With social media growing every day, constantly changing and adding new features, I feel that many are forgetting about their footprint. Most social media platforms allow a private mode of some kind to give you personal protection. On Facebook, you can lock your profile, so all a nonfriend can see would be your profile picture and your name. Twitter and Instagram are the same; you can lock everything up to ensure privacy. Even Snapchat has a private story setting.
It makes sense the whole world doesn’t need to see everything. You might not want your boss to see the vacation pictures that you’re wearing your bikini in. A school teacher may not want their students to know that they bellied up to the bar until close last night. Choosing to have your account public or private is excellent either way.
Something I have noticed is teens and young adults adding a private Instagram account or Snapchat story on top of their existing public one.
They only let people “trustworthy” follow this account. Using this account to hide all the “naughty” things they do like underage drinking, speeding, hickeys, ect.. Anything they don’t want their mom or dad to find out about goes on “private.”
How private is private? I believe that they think because it’s a “private” account that it is safe, but once something is posted, there is no going back. Screenshotting posts or getting your friend to take a picture of a Snapchat on your phone to avoid getting caught are ways in which pictures and posts never die. The delete button is only on your end.
Another reason that teens or young adults make a private Instagram is for personal branding. They use a public account as a false reality and post day to day things on private. Scrolling through my feed, half the time, I see perfect skin and beautifully thought out presets, giving their page a perfect aesthetic.
In the age of sharing everything, why do we feel the need to share so much that we need to hide what we share? I think we will continue to see a rise in private accounts, both the authentic version and secretive version.
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