1st edition

Many social networking sites ask you to describe yourself in a brief ‘about me’ section on your profile page. The varieties of formats in which people post this information are truly diverse. Some scribble precise details about their current life while others take up more space to attempt a description of their personalities. Some like to keep it short and simple while others use poetry and quotes as tools to make themselves look more complicated and deep.

Most friends now visit each other’s profiles more often than they visit each other. Others stay in touch solely through the Internet. A profile page can have a great impact on how people perceive you. In fact, it can have a great impact on how you perceive yourself. Sci-fi junkies often predict that future technology will let us choose who we want to be. In a way, those predictions might be coming true. We might be close to the day when the central point of a person’s consciousness is found near the photo frame of their Facebook profile.

People comb through their own profiles very often. As such, a girl who plays cynical in her own ‘about me’ section might end up believing that cynicism is actually part of her personality. Also, for the sake of coherence, she may incorporate those traits into real life. Whether or not this effort is conscious at first, it may eventually become part of how she identifies herself. In the complex maze of perception and self-identity, some people might learn to view their profiles as mere non-physical extensions of the self.

‘About me’ is all that many people know of you and they’re reminded every time they visit your profile. Shouldn’t the composition of such information require some amount of self-reflection? Yet, it seems that some people are content with swiftly painting a picture that satisfies some part of their ego. Some are clearly making a play while others seem too sure of themselves. Some are lacking and make you wonder while others go on and on.

No matter how outlandish your profile maybe, it describes some part of your persona. In an ideal world, your friends would know you well enough to look at your profile from the point of reference of your personality. But the opposite maybe true and they may find themselves viewing the real you from the perspective they’ve gained from your profile. It’s hard to tell.

So if you were to describe yourself in a few lines for the world to read, how would you go about it? What part of you would you include and what would you consider not important enough to be worthy of the headlines?

Since everyone gets an empty canvas to start with, a mutual understanding seems to exist subconsciously which guarantees that people take the information that you provide them at face value. Questioning the accuracy of someone’s profile could mean risking the perceived integrity of your own.

Your visitors are a diverse mix, especially if you have an open profile. Some (the most pleasant kind in my opinion) are just trying to keep in touch. Others (friends and stalkers) are browsing to see how you’re doing. Still others (employers and secret crushes) might be sizing you up. As such, presentation can be as important as dressing up for that all-important interview or first date while too much information can buy you some quality hassle. For whom do you tailor the ‘About me’?