From our class with Jesse, I took away just how powerful social media is for building our profile, especially as a professional. From having social media from a very young age, at least from 9 years old, I think I have viewed it very differently from adults whose generational purpose of the various platforms was to build professional connections instead of using it to shape and present their personality and social identity while gaining validation from peers. I put many embarrassing things online when I was younger as I was trying to navigate who I was, especially about those I saw on social media and the popularity trends I got pulled into as that became our generation’s culture, with social media being a vital part of who we are. It was a way to show my personality, especially during the pandemic when we were all isolated. In building my identity with my peers, I viewed social media very differently, not grasping that, down the road, it would be a major player in building my identity as a professional. Who I was at 12 years old and who I want to be within my career are drastically different individuals. However, Jesse emphasized how these two identities are in relationship with each other as I move forward in my job. I find it compelling as everyone in adolescence and their teen years wants to fit in and be accepted by their peers and wants to show off the exciting things they experience or the time they spend with friends. Characteristically, this can involve what is now a deterring factor when considering who we are as professionals. 

For my future career as an educator, I want to present my best foot forward in my professional life but also be connected with people my age and be able to relate to others. While I can adjust this and be mindful of what I post, they are such drastic realities that somehow need to seamlessly blend as I move into looking for a position. I will have to explore and define what this balance means for me, and I may have to reconsider how important social media is to me as I already believe that I will grow out of the culture as life starts to get busy with the “adulting” that I have been anticipating for years peaking. 

Based on the information we got from Jesse, I will be very thorough in checking in on my digital footprint and will get in touch with friends who have pictures of me online that I do not want accessible once I have become a teacher. I will have to learn how to have conversations along these lines, and I will be very thoughtful and aware in the future of what people around me are posting online that I am a part of. Jesse made evident how being a teacher is an identity that bleeds into every part of your life and that it holds a responsibility of professionalism to obtain in these other parts. I am not intimidated by this and feel that it is completely obtainable. It is, however, a shift in what social media means to me that I need to begin as I have grown up with social media meaning something completely different, especially being a way to flaunt or show off different aspects of someone’s life that, when you are then working, fall short in relevance compared to when you were 19 years old. 

Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash