The persona I construct for myself online is an attempt at being generally humorous, yet mildly serious on occasions. Emoji usage can exaggerate the humour, or point out that a joke has been told, as evident in the tweet made on 28/03/19.
Generally humour can be used to help an author create a relationship with their audience, and while it may come across as cringeworthy or an obviously exerted effort when it doesn’t work, usually a humorous post can boost ones online influence or reach. The image below is an example of how humour through social media can extend ones reach online, and allows the creator to develop a following of their platform
A successful use of humour can be critical in advertising a product or message. Byron, Albury and Evers conclude that “incorporating humour into sexual health messages” [Paul Byron, Kath Albury & Clifton Evers (2013) “It would be weird to have that on Facebook”: young people’s use of social media and the risk of sharing sexual health information, Reproductive Health Matters, 21:41, 35-44, DOI: 10.1016/S0968-8080(13)41686-5] was found to be critical in educating young Australians in sexual health, and could lead to a reduction in the numbers of STI’s.
‘It would be weird to have that on Facebook’
Another aspect of the online identity I am trying to create is the professional aspect- a sports journalist identity. While this has not been used as much as originally intended, it is still an important aspect of my online identity. The one blog that was posted and shared on twitter (below) was a piece that took a lot of background work, and while the final piece was a small piece, the effort behind it was heavily concentrated and rewarding seeing my final piece.
The use of the previous picture and caption is another example of a subtle humour, created in order to fill the criteria of images in the work, and to give readers a small giggle (hopefully). This could very easily backfire, and seem unprofessional, but in contrast could also be seen as a great example of my online identity and how humour is portrayed through my current portfolio of tweets.
Another high profile case of humour being used in social media is from police forces, with the NSW Police Force constantly using humour in their posts in order to let the public either know what they’re doing, or to try and spread word of a person of interest to them. This is a highly successful strategy in humanising the police, as they have always had an issue with appearance, and humour successfully conveys that police officers, like everyone else, have a sense of humour.
To some experts it raises concern that it “undermines their authority” (James Reid, ‘Police and emergency services trying to be funny – the joke could be on them’, The New Daily, 15/10/2017), but according to NSW Police’s digital media officer Daniel Sheehy, the tactic has made up to “81%” of people feel more positively to police. (James Reid, ‘Police and emergency services trying to be funny – the joke could be on them’, The New Daily, 15/10/2017). This further proves that a use of humour in my online identity, if done well, could enhance my reputation and assist in developing a strong unilateral relationship with my audience, or even lead to a bilateral communication between myself and my audience.
‘Police and emergency services trying to be funny- the joke could be on them’
Some online identities are used for other, politically motivated campaigns, and the use of that can be effective in advertising the policies or ideologies of certain political groups or persons. One community that has excelled at pushing its online identity is ‘Anonymous’. A ‘hactivist’ group that is against censorship and has actively opposed many decisions they deem to be poor from any world leaders. The photo below is how they represent themselves, keeping anonymity for each individual who is part of their collective whole. Their online identity has drawn attention to themselves as they excel in reaching a wide audience, receiving support and opposition from many around the world.
The perception I convey through my use of social media is one of humour, and sports loving. In many ways that have been highlighted it shows how humour can be allow my identity to grow and benefit from its use, and when the more serious side gets shown the audience could feel more connected, and believe my opinions and develop their own, similar opinions. Should the practices be continued and elaborated on further through the use of twitter, and WordPress, my online identity can only become stronger.
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