To answer the question I posed in the title post, I just want to say it depends on your audience and the message you want to transmit. I believe that we have many facets in our life, and we should bring that part of our lives to the table ( or to our online world) when we decide it is most appropriate. As I previously commented in this post, I have multiple online identities. I try to manage and merge my identities effectively, making me happy.
For example, I don't write or post the same things on my social media accounts. My Twitter and Linkedln accounts are more focused on my professional life. My Facebook and Instagram posts show my personal life. And my Pinterest posts are related to my hobbies and likes. Choosing to show just one part of ourselves in a specific context and in a particular way is not tricky unless we lie about it, which is an entirely different topic that I won't talk about today. I consider it difficult or almost impossible to show my complete self online, so I choose to show what I want depending on the context in that I'm interacting. Still, I am me, so it is not fake is just a part of my real life. I firmly believe that in-person relationships are more suitable to know someone better. However, most of us have an online life, so we should manage it effectively.
I'll make just one more comment about managing my social media accounts. I acknowledge that many people using social media try to show their more fun and exciting facet, which I think is ok ( I should confess that sometimes it is annoying someone to post too much). Most people in my Facebook feed choose to present the fun part of their lives. However, I don't make fun posts or show exciting things about my life because I prefer to keep it more private, but that's my way to manage my Facebook, which works for me. People should find the best way to manage their online identities that makes them happy.
I think that you have captured the idea of split online personalities well. It really is difficult to decide what part of ourselves we should represent online and how we represent it. I'm very nervous about what types of audiences might think about various aspects of my life and often err on the side of saying nothing rather than making a mistake.
I like how you summed up your article, Gloria. You said:"People should find the best way to manage their online identities that makes them happy." I wonder about some accounts where everything looks perfect, sounds perfect and "is" perfect through my assumptions. I'm all for seeing portions of individual's lives, but I want to know it's an honest expression of that part of themselves.
Part of how we represent ourselves online really has to do with the audience we think we are reaching. If I'm mostly friends with family and close friends on facebook then I'm likely to show my fun side than if I had a bunch of professional contacts there. While I do think we can't keep this completely separate anymore, the reality for me is the dominate audience I interpret a platform as reaching is how I will represent myself in that context. This is part of how I view how I manage my online self.