Seeing Double: Multiple Online Identities

The concept isn’t a tricky one, but having multiple online identities could almost be described as a phenomenon. People are encouraged to work on their personal development, and building multiple online profiles facilitates this so well. We can create blogs and profile pages which showcase our personalities, talents and expertise. But is the person online really coherent with their offline puppeteer?

It’s safe to say that we all get much braver online. The screens of our computers are letting us hide behind a digital façade. Endless personal information is divulged on all platforms of the internet – the cities we live in, phone numbers and relationship statuses, to name a few. The constant handing over of all this personal information, more so than just turning off cookies, acts as a breeding ground for privacy concerns (Kierkegaard, 2005), identity theft and fraud. An experience I’ve had myself when the popstar Ellie Goulding ‘stole’ a photo I took and it suddenly made it to UK tabloids with little reference to me! I learnt my lesson the hard way regarding the blurred lines between privacy settings and intellectual property…

Personally, I choose to use my full name to keep consistent online, embracing its uniqueness on sites such as Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. This consistency allows me to maintain a lucid image from site to site in this increasingly networked society (Costa & Torres, 2011). However, many choose to adopt nicknames or quirky usernames to maintain an element of privacy. Moreover, the option for anonymity on the web can be seen as the main attraction. On Second Life, for example, users can build an entirely new persona – building social networks that they don’t necessarily have the confidence for offline. In many cases, unfortunately, users can abuse this feature and become a ‘keyboard warrior’ (Summers, 2013), consequently leading cyberbullying.

Additionally, it seems as if the media is almost glamorising the darker side of multiple online identities, particularly in programmes such as Catfish aired on the ever-popular MTV. However, in most cases, the ‘catfisher’ is often demonised, which enhances the severity of hosting multiple online identities to the viewer on a more personal level.

Overall, it seems that the negatives may outweigh the positives of multiple online identities; however I believe that this will change with a growing awareness surrounding privacy and a drive to appear as professional as possible. But, for now, click here.

(398)

References:

Costa, C. & Torres, R., 2011. To be or not to be, the importance of Digital Identity in the networked society, Educacao, Formacao% Tecnologias, No° Extra, p.47-53.

Kierkegaard, S. M., 2005. How the cookies (almost) crumbled: Privacy & lobbyism, Computer Law and Security Report, 21(4), p.310-322.

Summer, A., 2013. A Teen Speaks: ‘Keyboard Warriors’ and How to Deal With Them, Social Times [online] Available at: <http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/a-teen-speaks-keyboard-warriors-and-how-to-deal-with-them/123668&gt; [Accessed 22nd February 2015]