As a young adult who is considered to be a digital native in today's information age, I am all too familiar with the boons and banes of the social networking site Facebook.
An unglamorous photograph or an inappropriate status update are just some of the many banes of the online platform we use to connect with one another.
I am also aware of how most people my age are concerned about identity management online.
This means they are interested in portraying a certain lifestyle or image of themselves online.
While I understand the needs and concerns of this generation of digital natives, we may want to rethink how being so caught up in updating our profiles with our so-called online personas is ever going to amount to anything useful.
Rather than constantly "checking our backs" on what we should or should not say or post on a public domain such as Facebook, why not create a platform that allows us to speak freely with people who are close and dear to us?
My suggestion is to create a Facebook group, add your loved ones to the group, and set the privacy settings to "secret". In this way, only people whom you have been added can view and add content.
This may sound like a no-brainer to many Facebook users, but I am surprised to know that few utilise these functions to connect better with their loved ones.
So, rather than being worried that your sibling may be offended after you uploaded an unglamorous photograph of her - and potentially embarrassing her in front of the 500 friends she has on Facebook - feel free to post it in your private family Facebook group and have a good laugh together.
Share private family pictures of fun moments spent together, interesting videos and articles worth sharing, without worrying about flooding your friends' Facebook newsfeeds. And let us not forget to enjoy the exclusivity of it all.
- Chow Aiyan (Miss)
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