Identity

--> The magic of the web nowadays is that it allows us to portray ourselves however we want to. We can either play at being someone/something totally different, or simply create a better, smarter, cooler version of ourselves. Aleks Krotoski (2011) writes about this in her article about online identity, and cites professor Sherry Turkle; « Unlike the rich space of offline life, where our identity cues are given away on sight, sound, smell, touch and taste, online we perform. »

These factors cited above, and of course the spontaneity of real life can sometimes make it hard to have any control over how other people view you. On internet there is this feeling of control. You will only show what you want people to see. Our ego is very much at the centre of all this. While reading an article by Charlie Brooker (2012) about the new spotify sharing feature, that links up to facebook and shows whatever you are listening to, to all of your online friends, I found interesting the fact that, yes, people are prepared to share the cool, maybe sometimes exaggerated aspects of their lives, but sharing something as 'private' as that would somehow hurt their new improved persona. He writes : « People already create exaggerated versions of themselves for online consumption: snarkier tweets, more outraged reactions. Online, you play at being yourself. Apply that pressure of public performance to private, inconsequential actions – such as listening to songs in the comfort of your own room – and what happens, exactly? »

Where it seems the net could have been a platform of complete creative freedom and openness, where anyone could be anyone, without any direct implication in our 'real lives', now as Aleks Krotoski (2011) says « the freedom of expression is curtailed by the threat of offline consequences from online actions. Today, your reputation offline is far more closely tied to your reputation online than before. »

Reference list:

Charlie Brooker (2012) 'I'm all for sharing, but why the online obsession with revealing every detail of youre life?' The Guardian, 29 January, [online]. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/29/sharing-obsession-revealing-every-detail

( Accessed : 12/12/2012 )

Aleks Krotoski (2011) 'Online identity: Can we really be whoever we want to be?' The Guardian, 19 june, [online]. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/19/aleks-krotoski-online-identity-turkle (Accessed : 12/12 /2012 )