Topic 2: Polycephaly Online Identities …
If you’re reading this, it’s too late… This is because there is a high chance you have more than one identify online. The idea of having more than one online identity has sparked a spiral-debate as a significant amount of people have voiced their arguments for and against having more than one online identity. This blog post aims to be at the equilibrium of this discussion.
So why do people have more than one online identity? Well according to the creator of 4Chan, Christopher Poole argues that ‘individuals are multifaceted – they have to have multiple identities’ [1]. Hence one of the main reasons people have more than one online identity is because of the issues of privacy and security. Indeed you might not want to be one of those people who lose their jobs because of social media mistakes [2]. The video below enlightens on building your online identity.
Frankly speaking, it is actually becoming harder to really have more than one online identity due to the digital footprints, which we are leaving around the web. Like the saying goes little drops of water makes an ocean, ironically that is how our digital footprint makes an enormous big-data for companies. Information about individuals is been sold for money. Besides, recent revelation about mass governmental surveillance and collection of data has made the general public even more aware of privacy and security. But is having more than one online identity a solution?
Perhaps which is why on the other hands, we have people like Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook who said that having more than one identity shows a lack of integrity [3]. You cannot be uniquely identified (honestly you can be but my lips are sealed…). Also it raises concern for malicious users and hackers. It raises concern for identify theft, Trojan horse, bullying, fault dating, and a whole lots of other unwanted effects. For example the story of a hacker impersonating a man and taking a huge amount of loan in his name, leaving him to pay off while enjoying the money [4]. The image below illustrates what was just been explained [5].
To conclude, it is not a case for and against having more than one online identity, but rather considering the context within which they exist and what you believe. Attached to this blog post is a poll, you can vote- are you for or against having more than one online identity? Also feel free to comment below on this ever-ongoing debate.
References:
[1] http://www.psfk.com/2011/10/4chan-founder-to-google-facebook-youre-doing-it-wrong.html
[2] http://mashable.com/2011/06/16/weinergate-social-media-job-loss/
[4] http://www.securedloandirectory.co.uk/2012/08/23/uk-loan-company-impersonated-by-fraudsters/
[5] http://nebolet.com/bolezni/rasstrojstva-lichnosti.html
