Ryan's Writings…at Mason

After reading Mark Briggs’s fourth chapter of “Journalism Next,” which discusses how microblogging, a more concise form of blogging that is like Instant Messaging to the masses, is a pertinent form of social media because it makes crowdsourcing easier and it is a faster way to receive and publish news.

However, as a journalism student and a college-aged woman with a life outside of my studies and hopeful career path, I can’t help but question social media sometimes.

Should my Twitter and Facebook be strictly professional, or is it okay if I tweet about my love of caramel macchiatos and lemon poppy-seed muffins right after I shared a link to an interesting article in The New York Times?

Should I have too separate accounts for all of my social media: one personal and then one professional?

But then there comes the problem of having a million different usernames and passwords to keep track of – that’s just ridiculous.

You can see my problem, right?

I don’t understand how some professionals tweet about their crazy nights out with so-and-so, and then there are other professionals who tweet zilch about their personal lives.

Microblogging is supposed to be about constantly updating the people who follow you and giving them a peek into your life. Microblogging lets your followers have a more personal experience with you, but what constitutes something as too personal?

How can I let my followers see who I truly am through microblogging (something that is supposed to close the gap between people) when I’m paranoid that something I might post – something that may have nothing to do with my career goals – will be another mark against my professionalism?

I love Facebook and Twitter, but sometimes it is scary to think that the forms of social media that positively build relationships between you and your followers, could also be the forms of social media that tear down your social standing and credibility.