A brief situational statement:

As more social media networks become available and grow increasingly more popular, the number of people who have more than one social media site escalates. This brings up other interesting questions when analyzing the use of each by a single person or a group. Does the identity portrayed in each differ or is it relatively the same? What can we deduce, then, about the mediums in which we choose to create our virtual identities, and what can we say about virtual identity creation in general?

The steps of this exercise:

1.     Pick a celebrity or someone in politics to follow online.

2.     Find all the social media networking sites this person uses. Pick at least 2 with which to work.

3.     For each medium, you will write a description of the types of texts produced by your celebrity. What topics does this person address? In what tone? Does he/she reply to fans? Does this page have personal information or is it merely publicity?

4.     For each medium which allows photos, you will write a description of the types of photos this person publishes online. Are they personal or professional? Are they mostly alone or with others? Are the photos what one would deem appropriate for a person in his/her position?

5.     For each medium you describe, you will then analyze the online character of the subject. By looking at the pictures posted or the rhetoric used, what can you deduce about the nature of this person?

6.     Finally, you will describe the similarities and differences you noticed between the character portrayed in the various social media sites by the same person.

Details of this exercise:

1.     This assignment, as always, will be typed in MLA format.

2.     Double space and include a “Works Cited” page

3.     You should have no less than 2 double-spaced pages, and no more than 4.