danah boyd’s argument in the first chapter of her book entitled It’s Complicated, is compelling and eye-opening related to the issue of audience targeting. I agree that people, teen’s especially, target a specific audience when posting on social media. They intend to be communicating with specific followers and expect others to ignore the context if it was not directed at them. As boyd highlighted, when teens audience target they can find themselves in situations that can lead to misrepresentation:  

The applicant had written a phenomenal essay about how he wanted to walk away from the gangs in his community. In an effort to learn more about him, the committee Googled him. They found his MySpace profile. It was filled with gang symbolism, crass language, and references to gang activities. They recoiled. (boyd).

Although teens intend for specific people to be reading their posts, it is hard to know if others are reading it, or if the intended audience is even reading it. In the situation quoted above, an applicant of a prestigious university was denied admission because the committee thought his social media posts contradicted his application essay. But what the committee didn’t question, as boyd discussed, was if the boy was using such crass language and gang references to simply survive living and avoiding being ostracized in his community? Some may argue yes and and some may argue no, but I believe that this idea of audience targeting for survival is situational. It may be applicable in some scenarios, but not in others. The situation above was most likely for mere survival, but others may and will argue that the applicant lied.

The idea of misrepresentation is a concept that occurs frequently. People of the counter argument will contend that teens choose what they are putting on social media and they should bear the repercussions. They will also argue that teens choose anonymous names in hopes of hiding their identities, so that they can post content that won’t appeal to all audiences. The idea of Pseudonymity is one that can and will get teens into trouble, especially when it comes to applying to important opportunities such as college.