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Online and offline identities
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An extensive debate has formed over the years since the explosion of social networks about online and offline identities. An identity is defined according to (Oxforddictionaries.com, 2014) as the characteristics determining who or what a person or a thing is. An online identity is defined as a identity that a person establish in an online environment such as social networks. An offline identity is defined as a identity that a person establish in an offline environment such as in real life.
The debate about these identities is that for one person these identities either differ or they are the same. Online profiling utilizes online identities and therefore the reason for this extensive debate. Is the identity that are being profiled the real identity of the actual person? According to the research done by (Nauert, 2013) there is a bit of an overlap between online and offline identities. But is this overlap great enough to definitely say that online and offline identities are the same? People find it difficult to understand their real identity (An unquiet Mind, 2012) and therefore the natural trend of online identities is to differ from the real identity, because people are still finding their real identity. If you cannot understand your real identity how can you establish an online identity based on your real identity?
What we post, share and do online depends mainly on two things. Firstly, the "friends" and our relationships with them on a social platform (Rowe, 2010). For each different relationship we have with people we choose to share certain information about ourselves, for example you won't share the same information with your friends than what you share with your mother or even your partner. As mentioned by (Rowe, 2010) th...
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...The Conflict of Online & Offline Identities. [online] Available at: http://skeptic.skepticgeek.com/2012/02/25/online-offline-identities-conflict/ [Accessed: 22 Mar 2014].
• Mccarty, K. M. 2012. Examination of How One's Perceived Online Identity on Social Media Affects One's Perceived Real-Life Identity.
• Nauert, R. 2013. Online Personality Influences Real-Life Identity - Psych Central News. [online] Available at: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/01/21/online-personality-influences-real-life-identity/50633.html [Accessed: 22 Mar 2014].
• Oxforddictionaries.com, (2014). identity: definition of identity in Oxford dictionary (British & World English). [online] Available at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/identity [Accessed 3 May. 2014].
• Rowe, M. (2010). The credibility of digital identity information on the social web: a user study. pp.35--42.
One identity is the person an individual is online, and the second identity is the personality an individual is in real life. Most online personalities are more open and talkative. Online, people are not afraid to say what is on their mind. What they share is open to the world, but is behind a screen and typed up, so there is no face-to-face conversation or debate going on. Not having anyone to say what is on the individual’s mind in person lets down the guard of what others think of the specific
Individuals conceived between the years of 1980 and 2000, as indicated by this article, experience serious difficulties finding their actual self due to the online networking outlets; they regularly depict another person life of a fantasy dream American life on the web. As today’s more youthful era makes the transition to adulthood, trying to accommodate between online and offline characters can be hard. “Van den Bergh asked 4,056 individuals, ages 15 to 25, when they felt they were or weren't being genuine online or logged off, with companions, folks, accomplices or employers.” Through this research he found,
Ever since the dawn of time, people have been communicating with others around them and with today’s technology people can interconnect with people across the globe. They have access to a wider range of peers and colleagues like no other time period and the possibilities continue to advance these communications. Yet as those in the world continue to make new friends and hear the opinions of more people they slowly develop a dual personality. Though people have always had parallel identities, one for family and friend, and another for acquaints and strangers, as Barbara Mellix points out in her essay. Mellix is a writer and educator who’s essay “From the Outside, In” tells how she grew up learning two identities so she could function in both her personal world with close family and friends, and her world that dealt with others. Now as the world of the others has expanded with the help of technology so has the use of the second identity and it has taken the form of the online identity. People’s second online identity is always on an aggressive defense, paranoid to the point of any wrong thing said or unsaid could lead to a fight, and they tend to only be happy when there is someone to attack. In the physical world where people are surrounded by true friends and people they trust with their emotions and they are more caring and sympathetic of others’ pain. However the online identity poses a threat to the personal identity as people begin to pull traits from one identity to the next. Although not having an online identity Mellix can relate to this with an experience that involved confusing her identities. Mellix describes how when her personalities become mixed, she was puzzled about who she was and who belonged in her personal iden...
When people create different identities, it may be to distort reality. People may create identities to fulfill fantasies or just to impersonate others(in other words, distorting reality). Everyone has done it whether it was from acting in a skit or creating a false photo identification card or just giving someone a fake name. All of those above are different ways of distorting reality and different ways of changing an identity.
defined as a person X has a personal identity if and only if they have the same
A person’s identity is not something that can be removed, It can only change over time. Some people may feel as if they have lost their identity, but they have not lost it. It is only hidden. Many people have different definitions of identity, but there should only be one, universal definition. The definition of identity is the values someone has, and how said person treats others.
Identity, an ambiguous idea, plays an important part in today’s world. To me identity can be defined as who a person is or what differentiates one person from another. Identity would be a person’s name, age, height, ethnicity, personality, and more. A quote by Anne Sexton states “It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was”(Anne Sexton). This quote helps me define identity because I believe it is saying that identity is what people are remembered by. When some people think of identity, words such as, uniqueness, distinctiveness, or individuality may come to mind. However, I disagree with this because when I think of identity I think of mimicry, self-consciousness, or opinions.
A person can have more than one identity to be recognized as but when identity are thought of, people will mostly focus on the external markers of identity; what we can see on our self, physically.
Multiple identities have been increased by the creation of cyberspace communications according to "Cyberspace and Identity" by Sherry Turkle. Turkle uses four main points to establish this argument. Her first point is that online identity is a textual construction. Secondly she states that online identity is a consequence-free moratorium. Turkle's third point is online identity expands real identity. Finally, her last point states that online identity illustrates a cultural concept of multiplicity. I disagree with many aspects of her argument and I have found flaws in her argument. Technology is an area that does not stand still and consequently outpaced Turkle's argument.
Before the internet, our characteristics such as style, identity, and values were primarily exposed by our materialistic properties which psychologists define as the extended self. But people’s inferences to the idea of online self vs. offline self insisted a translation to these signals into a personality profile. In today’s generation, many of our dear possessions have been demolished. Psychologist Russell W belk suggest that: “until we choose to call them forth, our information, communications, photos, videos, music, and more are now largely invisible and immaterial.” Yet in terms of psychology there is no difference between the meaning of our “online selves” and “offline selves. They both assist us in expressing important parts of our identity to others and provide the key elements of our online reputation. Numerous scientific research has emphasized the mobility of our analogue selves to the online world. The consistent themes to these studies is, even though the internet may have possibly created an escape from everyday life, it is in some ways impersonating
Identity is defined as one’s personal characteristics or attributes and their membership of a social category. In today’s society it is important to note how social media impacts upon our individual identities.
Santos, J. (2013). On Sharing and Losing Control of an Online Persona. Retrieved March 12, 2014 from Media Commons website: http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/question/what-are-major-sociallegalprofessional-stakes-sharing-online/response/sharing-and-losing-co
Online identity is a term that is used for all that there is found about a person or company in the online environment. Not only a website or a social media profile creates this environment, it’s a compilation of those things that when combined make the online identity. In our current information society the importance of a good online identity has become bigger then ever. How you look online, has influence on how people perceive you in real life. 86 percent of the recruiters will look online for a profile or other information found in search engines before even inviting you on a job interview .
One of the main reasons why social media has positively affected our society is because of how it has made communicating with people much easier. “Today, four out of five active internet users maintain at least one social media profile” (Moe, 3). Using these websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and etc., people talk about everything with anyone from what they are planning to do, also what they are eating and much more (Moe, 24). Also we can also send private messages to other users of these websites about personal m...
Most social networks make it possible for individuals to upload their entire life to a public profile. You’re not only sharing personal information with your friends but also the friends of your friends. Personal information spreads rapidly on a Social Networking Site than through a real-life network and sometimes provides more information than we would have thought. A social networking site is defined as a network of individuals related to each other based on a common interest or a real-life connection. The popularity of these sites introduces the use of a new and easy form of communication. People spend countless hours interacting with their ‘friends’ on these sites with the help of a ‘comment’ and a ‘like’ button.