Page by Carly Rothenberg
Dick Hardt explains the difference between IDENTITY in the real world and IDENTITY in the online world. Hardt says digital identity is "unverified and like verbal information when you meet somebody, but there are fewer trust cues because you can't see the person, you can't hear the person, in fact it might not even be a person" |
Soraj Hongladarom calls this type of identity the "online Person" and the "offline Person"
Online Person: Projection of one self on a social networking site
Offline Person: The real person, in real life
Offline Person: The real person, in real life
"For better or worse, we define ourselves online in multiple ways"
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Hongladarom, author of "Personal Identity and the Self in the Online and Offline World," discusses that people can express themselves on social networking sites to represent a portion, or small part, of who they are as an offline person. The offline self creates an online self for several purposes. For example, the online self can create themselves online as an outlet towards different outlets, like their family, workplace, friends, etc.
Basically, Hongladarom says that the online self depicts who you are in the offline self and vice versa. There is no separation between the two and "the line between the two kinds of selves is becoming fuzzier." |
Who we are online is who we are in real life. Let's take a closer look. On Facebook, I portray a version of myself aimed toward a specific outlet, my friends. I want to portray myself as close to the real me as possible but the more exciting me. I post pictures of exciting things, or post status' of things I think are funny. Why would I put a picture of myself sleeping? No one would think that's fun, thats not the me I want to be portraying. However, my family members are friends with me on Facebook. So even though I know they see my Facebook activity, I still do certain things that I would want my friends to see.
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There are other social networking sites that allow one to portray themselves as another version of their identity. For example, LinkedIn. This website is a place for business and professional interaction between companies, employers, employees, etc. I would never put a picture of myself with a red cup on this website. My identity on LinkedIn would be strictly professional.
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but...
While my real world, or offline, identity is portrayed realistically in my social media online self, some people go completely against what Mr. Soraj Hangladarom is saying.
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Like in CATFISH... |
CatfishThe video above is about a woman who falls in love with a man. However, there's a catch! The women, Sunny, met him online and has never met him in person. See what happens when they actually meet.
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Spoiler Alert:
The hosts of the show take Sunny to finally go meet the love of her life, Jameson. When they arrive at his house, they learn that 24 year old Jameson is really 18 year old Chelsea. Sunny has had an 8 month online relationship with an 18 year old girl. She had created a completely fake profile and life through a social media website. |
In this case, Hongladarom is very wrong. Jameson is no way any part of Chelsea. They are two completely separate people, separate identities.
This episode depicts that one person can have multiple accounts on a social network with completely different personality and identity. The offline person, Chelsea, has the freedom and opportunity to create an entirely new persona. |
Other examples of false identities on the internet... |
In 2008, Great Britain's security service found hundreds of false accounts on social networking sites belonging to Al-Qaeda members. So many false email accounts. For example, [email protected]. We created this site for the sole purpose of this project. So there is either zero identity behind this email address because no one intends to keep with it. Or, there are four identities behind this email address because all of my group members use it to log onto our weebly website. |
These issues of false identities on the Internet bring up many privacy issues. Social networking websites are constantly updated their privacy settings to avoid false identities on the Internet.
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Erros can be made on the Internet regarding people's identities. For example, the situation with Sunny, Jameson, and Chelsea. However, other issues can occur.
Simple misinterpretations can occur like something as simple as the gender of someone on the Internet. When reading Sorja Hongladarom's article, I was unsure if the author was a male or female. This person's identity was not completely clear. In order to accurately describe this person, I sent the author an email. I also looked up the person on Google to find out. I discovered he was a male. |
misinterpretations |
MORE ABOUT THE ONLINE AND OFFLINE PERSON
Vili Lehdonvirta and Pekka Rasanen, authors of "How do young people identify with online and offline peer groups? A comparison between UK, Spain and Japan," focus more on the online and offline person.
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Online people have a decline in communication with friends and family. They also have feelings of loneliness. However, they do increase their number of social relationships and may improve their opportunities for communication.
With online activity interaction, young people can escape to their online friends without putting effort into face-to-face interaction. |
Online groups are "communities of choice" instead of communities based on geographical convenience, who have barely any choice but to get along.
So, individuals have a better chance of finding groups of peers they can truly identify with. |
what do i think? |
I somewhat disagree with Lehdonvirta and Rasanen. I think online people have an increase in communication. However, I can see how there could be a decline. With websites such as Facebook or Twitter, one can easily keep up with their family and friends. I constantly stay in contact with my friends who I do not see on a regular basis through social media. All interactions are not just through posting comments or instant messaging. Websites like Skype allow people to video chat, which is basically the same thing as face-to-face interaction.
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On the other hand, certain online interactions could diminish interactions between people. On gaming websites, where someone makes an avatar thwarts the persons ability to connect with real life people. They interact with the fake identity of others, which relates back to Hongladarom's idea that the online person is a part of the offline person's identity.
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In thailand
Thai Facebook users choose not to put their picture or real name on their Facebook page profile. They create a whole new person but still project their own thoughts and ideas to his friends. Most of the friends on their Facebook page, they know, but those do not know the person can interact with him/her as well!
Thai Facebook Users: - use pictures of favorite pets, political banners, Thai national flag, cartoon characters, etc. - use names like "Laughing out Loud throughout the Field," "Red Linguist," "Dragon from the Plateau" |