Sunday, October 26, 2014

Caroline Kreul Online Persona

If one were to look at my geographic and demographic information both from my hometown and my address in Madison, as well as my online social media persona, they would be able to identify me as a college student relatively easily. I believe they also would gain a relatively inaccurate view of who I am as an individual.

In terms of where I am from versus Madison, one would see from the 2012 census that I grew up in a small town of less than 6,000 people where the average income is over $200,000/year and is 98% white. When looking up census information from the same year in Madison, one would find that the average income is less than $30,000/year and while the majority (83%) is white, there is a more diverse representation.  From this, one could assume that I an over-privileged white kid from a vey affluent family who came to school at Madison, presumably being supported by her affluent parents and so realistically not falling within the low income range. While I am white, I don't think it's fair to assume that the rest of this is true. I am privileged in the sense that I am of the majority race in my hometown and in Madison, but what one might not realize is that my family does not fall into this high average income, and I have worked all through high school and college to support myself for the most part. In this way, the geographic data misrepresents me as an individual.

When searching for my name online, even with using social network keywords like "Facebook" and "Instagram," the same search results come up. First, my LinkedIn account comes up followed by various articles that I have written for Moda Magazine. Image search results for me name include images of myself and images from articles I've written for Moda, my LinkedIn photo, my Google account image, and a photo that was taken for the style section of the Herald. From these various searches, one can easily find that I am a college student who is about to graduate and has an interest in fashion and writing. While this is true, a google search doesn't express my interest in digital studies and user experience.

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