When you look deep into the internet, it also looks back into you...

As technology plays an increasingly vital role in our lives our relationships move more and more into the virtual realm and the accounts of our personal histories become increasingly more public. With the rise of social networking and blogging comes a new level of transparency that, at this point, inhibits personal expression while at the same time normalizes cultural taboos and general debauchery. Where once the level of credibility and accountability in a chat room screen name was essentially non-existent, we now embrace the whole shebang and willingly fork over our credit card information, social security number, you name it. Things are changing very quickly.

My first experience with social media was using the first blogging platform Opendiary.com when I was just 13 years old. It was a way for me to share my poetry and short fiction with people all over the world, while retaining complete anonymity. The result was much more honest (albeit, melodramatic) work; it was a forum that allowed me to grow as a writer, solicit and dole out criticism, and learn from others without having to look anyone in the eye. I even met fellow writers on a few occasions "IRL" (Ha!) and the experience proved to be extremely rewarding.

These days, however, the internet is much more of a marketing platform. You've got to sell the best version of yourself, put forth your best work, and suppress any information that might defame or otherwise compromise you. Your personal online reputation must be managed just as one belonging to a small business or large corporation would be. Whether you like it or not, you have an online image that must be groomed and tended to. To allow your online rep to grow unkempt, or to try to avoid it altogether, can keep you from getting that big promotion or that hot date. Our lives are going down the intertubes, whether you're ready or not.