Topic 2: Reflection

‘The one or many faces of me. . .?’ is a representation of my view, that having one or more online identities, is a reflection of personal desire and choice.

But, perhaps you see it as a pun? . . . Whilst, Facebook promotes authentic identity creation, many are choosing to show ‘one or many’ sides of ourselves. . .thus, encapsulating the essence of this weeks debate!

Lucy’s ‘On the internet nobody know if you’re a dog’ title, resonated with my understanding, that online identity/ies is complex because (there’s the possibility that) we are never truly sure of who we are interacting with online.

Interacting with Andy’s blog, we both identified an ‘Internet Age’ paradox. I believe that online identity/ies is a result of personal choice, whereas Andy agreed with the view, that we are more likely to converge to one identity (even though there’s a wealth of available possibilities online). Contradictory of this, Andy identified that he has an authentic Facebook account, but multiple anonymous identities in the gaming community. How is this possible I wondered? From our discussion, and his psychology background, it was clear that he longed for an ‘ideal self’, which wasn’t always possible on Facebook, when friends already knew, but in the anonymous gaming world this was acceptable.

What hadn’t been brought to my attention was the struggle between online and offline legalities in having multiple identities  in Dominic’s blog. Researching further, I came across ‘multiple personality disorder’, which led me to further question him. While, I didn’t receive a reply, I believe this could reflect the challenges between the law, internet age and us.

It was encouraging to read Anna’s responses to my set questions. Whilst there were a number of similarities and differences, it further developed my understanding of the personal factors influencing online identity/ies. The interdisciplinary nature of our further discussion, was intriguing, since we engaged in an educationally dominated discussion, utilised by my faculty knowledge as an Education student.

[Words: 328]

 My Comments:

1. Andy’s Blog: http://andysugden.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/online-identity-or-online-identities/comment-page-1/#comment-8

2. Dominic’s Blog: http://uzoweblife.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/multiple-online-identities/comment-page-1/#comment-1

 

 


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