Impression Management

In both social media and the real world, we use impression management to try and represent our best selves to the audience surrounding us. For example, on different forms of social media, I present two different selves; front stage self and backstage self. My front-stage self is usually portrayed on media such as Instagram and Facebook. The reason behind using my front-stage self is that I want to give off the best and most favorable version of myself to those who follow or come upon my page. On Instagram and Facebook, I have people following me who I sometimes don't know, so when I post pictures or post things on my story I make sure to look my best or what I believe is most presentable. Whereas on Snapchat and Tiktok I use my back-stage self, meaning that I am giving off the version of myself where I am relaxed and being 100 percent just me. This state usually occurs around people I am familiar with or comfortable with. That is why I use my back-stage self on Tiktok and Snapchat because I only have family and close friends on those apps. I am comfortable letting my guard down and posting silly things where I feel they won't be judged or taken too seriously. 

I believe that there is some truth behind the masks we use online, we all want to represent our best selves depending on what kind of online settings we are in. For instance, when I was applying for a job on indeed, I used my resume which revealed my best skills and traits. We all have many skills to share with the world, but when creating a resume for a particular job, we want to single out and emphasize those which make us look the best. On the day of my interview, I had to portray my best self to get the job. Which meant dressing professionally, being respectful, making eye contact, using appropriate language, etc... The version of myself that I presented on the day of the interview had some truths such as me being respectful and using appropriate language. But in terms of dressing professionally and making eye contact, that was me going out of my way so that they would favor me. I wanted to give off a great first impression. By the way, I did get the job! In case anyone was wondering :) 

Impression management does indeed have a dark side to it, people can get caught up in trying to be someone they're not to impress others. Social media has become a platform in which people feel the need to act differently or give off the impression that their life is perfect when in reality it could be completely different. Social media is not reality, what people portray online is not always accurate to what occurs in their everyday lives. We all struggle but feel the need to hide that from social media and only show the good parts of our lives. I'll be the first to admit, that even I do that. I'm not sure if it is my pride talking or wanting to keep the bad parts of my life private, but we all hide something from social media. The most important thing to remember is not to let social media fool you, hardly anyone shares their flaws. 

- VANESSA