SB2: What I personally use and interviewing friends?

To start research on this topic, I thought of analysing what I personally use and how and why I use social media.

Apps that I use on a daily basis: 

• Instagram
• Youtube
• WhatsApp
• Snapchat
• Discord

How & Why I use these apps:

• Instagram - to look at photos, videos, send messages to people, post stories, everyday life
• Youtube - watch videos
• WhatsApp - for work (job group chat), free messaging
• Snapchat - for funny interactions with friends, I can make memes of myself, post stories
• Discord - dance team conversations, society announcements

I also realised that I handle and use the apps differently depending on WHAT I NEED THEM FOR. For example, I have two accounts on Instagram (one for PERSONAL USE and one for PROFESSIONAL USE.) I have two accounts as I wanted to have a clear separation between what kind of content I wanted on the two accounts as they are meant for different audiences - I didn't want to post a picture of myself and then post a picture of my own professional work (it just wouldn't make sense). It's also a way for me to have a clear line between my professional self and my personal life - multiple identities. I tend to post a lot of nonsensical and memey stories on my personal account but on my professional account I mostly post about design and things I find interesting within the field. My language is also different, I tend to be more descriptive and informative on my professional but on my personal I use slang words and even profanity. 

This is also similar to how I talk to people on these apps, for example on my work WhatsApp chat I tend to be more 'formal' and talk in a respectful way, but on my the group chat with my friends, we send a lot of gifs and videos and in a very loud and satirical manner to each other. 

My use of social media apps is mainly for my own convenience especially with separating my personal and professional endeavours. Also, because I tend to use the app for what I think they are best for and the best in communicating with others that's why I have a limited amount of app used e.g. I don't have twitter or facebook because I realised I didn't really use them as much as I use the other apps. 

After evaluating my own usage of social media, I'm curious to see how other people use it and why they use it that way. So, I will do a survey or interview peers about their own usage of social media accounts and their view on online identity.