Thinking about...our Involvement in the Cyber World

Thinking about...Our Involvement in the Cyber World

Identity Crisis

Can you imagine a world without Facebook? What did we do with our lives before it? In our modern technologized media culture, Facebook and other social networking sites alike have become a core competent of our participation in both our online worlds and our external environment and has ultimately created a sphere for which we can control our identities. Social networking sites are defined as applications that enable users to connect with others by creating personal information profiles whilst inviting friends and colleagues to have access to those profiles (Kaplan, A, Haenlein, M, 2011). These personal profiles can include a variety of information, including text, photos, videos, audio files, and blogs that people freely and willingly update and contribute to. It seems that nowadays, internet users are happy to publicly proliferate information about themselves, whether it be a truthful, indicative information of their actual selves or not. Ultimately, social media acts as medium for people to construct, manipulate and alter their identities in a simple, almost uncontested, manner.  

Traditionally, identity may have been seen as a combination of elements of our personalities, both innate and developed. Genetics, nationality, ethnicity, and environment were and are features that can be perceived as composing our identity. However, with the growth and ubiquity of social media, identity has become something quite comparative. A number of scholars have resulted that identity has become a significant reflection of the self-concept. As defined by Rosenberg (1986), Self-concept is “the totality of a person’s thoughts and feelings in reference to oneself as an object”. Identity, on the other hand, is that part of the self ‘‘by which we are known to others” (Altheide, 2000, p. 2) (Zhao, S, Grasmuck, S, 2008). Judith Butler (1999) says identity is a performance of fantasy and desire; a pursuit of being and becoming the image of this desire (Thomas, A, 2007). The construction of an identity is therefore a public process that involves both the claims by the individual about their own identity and the identity constructed by others who endorse the claimed identity (Stone, 1981, p. 188).

Raessens (2005) describes two key terms that are useful in allowing us to understand the cultural shifts that were initiated by the Facebook phenomenon that have altered the way identity is formed and maintained. Michael Heim described virtual reality as “an event or entity that is real in effect but not in fact” (Raessens, J, 2005). The virtual space by which we create our identity is real in effect, as it reflects who we desire to be, however, in fact, is not a true representation of the self. Severe reliance and ‘addiction’ into this virtual space can lead individuals into deep immersion in a pseudo-world, impacting their perception of social, language and cultural norms.  

Is our involvement in the online world becoming too prevalent in our everyday lives?

Raessens (2005) describes the process of interactivity, which explores how modern internet users can control their cyber space in a way that is meaningful to them. Through the example of Andrew Cameron, Rassens (2005) identifies interactivity as “the ability to intervene in a meaningful way within the representation itself”.  This is particularly relevant in terms of the individual’s ability to intervene with online content in order to represent themselves in a certain manner. The construction of online profiles enables people to hide their undesired physical features, and anonymity allows individuals to re-create their biography and personality. In other words, the “disembodied and anonymous online environment makes it possible for people to reinvent themselves through the production of new identities” (Zhao, S, Grasmuck, S, 2008). On Facebook, we can easily alter our identities depending on the photos we post, status’ we write and the people we connect with. The deletion of unflattering photos marks the beginning of censoring our profiles and hiding elements of our identity to suit our preferences. Instead of keeping these unappealing photos on their walls, users are inclined to post exciting, flattering, flawless looking photos in order to impress their followers. In essence, we proliferate an image of who we want others to perceive us as, and who we desire to be, whether through photos or text. One user may constantly post photos of themselves clubbing, drinking and dancing in order to present themselves to their cyber network as a party person. Another may tag themselves as “going for a 30km run” or “At the gym lifting 200kg weights…with one hand.” in the hope for recognition as a fitness fanatic. Although, they may choose not to tag themselves as “Scoffing down a Big Mac after exhausting myself after that marathon” in order to maintain a certain reputation. Either way, both examples explore how our identities are a construction of the information we choose to expose and omit to our wider, online community.

The identity claims we present on Facebook can be both implicit and explicit. Most implicit identity claims are visual, involving the display of photos and pictures uploaded by the users themselves (Zhao, S, Grasmuck, S, 2008). While they do not overtly claim the personality of an individual, photos imply elements of a personality. Admittedly, when one of my friends post that they are “In a relationship with….” a new person, I instantly have a quick stalk to see what they ‘are like’. Although I don’t read anything that their new beau writes, I may scroll through a few photos and draw assumptions about what kind of person they might be. Because really, I can decipher an entire person’s life by looking at two public profile pictures. I see one photo of them hugging their dog? Ah, clearly he must be a playful, loyal vegetarian with a restless attitude who likes the outdoors, and is quite the affectionate type who’ll text you at least 5 times a day, but will always act manly in front of his mates to maintain his male bravado. He also won’t be pleased that you have a cat, but don’t worry…he’s too afraid of losing you to ever tell you.

Is authenticity or anonymity more important?

Research conducted by Zhao and Grasmuck (2008) shows the number of profile pictures displayed by users ranged from 2 to 399, averaging 88.4 (median = 63.5) photos per user. The number of users who displayed their profile photos and wall posts to their cyber network ranged from 90.5% to 95.2%. By showing images without explicit description, Facebook users sought to make certain implicit identity claims aimed at generating desired impressions on their viewers especially in terms of the depth and extent of their social ties (Zhao, S, Grasmuck, S, 2008). Comparatively, explicit claims involve users’ verbal descriptions of themselves, both enumerated around interests, pages they “like” and preferences as well as narrated descriptions of self (Zhao, S, Grasmuck, S, 2008). Marshall (2010) perceives this constant exposure and interest in each other’s lives as an indication of a well-developed specular economy whose foundations are derived from the much longer tradition of celebrity culture and whose repercussions relate to an emerging comfortability with a society of surveillance. As much as it may seem surreal, privacy is not as valued as it has previously been. We have become accustomed to broadcasting our intimate lives and becoming involved in trivial matters in other peoples (Bentley, P, 2011). 

The way people manipulate their identities on Facebook is similar to that of those who create an online dating profile. Research conducted on people’s profiles on Internet dating sites showed that the identities that were produced differed from the identities produced in face-to-face situations, because people on the Internet dating sites tended to ‘‘stretch the truth a bit” (Yurchisin et al., 2005, p. 742) in their online self-presentations (Zhao, S, Grasmuck, S, 2008). Obvious as it may seem, this process of “stretching the truth” may be seen as more or less acceptable as identity claims made on Facebook. On dating websites, you are representing yourself to a variety of strangers (rather than a network of people you are probably already acquainted with as on Facebook). Therefore, their identity claims may be more accepted as truth. By that note, if an individual was to venture out and meet someone they have connected with via a dating website, the other person will be quick to discover their date is not the tall, blonde, gym-junkie they expected. So is allowing users to have the freedom to post whatever content they want an advantage or a detriment to creating an identity and constructing a self-concept?

Manti Te'o has become a poster person for fake internet relationships. 

Whether an advantage or a disadvantage, virtual social worlds, such as Facebook, Twitter, and online games, give inhabitants the freedom to choose their behaviour and essentially live a virtual life beyond their real life (Kaplan, A, Haenlein, M, 2011). The Second Life application is a prime example of this. The game allows the player to do mostly everything that is possible in daily, physical life such speaking to other avatars, taking a walk, relaxing in the garden. The user creates an avatar that represents themselves in this alternate universe.  The visual content and graphics of the game is intended to immerse the player in a computer-generated reality, alluding them to a sense of escapism from their own actual environment. They become focused on the senses they are experiencing in their ‘Second Life’, and become habituated to outside noises (Kaplan, A, Haenlein, M, 2011), ultimately suggesting their descent into a virtual reality. Their identity, therefore, becomes manifest in their avatar. Like the desired self one presents on Facebook, a person’s avatar may withhold they characteristics they crave to have. Luscious hair, an ideal figure, a particular fashion sense. Becoming absorbed in the character is an indication of submission into another identity. One that is affirmed by virtual friends, who accept the avatar for who or what it is, unable to judge the physical person beyond the screen.

Second Life

The construction and proliferation of identity through the means of social mediums are not necessarily all false claims with negative implications. The practise of blogging is a particularly prevalent mode of communication in our modern, Western society, and has created a community culture in a world beyond our physical space. The content of blogs typically reflects what is expected to impact the writer’s life, such as school, intimate relationships, sexual identity, personal interests, music, politics and others (Huffaker, D, 2004). According to Lim (2012), blogs have become a vehicle to produce a new communication sphere, allowing individuals to broadcast their own social and political commentaries and to build networks of individuals of similar interests. As an example, three cyber communities met in a face-to-face event in July 2006 that served as a gathering for like-minded Indonesian Muslim’s to discuss the importance of cyberspace and the blogosphere. The rapid expansion of the Internet enabled these Muslim groups to engage globally with a community of like-minded individuals who have a cultural understanding of each other (Lim, M, 2012). Cyber communities can be therefore seen as contributing to a wider senses of belonging and cements a sense of identity, which can greatly enhance to ones sense of well-being.

The cyber world is becoming a vehicle for individuals to create a sense of identity, whether it be truthful and indicative of their actual selves. While this may be seen as misleading a deceptive behaviour, our freedom to create and essentially perform a desired persona in the world of social media may be quite empowering.  Our lives are broadcasted, censored and monitored by our own selves, lending each individual with the power to determine the blurring lines between their ‘real’ and constructed identities.

Sources:

Raessens, J. 2005, ‘Computer games as participatory media culture’, Handbook of Computer Game Studies, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 373-388

Johanson, I, 2013, ‘Antisocial Networking’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18^th of August, retrieved September 3^rd 2013, http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/antisocial-networking-20130815-2rxfk.html

Thomas, A, 2007, ‘Youth Online: Identity and Literacy in the digital age’, Peter Lang Publishing, New York

Bell, D, 2000, ‘An Introduction to Cyber Cultures’, Routledge, London

Lim, M, 2012, ‘Life is Local in the Imagined Global Community: Islam and Politics in the Indonesian Blogosphere’, Journal of Media and Religion, vol. 11, pp 127-140

Huffaker, D, 2004, Gender similarities and differences in online identity and language use among teenage bloggers, Georgetown University, Washington

Kaplan, A, Haenlein, M, 2011, Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media, Business Horizons, vol 54, issue 3, pgs 241-251

Zhao, S, Grasmuck, S, 2008, Identity Construction on Facebook: Digital Empowerment in Anchored Relationships, Computers in Human Behaviour, vol 24, issue 5, pgs 1816-1836

Gasmuck, S, Martin, J, Zhao, S, 2009, Ethno-Racial Identity Displays on Facebook, Jounal of Computer Mediated Technology, vol 15, issue 1, pgs 158-188

Marshal, P.D 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502

Bentley, P, 2011, ‘Celebrity culture 'is making educated women dim-witted'’, Mail Online, 16 June, retrieved September 11 2013