In this sense my online identity is very much as real as my true identity however it is clouded somewhat as it does not give a complete insight into my true identity.
The identities of the people I know in my social network are as real as they are in reality- this is because most are people whom of which I have interacted with in the real world. I have a rule; to be a friend of mine on Facebook requires that I must have met the individual at least once in the real world, hence everyone on my social network is real and most of all, honest in their online identity.
Stephen Downes explains in his article on places in FB that the integration amongst Facebook users is reliant upon honest identities which suggests that the closer the virtual identity to one's real identity the more successful the connection between users (Downes, 2007).
The words which we use to describe virtual space reflect the fact that the internet is boundless by which it allows anyone to use it and transmit their influence across it to others. We perceive it as a means to do anything we can think of, such as selling, bullying, stealing,interacting, talking, etc. What is created is an entirely different world with freedom of will. Tuan refers to freedom when illustrating geographers views on the proposed "internet" (Tuan, 1991).
The language used in my virtual network can invoke a sense of space and place. This includes: "post here", "like", "free", "exit", "poke".
My virtual network allows me to post status updates and/or images to which a can tag friends if I wish for them to see it. I can create an identity to show people who I am. The way I relate to others is only constricted by the fact that I can only express myself in words and not person.
References:
- Downes, S. (2007). Places to Go: Facebook. Journal of Online Education, 4(1), 95. Retrieved from http://br9xy4lf5w.search.serialssolutions.com
- Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. In Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696.
Nice post Olly. I agree with Downes' suggestion that the closer the virtual identity to one's real identity the more successful the connection between users (Downes, 2007). What I find interesting about Facebook is it allows the user to manipulate who can or cannot see particular things on their profile. For example, it is possible to hide your date of both or marital status too all of your friends or a select few. This could ultimately lead to the user to using variations of the same identity or possible numerous identities depending on to extend to which the identity is hidden or manipulated. If our Facebook profiles were converted to a book, we would have no choice but to provide one identity, true or not, that cannot be changed. However, the internet and Facebook allows us to have power and control over our identities and how they are received by different users.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Downes, S. (2007). Places to Go: Facebook. Journal of Online Education, 4(1), 95. Retrieved from http://br9xy4lf5w.search.serialssolutions.com