we were busily sharing our high moments, one of our friends was facing family problems, which could have easily been sorted out had we given her some emotional support. She tried to share it out but we were too busy to help as we engrossed ourselves with the latest fashion trends.
Switching off my phone and living it at home offered an opportunity where we could sit as friends and hear each other out, empathize with some of us and support each other psychological. Other than competing on getting attention to display out latest fashion collection, we obtained an opportunity to sympathize and emotionally stand with our friend at her lowest moment, a position that could have been challenging to acknowledge had I continually gone on with my lifestyle.
Activity #3
I take this opportunity to congratulate you for making it to the higher institution and commence your college life. Being a freshman offers the best opportunity to start a new phase of life and advance your life. This is because, at this time, you may have realized the need to focus on your life goals and improve on your skills and expertise in your career. As you go through the changes, I would like to bring to your attention the need to enhance your communication through social forums. This is because we are presently living in a technologically advanced world that demands digital interaction to remain competitive in a career.
Facebook among other platforms offers the most connected and widely applied opportunity to meet with new team members and customers alike. It is also a platform for sharing social and at times true identity of ourselves, which may often not augur well with our professional lives. For this reason, I advice you to create a different digital forum where you can use to meet your business community and interact at a professional level. Facebook besides is presently loaded with social information that may counter your efforts of flexing your career muscles. Moreover, due to availability of advanced technology, creating a personal digital platform for your business and career life comes with innumerable benefits. Firstly, you will be in a position to apply your already acquired knowledge and skills on technology, your will richly defining yourself, an aspect that may be missing from Facebook. In addition, you will be in a position to meet people within you career field who may be otherwise challenging to meet through Facebook.
In conclusion, the first year as a freshman is beneficial if you can employ this opportunity to advance your future. One approach of achieving this is by creating a personal profile in the social platform such as Facebook, goggle, yahoo, tweeting, and my space. These platforms will offer you diverse opportunities to advance your communication skills and expertise. Though these platforms are beneficial, they should be defined by professionalism and social life.