{"id":48,"date":"2010-02-19T17:38:56","date_gmt":"2010-02-19T17:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/?p=48"},"modified":"2010-02-26T16:24:30","modified_gmt":"2010-02-26T16:24:30","slug":"online-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/2010\/02\/19\/online-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Online Identity (Brief) &#8211; First Post"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">RESEARCH ISSUE &#8211; ONLINE IDENTITY:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>Overview:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>A very interesting issue for research would be to investigate the concept of identity on the Web and the possible consequences of potential anonymity \u2013 such as \u2018Flaming.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Identity on the Web is an important area to be examined, as people may be able to portray a different identity online than in the physical world. Therefore, it may enable people to voice an opinion without constraints, or depict a variant identity online \u2013 for example how an individual may use a social networking site.<\/p>\n<p>In the Foundations of Web Science Module there was a sociology lecture focused on this area entitled: \u2018Social Structures.\u2019 Furthermore, there was also a politics lecture that centred on the concept of privacy on the Web and possible concealment of identity. Therefore, it would be very appealing to examine how both the sociological and political views on the Web in regards to identity are similar and compare these disciplines\u2019 methodologies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Intial Research Areas:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Does the potential anonymity the Web affords offer an opportunity for individuals to express their real-selves? Or can it be used for exaggeration \u2013 such as, individuals portraying themselves as how they would like to act in the physical world, and over the top aggressive behaviour (\u2018flaming.\u2019)<\/li>\n<li>Do individuals have a separate online identity? Is an individual\u2019s identity online a reflection of their real-self, or an exaggeration<strong>?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>&#8216;Gender-Switching&#8217;<\/li>\n<li>How has the Web impacted on our identity? Does the way identity is viewed differ from before the Web?<\/li>\n<li>How does the ability to create anonymous identities and allow people to pretend to be other real-world identities create new issues such as cyber-stalking and online defamation?<\/li>\n<li>Can anonymity allow individuals a better way to express their real beliefs about Government and policy?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Preliminary Sociology Research:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">What is Sociology?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.soton.ac.uk\/socsci\/sociology\/study\/ug\/degree.html\">http:\/\/www.soton.ac.uk\/socsci\/sociology\/study\/ug\/degree.html<\/a> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">University of Southampton: BSc Sociology &#8211; The Modules<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/socsci\/sociology\/study\/ug\/socstruct.html\">http:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/socsci\/sociology\/study\/ug\/socstruct.html<\/a> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">A Breakdown of the Available Modules<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/socsci\/sociology\/study\/ug\/modules.html#traditions\">http:\/\/www.southampton.ac.uk\/socsci\/sociology\/study\/ug\/modules.html#traditions<\/a> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Current Reading:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Green, E. and Adam, A, \u2018Virtual Gender: Technology, Consumption and Identity,\u2019 (Routledge, London, 2001)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This book contains interesting studies in regards to \u2018gender-switching\u2019 on the Web. Why might a female individual wish to portray a male identity online \u2013 and vice versa?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jones, P, \u2018Introducing Social Theory,\u2019 (Polity Press, Cambridge, 2003)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This book offers an overview of sociological theory; however, it has become apparent that there are many different schools of thought in regards to the concept of identity. For example, on one hand it is argued that \u2018body-centredness\u2019 governs the concept of identity, whereas other theorists believe that due to the modern age and \u2018consumer culture,\u2019 material belongings are now used in its expression.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Other Reading:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sassen, S, \u2018A Sociology of Globalization,\u2019 (Norton &amp; Company, London, 2007)<\/p>\n<p>Nunes, M, \u2018Cyberspaces of Everyday Life,\u2019 (University of Minnesota Press, London, 2006)<\/p>\n<p>Lull, J, (Eds.,) \u2018Culture in the Communication Age,\u2019 (Routledge, London, 2001)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RESEARCH ISSUE &#8211; ONLINE IDENTITY: Overview: A very interesting issue for research would be to investigate the concept of identity on the Web and the possible consequences of potential anonymity \u2013 such as \u2018Flaming.\u2019 Identity on the Web is an important area to be examined, as people may be able to portray a different identity [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[270,248],"class_list":["post-48","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sociology-discipline","tag-online-identity","tag-sociology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions\/61"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/comp6044\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}