Social Networks

Over the internet people portray themselves differently than who they appear to be in real life.  This makes me wonder who people truly are.  You could argue that who someone is in person is the real them and that the person behind a screen is a coward.  But you could also argue that in person someone is pretending where behind a screen they can be themselves without others physically judging their actions.  On Facebook, people that I am 'friends' with have recently been over-posting about the election.  These are mostly people that I knew in high school, some of which I have never heard speak.  I think that the internet gives them a voice and an opportunity to say their opinion by being able to reword and rewrite their thoughts accordingly.
In terms of summarizing what people represent I think this depends on the person.  Some people are very vocal with Facebook posting all their 'likes' and 'dislikes'.  However, I rarely publicly share things on Facebook and think I have made about 10 personal posts on my entire lifetime on Facebook.  I wish to keep my personal life exactly that- personal.  Do not misunderstand, I think Facebook and the internet is a great way to spread messages, meet people, create ideas, etc.  Because of these things pages are able to serve as virtual personalities and can give brief insight to a person based off of both what is and is not on their pages.
I think that the role of public network plays a large role in a teenagers social life and impacts gender and who they believe themselves to be as a person.  Social network sites are able to pull the younger generations- mostly teenagers and pull them in directions based off of networks.  This includes political beliefs, moral reasoning, academic intent, self-esteem, gender, and so much more that makes up an individual.  Social Networking is a way to portray to someone that does not know you who you are.  It's interesting when you know a person- or think you know them and their social page shows them in a different light.  This makes me wonder who a person truly is.