By: Anindya Widita, B.A, M.A

 

It is the age of social media now. Almost half of the total population of the world uses the Internet and most of them are active social media users. It is no longer called a trend anymore to get involved in social media. It is almost like it has become a norm, a routine. The younger generation these days, in particular, spend a lot of times in social media. In fact, it has become a part of their daily routine. Their life revolves on being online and it is hard to separate them from their gadget.

Social media functions vary more than just connecting people. Business, networking, searching for news or information, to self-actualization, are among those. Since the time when social media started being frequently used, it has developed quite a long way where enhancement and upgrade are continuously created. Most of the apps now allow us to upload more variety of contents. For example, Twitter allowing gif and video to be uploaded and Instagram with its Instagram Story feature.

Some of the most popular social media apps especially among the youth these days are Instagram and Snapchat. Their active and vibrant lifestyle contributes to the amount of stuff uploaded into their social media account. Many post and update about their daily life or experience into their account in various forms: text, photo, or video. A lot of the time, it is done multiple times within a day. As a result, those updates allow others a peek into their daily life and activities.

While there are those who do not mind showing their their daily routines to the public, some are more selective in posting or sharing their stuff, usually due to privacy. Many who are engaged in a specific activity like arts or traveling usually would establish a kind of pattern to their account. For example, those traveling routinely would post a lot of photos from each of the trip; an artist would share their art every now and then.

That kind of pattern creates what we can call personal branding through social media. While in some cases it is certainly a planned, or conscious effort, for some others, it may not be. Some are probably unaware that what they post and share online shape their personal branding. It is an interesting occurrence, or trend, if you will, that can pique people’s interest of why It occures and how is it formed.  In addition to that, it is also an interesting topic for a research.

Social media have evolved from just being a medium to connect people into a platform to shape one’s brand or image. More about that will be discussed in the second part of the article.