Social Media Online Audit

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When I was around 12 years old (2010), the song Tik Tok by Kesha had become extremely popular. One of my friends at the time show me a funny parody, and we laughed so much and thought it was so great that my friend quickly logged into her Facebook. With no context, she just literally wrote down her favorite lyrics, and with a click, it was there on her wall for everyone to see. That was one of the first distinctive moments in my life that I felt like I was missing out on. I remember later that day when I was picked up by my mom, I asked her when I could get a Facebook. Several of my friends and classmates at that point had made an account, so I thought my mom would be more than okay with me making one. Instead, my mom showed great concern and told me I was going to have to wait until I was 16 to create an account. She was terrified of all the horror stories in the news and was convinced somehow I would cyber-bullied. 
So I waited….until that summer when my closest friends were playing Farmville and asking if I could send them supplies. In one of my great acts of rebellion, I made an account, using a throwaway email and I gave myself a fake name. I told all my friends in person or via call my account name and asked them to friend back asap. The best part out of all this? I was the only person in my family with Facebook at the time. 
10 years later, my account name is mine, my parents and I are friends on Facebook. However, I rarely nowadays open my Facebook. It the one social media account I have and barely use. Today I have an account on about 10 different sites/apps. I’ve even watched a few social media live and die (Google+ and Vine). With being online for 10 years now and having several accounts, I should have a big footprint. However, I have managed to keep my posting on almost all these accounts to a minimum, and in some cases, my name isn’t public. I even hide what I like on an account that makes it public. 
At this point in my life, I ever post important or significant life events. The last post I made on my Instagram was photos of my trip to Italy, and I didn’t even display all of the pictures I took. Nowadays, I use social media to keep up with news, friends/family, and to browse the content of each site. With keeping a low profile online, I haven’t had to worry as much as some of my friends have with what they’ve posted online. There’s enough about me to give strangers an idea but not enough to have a complete look at my life as they would with a lot of people my age. I do every now and again feel as if I am missing out as I view most of my friends posting frequently. 

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