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The maintenance of our online account(s) is important in the internet world. There are crooks out there who are trying to retrieve information that you revealed online to carry out malicious act/activities that you have not consent to (for example money laundering,online fraud,etc) and damage your reputation.
A recently story in Singapore about how personal information of the owner of a mobile shop owner was obtained online and shared in the online community who was heavily condemned by the public for being a dishonest businessmen. The culprit who is responsible for this is likely to have commit and offence under MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES (PUBLIC ORDER AND NUISANCE) ACT under Singapore Law. However, the challenge in prosecution lies in the ability to track down the anonymous person behind this.
Story can be seen HERE
Online anonymity gives one the freedom of speech to say anything ,however this often invites cyber bullying and personal attack. I applaud Facebook and Google to be supportive of being identity-centric by requiring people to have genuine identity.
So is it a good idea to have multiple online identities?
Having multiple identities creates separation between personal and professional life. According to a study by (TheNextWeb, 2012), more than 37% of prospective employers are looking at applicant’s Facebook profile. I do think that applicants should not be judged based on their Facebook profile as it does not correctly reflect the individuals work capability, it is their work competency that COUNTS! Having a wild photo does not shows the person is a bad worker, and in fact it shows the person knows how to work and play. Alan Henry (2012) gives a few reasons why we should have separate identities:
- It provides a layer of privacy (through obscurity)- free to comment as an anonymous without fearing your professional profile be impacted
- You have control over your professional appearance- what information people should see/should not see
- Avoids information overload, for you and your audience- keeping information relevant to your direct audience
With that said, having multiple online identities have its cons too.
The first being impersonation. People are able to obtain your information via Google and pass it off as you. You might end up having to be the scapegoat of something you have never done.
In all, i think whether or not having more than one online identity matters. What is more important though is practicing good online habits such as having a strong password, keep personal information private to keep yourself safe in the online world.
References
Henry, A. (2014). Should I Keep My Personal and Professional Identities Completely Separate Online?. [online] Lifehacker. Available at: http://lifehacker.com/5898370/should-i-keep-my-personal-and-professional-identities-completely-separate-online [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].
Masters, A. (2014). Identity on the Internet: The pros and cons of anonymity | | Independent Editor’s choice Blogs. [online] Blogs.independent.co.uk. Available at: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/09/19/identity-on-the-internet-the-pros-and-cons-of-anonymity/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].
Messieh, N. (2012). 37% of Employers Look Up Employees on Social Media. [online] The Next Web. Available at: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/04/18/survey-37-of-your-prospective-employers-are-looking-you-up-on-facebook/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].
yiming@ SotonMANG2049 
Howdy Yiming, thanks for your insightful post on multiple online identities! I couldn’t agree more that having multiple identities serve well in creating a separate personal and professional space. You mentioned that employers shouldn’t be judged by their social media photos as it’s their work competency that counts. Unfortunately for Carly “@CarlyCrunkBear” McKinney, she still got fired for her smoking photos on Twitter despite her 10th grade math students protesting to get her back. They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but I guess in reality it doesn’t work quite the same… Image and impressions seems to be quite highly regarded especially in a professional setting, in addition that McKinney is in the education industry where adults are expected to give good examples to the younger generation. I guess one disadvantage of having to manage several identities in the name of online security is the pain in managing the different passwords (I reckon having the same password for all accounts would defeat the purpose of security), and quite often I get locked out of my own account. No pain, no gain…! *sighs*
xoxo,
/ novina ✿ ladyskorpios /
Hi Novina,
Thanks for the comments! Your story about how a person got fired because of inappropriate photo got me thinking on another perspective. It does seems some employers mind what their employees post on social medias but i think it depends on individual bosses and the severity of the posts 🙂
Hi Yiming! I like how you relate the Sim Lim Square’s incident to your blog post. It is really cruel to Mr Jover Chew, despite him deserving all these for cheating the numberous victims. This is where cyber-bulling comes into play with the ease of creating another account to criticise someone. The likes of SMRT (Feedback) Limited also runs wild in finding Mr Jover Chew’s particulars and posting it up on the Internet. A great post I would say!
Your post mentioned that more than 37% of prospecive employers looks at an applicant’s Facebook profile. Wow, that scares me a little. You also mentioned that having a wild photo would not signify that the person’s a bad worker. However, do you think that having a wild photo on a person’s profile with them stating that they work at ABC company would tarnish the reputation of the company?
Hi Aetiiqcaz,
Thanks for liking my post. Your this question makes me think twice about what i have said. Well, i would say maybe i t will creates a bad impression to the public, but it should not affect employer decision to hire or not. Perhaps the worker can be recommended to have their photo set as private?