Am I myself on Facebook? Is the person who
people perceive me to be on social media sites truly the same person that I see
when I look in the mirror in the morning. Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook,
claims Identity to be ‘real’ and ‘authentic’, but is it truly?
McNeill argues that on loses a part of
themselves when creating their profile by conforming to the regularization of
information. However, on the other hand, there’s something relatively safe
about not having to look someone in the eye when you say something. I couldn't
count on my fingers the amount of times I've seen other people use Facebook as
the medium through which they direct a nasty comment at another person, hoping
that they’ll see. Is this true identity; hiding behind the intangibility of the
virtual network? It makes you brave knowing that, although the pen – or in this
case the keyboard – can be sharper than the sword, it’s hard to do any real
damage when nothing is said face to face.
However, with this in mind, is it perhaps
even more prudent to say that when danger of the social repercussions are taken
out of the equation, is it not possible for the humanistic guises to fall,
leaving only what truly lies underneath remaining? I know I’m a lot braver on
Facebook, and that’s saying something.
Although perhaps silly to recognize Facebook
in such a way, to the younger demographic of this age, Facebook as become
similar to The Dreaming, a record of past and future events, and a way to
navigate (Stanner, 1979) the ever
expanding, forever complicated virtual world.
Perhaps it’s right to say that rather than
leaving you the anonymous party, Facebook provides you with the ability to
leave everybody else anonymous. It is
the place where literature, art and the environment (Van Luyn, 2013) you live
in come together on a single platform. You could post a status about religion,
politics or relationships – the list goes on – knowing that the person, or
people, that this status are directed at, may only assume it’s about them, and
not know for sure. This leaves you free
to say what you want, and when you’re free, isn't this when true identity rears
its ugly face?
If you're interested in further exploring identity, check out this blog: http://blog.talkingidentity.com/
Bibliography
McNeill, Laurie. (2012.) ‘There is no ‘I’ in network: social networking sites and post-human auto/biography.’ In Biography 35.1
Stanner WEH (1979). ‘The dreaming (1953)’. In White man got no dreaming
BA1002 Lecture Podcast
The safety of being able to say and do what you want without any repercussions is the cause you have highlighted as the reason Facebook users create virtual identities. I agree with this analysis that you have made but wondered if you had also considered the possibility that turning Facebook from a space into a place has given users a new found freedom? From reading your blog post and There Is No "I" in Network I believe users find Facebook a place were socially unacceptable actions are deemed appropriate is due to the control they feel they have over the social networking site.
ReplyDeleteMcNeill, L. (2012). There is no "I" in network: Social networking sites and the posthuman auto-biography. In Biography, 35(1), 101-118.