Some actively participate in posting in social media, while others tend to sit back and watch everyone else. I belong to the latter category. I have an Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, but you won’t see me posting much content. My Twitter has far more likes than there will ever be of actual tweets from myself. Instagram gets a sporadic post here and there when I’m ready to share parts of my life. My Facebook page is more like a graveyard than a social media account, but that’s okay. Then there’s Snapchat. My minimal usage of it shows, and we’ll touch that later.
We all have different uses for social media, and that’s the great thing about social media, it is whatever you make it. My Instagram is a public photo album of things I find important. I almost look at it like, if I died, this is what my life is like. Twitter is strictly entertainment and keeping up with what is happening in the world. And well, everyone has a Facebook, so I feel like I should have one.
In my archived posts, my Instagram posts date back to November 2014, but my account was created August 14, 2014. Since then, I’ve garnered a measly 421 followers. To some, this may be a huge number, to others it’s nothing. I considered it nothing seeing as some of the accounts I follow have upwards of 15 million followers, one even reaching 300 million followers.
My Instagram has 29 posts that show the parts of my life that matter to me. It can be sad to think that since 2014, so over the course of 8 years, only 29 moments mattered. But none the less, of all my social media accounts, my brand on Instagram is the most solid. It is me. My Instagram shows my accomplishments, those that I love, and things I have done. It shows my interests and what I care about. My Instagram shows that I am a college kid who likes to travel and is in love. It’s the perfect summary.
Instagram has changed a lot since I first created my account. There’s now Instagram Stories which I use to show just a little bit more of my life. Instagram stories was launched in 2016, but I didn’t start using it until June 2019, but it wasn’t consistent. Now I have two story highlights that live on my page that I plan to grow. It might take some time, but I think Instagram is where I truly shine on social media. It is where I feel the most comfortable to show who I am, and my account reflects that. If a job or a new friend asks to check me out on social media, I’d send them straight to Instagram.
I used to think of my Facebook page as a family-friendly social media account, but I think I’m hardy able to call it that. Of all social media sites, Facebook has been around the longest, so having an account feels obligatory. But because of its age, my Facebook account allows me to hold some type of connection with distant family members. I don’t post there and hardly have any interactions, but when I do use it, I’m able to check in on the lives of family members who live in Boston, MA or Phoenix, AZ.
Due to the nature of Facebook, all of the content on my page comes from family members who share a piece of my life on social media. My life is being vicariously lived and posted on Facebook through them. There’s basic information I’ve shared about myself and connections I hold with friends from when I lived in Phoenix over a decade ago, but there’s not much else. My Facebook doesn’t represent me or my brand well. It’s a very rough description of the person I am perceived to be. On Facebook, I’ve managed to make 304 friends since I created my account on October 3, 2011. A lot of these people aren’t the same people following me on Instagram. Most of my Facebook friends aren’t those that I communicate with daily.
Twitter is very representative of the skeletons one holds in their closet. I may not create my own tweets very often, but a quick scroll through my likes could tell you a lot about my personality. My Twitter likes will clue you into my humor, political opinions, social issue opinions, my sexual identity, what streaming services I use, and just everything else you could know about a person.
Of all social media sites, Twitter is the rawest. People are unapologetically themselves and will post everything. But that’s kind of the point of Twitter, it’s not meant for one to hide behind a screen. It’s meant to be you without a screen. Hence why the posts you like are public. So, while I don’t post much, you can tell so much about me through my likes and I think that can ring true for a lot of people, even the celebrities who post manicured posts constantly.
Twitter doesn’t fit my branding, but it does represent me well. I am an honest person, hence why all of my social media accounts are public. I want people to know who I am, and I don’t want to lie about it.
My Twitter account has a rocky past. My first account was made sometime around 2013, but I was sadly locked out of that one. My current account was created in December 2018, and I’ve been liking posts since then. Over the past 4 years, I’ve only acquired 147 followers and that’s okay. A large following isn’t a goal on any of my social media accounts, I just want them all to represent me. Now unlike Instagram, I wouldn’t be too keen on a job or relatives digging through my Twitter, but if they do, then so be it. They went digging to find out who I am and that is what they shall find.
Snapchat is allusive, and that is its design and appeal. Snapchat stories are only up for 24 hours, and you can make private stories that are only shown to those of your choosing. Rather than followers or friends like other social media sites, Snapchat has a scoring system which only adds to its allusivity. I have Snapchat friends with scores topping 80,000 and I’m sure that there are celebrities and influencers whose numbers triple that. My snap score sits at 12,000 and I’m really not sure what that means. It’s not a major feature of the app and many don’t pay much attention to it, but it does rate how often you use Snapchat.
Once upon a time, Snapchat had a public best friends list, but that went away in order to make Snapchat feel more exclusive. The most public feature would have to be the snap score system. I can’t remember the last time I actually posted a Snapchat story, but I do like being able to see small parts of the lives of others. My account has been open since October 29, 2014, but there isn’t much to show for it.
Taking Snapchat out of the equation, I think all of my social media accounts accurately represent me in one way or another, and that’s kind of the entire purpose. Social media was created in order for people to connect with each other across the globe. I may not be connected with those in other countries just yet, but it has allowed me to stay in contact with those that I no longer live nearby. During six years my life, I moved 4 times. There was a lot of readjusting and new friends, and without social media, I would have lost contact with all of these people.
Social media allows us to find those that we know and see what they are up to. You don’t always have to friend them or follow, but if their page is public, you are able to see a part of their world.
For those that don’t follow my social media, but keep up with me, I am happy with what they are seeing. I am happy with the self-image of myself that has been created online. Unknowingly, I have self-branded. My social media is me all wrapped up with a cute bow. While some have meticously crafted themselves into a particular image online, I stay true to myself and that holds across all social media platforms. While my brand isn’t always showing itself across my social media accounts, it still holds the same base.
All of my accounts are under the same name and handle, Zai Davis and zxxineb. I want people to connect with me on all platforms. I want people to know that this is the Zai they are looking for. Many people are under the guise that protecting their identity means to be very limited in social media content, but that only rings true for so much. With the internet, you can always be found attached to something. So why not be in charge of your image online?
