This week we talked about how we portray ourselves on the Internet. Do we keep our professional lives separate to our personal lives? We discussed the topic of avatars and personally I can live without them. Avatars or lack thereof make no difference to my web experience. In fact when I do have to choose an avatar I stress over it for so long that I end up making a rubbish one just to get it out of the way. Every time we choose an avatar or nickname for an online service, we perform a small act of self-presentation. We choose whether to use our real names, to choose a name that reflects something about our personality or situation in the world or we create a fictitious personality (Walker, 2005).
Identity is characterised by the tension between how a person defines themselves as an individual and how they connect to others and social groups in affiliative relationships. In cyberspace meaning is communicated far beyond the people in proximity to the communicator; instead the world is watching (Gilly & Schau, 2003).
We were asked why we were doing this subject. I've always been interested in computers and began building basic websites in the 90s. When my last job was made redundant I decided to enrol in uni and follow my dreams of becoming a web designer. Well I'm only a third of the way along this journey but am loving every minute.
I feel it is important as a web designer to learn about web publishing, different platforms, different online spaces, copyright and creative commons among other topics. I've only been blogging for about 3yrs so am fairly new. I want to learn more about increasing my followers, getting more of an audience, writing in an appealing and creative way to get attention, because the more people I get to notice me (my blogs, my website, my social media profiles) the more potential customers my business will attract. On that note - Mojo Online Solutions is the name of my business. We have a Facebook Page, Twitter account and blog. I use all platforms on a regular basis to increase my 'followers' and 'likes' in the hope of securing some work.
We are creating a blog for this subject on a topic of our choice. My blog is called Pure & Simple Food and is about food allergies and special diets. This is my bio:
My name is Michelle and my passion is cooking. It wasn't always! For as long as I can remember I have always cooked fairly plain, boring but familiar meals. However last year my husband and I decided to renovate our house. The first job on our list was a new kitchen. I was very excited and it was a challenge being without a kitchen for a few weeks. The BBQ and microwave got a work-out and we had no kitchen sink for a month and had to wash up in the bath!
Now I have my new kitchen, my love for cooking has really increased. With a family of fussy eaters - dinner time can be a challenge, but with forward planning cooking can definitely be enjoyable.
We have many friends and family members with food intolerances, food allergies, have special diets like Veganism and Vegetarianism, and others require either a gluten-free diet, nut-free diet, egg-free diet, or dairy-free diet. Over time I have researched these conditions and have gained useful information which I believe is important to share with others.
References:
Schau, H. J., & Gilly, M. (2003). We Are What We Post? Self-Presentation in Personal Web Space. The Journal of Consumer Research, 30(3), 385-404.
Walker, J. (2005). Mirrors and Shadows: The Digital Aestheticisation of Oneself. Paper presented at the Digital Arts and Culture Conference. Retrieved from : https://bora.uib.no/handle/1956/1136
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