Due Monday? I’ve Got Time.
For the reel I made up a different version of myself — the procrastinating gamer. The video begins with an assignment on my Canvas calendar which is due on Monday. Rather than starting work early, my response is just to say, “Do Monday.”
After that I immediately begin playing video games. The reel gives the impression that I prefer spending my time gaming to worrying about the assignment that is coming up.
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In reality, this doesn’t accurately represent how I normally approach school. I am usually diligent about completing my work and keeping tabs on deadlines. That difference is exactly why I chose this identity. I wanted to take a relatable joke about procrastination and exaggerate it into a version of myself that I could perform online. I actually enjoy gaming, but I intentionally presented it as something I choose over my responsibilities.
The act of making the reel caused me to see just how little content is needed to influence people’s views of you online. A stranger who didn’t know me could have watched those short seconds and concluded that I regularly delay my assignments in order to play video games. The video itself contains nothing that would indicate to the viewers that they were seeing an exaggerated picture of myself. I know myself well enough to have focused 100% on my schoolwork and only treat myself to games afterwards, but even this small private reel that I had shared only with my dad led him to message me to get back to work.
It is here that responsibility comes into play. Since we decide who sees the different identities we create online, we have a great deal of control over them. Something intended as a joke can still affect the way that someone sees us. Moreover, humor is included in the way people present their personalities online and not all the content posted is meant to give a completely accurate account of everyday life.
What this experience taught me is that digital identity isn’t all about pretending to be somebody else; instead, it can involve taking a small aspect of yourself, magnifying it, and then choosing the version of yourself that you would like other people to see.
