Your Sense of Self and Social Media

For the purpose of this article, let’s start by clarifying a very basic definition of what we mean by ‘sense of self’ and ‘social media’. Your sense of self is the way you define who you are, what you do and why you do it. It’s the identity you try to cultivate in your everyday life.

For some people it’s driven by their emotions, thoughts and knowledge. For others, it’s driven by their role in society, their job, whether or not they are a parent and so on.

Sometimes, it comes down to our self-esteem, how we view ourselves and how we think others view us. That last part is particularly relevant when we consider the way we present ourselves on social media.

Although you probably know the answer, let’s add a definition for social media. Social media platforms are websites and apps that allow people to communicate and share information using the Internet, usually on a mobile phone, tablet or computer. Signing up usually involves inputting some personal information and an avatar of yourself to create a ‘profile’, ‘bio’ or ‘account’.

This is where you begin to build your online sense of self. Social media profiles can be private, public or a mixture, depending on the platform. Some well known platforms are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram (owned by Facebook), LinkedIn, and Tumblr.