When thinking of social media and getting into the business side of it one of the concerns that may present itself is safety and privacy. More and more celebrities considered to be ‘A-list’ or at least more known are more or less off the grid regarding social media. Just from conversations I’ve had with people about wanting to start working in social media, I can tell that privacy in this industry is a big concern, as it should be. There have been countless cases of celebrities having run-ins with stalkers or being the target of crimes. Some celebrities have even lost their lives to ‘fans’, the late Christina Grimmie being one of those celebrities.
When working in such a public sphere there are many ways you can approach the platform to ensure your own personal safety (i.e. using a screen name different from your legal name, not publicizing family members, ensuring posts are ‘strictly business’ etc.). This isn’t to say though that you have to keep everything in your life a secret from your audience, I personally find vulnerability from creators grounding in a way. This all is good in balance though, sure go ahead and make a storytime video on a dramatic situation, but maybe don’t use other parties’ real names. Protecting yourself comes with protecting others when working so publicly.
There are perks though to protecting your privacy aside from safety, you build intrigue. Take Kylie Jenner for example, with the birth of her son she chose to keep his name under wraps until almost a year after his birth. There is nothing wrong with doing this but with this Kylie ended up getting article after article written about her ‘mystery son’. When she ended up revealing his name she just said they hadn’t thought of one, but this could be untrue at the end of the day. We just have to believe what people say and hope for the truth.
As for those who don’t plan on working in social media but may still be avid users all the aforementioned tips can apply to use as well. No matter who you are, you can create an identity that is for social media and you should. Not only is it important for safety but potential employers can run background checks on any information connected to your online presence. If this online presence doesn’t match their ideologies they may go with another candidate. Using VPNs, separate emails for social media and business, and setting your privacy/location settings are all things that can help protect your presence online.
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Garvey, Marianne. “Kylie Jenner Reveals Son’s Name and How to Pronounce It.” CNN, Cable News Network, 23 Jan. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/23/entertainment/kylie-jenner-son-name-baby/index.html#:~:text=Kylie%20Jenner%20finally%20revealed%20her,asked%20how%20to%20say%20it.
McLaughlin, Eliott C. “Christina Grimmie’s Killer Was Obsessed with Her, Police Say.” CNN, Cable News Network, 22 June 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/22/us/christina-grimmie-the-voice-orlando-police-end-investigation/index.html.
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 
My heart shattered when I read about Christina :(. She was a talent taken away way too soon and I sometimes think about if her situation was organized differently that maybe she would still be here with us . But I protect myself using a VPN but it also gives me access to netflix in America or even London England !
It’s such a fine line between keeping your privacy and over sharing on the internet! It’s crazy to see how things have evolved over the years- in the early days of YouTube, hardly anyone shared their real names! Going from that to what you see now from some creators is such a huge shift.