Even the most public online selves are managed through deliberate disclosure choices

Evidence

Within the scene there are numerous degrees of public-ness, from people who graphically document their sex lives to those who adhere to a strictly professional self-presentation. On one end of the spectrum, Nick Starr tweets about sexual activities, homelessness, his HIV status, and plastic surgery. On the other, Julia Allison, who is considered very public, does not lifestream meetings with potential clients or famous friends so as not to compromise her business dealings. Still others choose not to speak publicly about their children or their relationships, but carefully dole out other pieces of personal information to appear authentic to their audiences. These choices are affected by the software that people use, their motivations, and complex webs of obligations to others. But even people who reveal a great deal of personal information online do this thoughtfully. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 630

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Goffman’s dramaturgical self-presentation and to the authenticity literature later in this book and in Marwick’s work on micro-celebrity. — connects to: Information sharing online functions as publicity, not privacy loss — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 530; Privacy breaches are better framed as choices for publicity than as naive disclosure. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 604; Revealing more online can paradoxically conceal what one keeps private — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 624 (+9 more)
• SEED: Angle for an essay: the ‘manufactured openness’ paradox — how platforms that promise radical authenticity actually incentivize curated, filtered selves.

Broader Connections

• Individual attempts to control online identity fail because others disclose without sharing one’s boundaries #complicates (0.88) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 636
• Even professionals cannot control how their reputation is shaped by others’ online disclosures #complicates (0.85) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 637
• Others’ actions constrain a person’s curated online self-presentation #complicates (0.85) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 638
• Social media makes others’ identities partly uncontrollable through third-party disclosure #complicates (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 637
• Radical online openness paradoxically produces a more filtered, self-censored self #complicates (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 632
• Public selves require constant self-monitoring and self-editing labor #expands (0.78) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 633
• Privacy is fundamentally about decision rights over self-disclosure #expands (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 283
• The Internet lets individuals bypass gatekeepers and create personalized symbolic environments #expands (0.72)