Reflective summary: The question of multiple (online) identities
The second topic of the course seemed like a natural continuation of previous blog posts. From question How do you interact with the Internet? we have gone to discuss a more detailed problem: whether it is beneficial to have a single or multiple online identities.
I was astonished by the number of ways students approached this topic. From presenting an overview of advantages and disadvantages of both options (on Sarah’s blog), through introducing stronger arguments for one of the approaches (like in Tamara’s post) or even considering the practicalities – whether humans really are able to preserve multiple identities (Leigh’s and Saber’s posts). Such diversity was incredibly interesting for a reader and I personally have learned a lot about the topic through reading these posts.
Tamara is a strong proponent of a single online identity. She wrote a convincing post on how this particular approach is beneficial for a user (in terms of better visibility of his persona online) and for the Internet community (creation of trust between members, more responsibility for one’s actions). Although I partially disagree that the security issues are less important, the whole post was certainly well thought out and interestingly presented Tamara’s point of view.
Leigh’s and Saber’s post are good examples of a diversity of presented opinion. Both approach the problem from a practical side, drawing opposite conclusions. Saber argued that maintaining multiple online identities is a challenge and Web users are “struggling to draw the line between them”. On the other hand, Leigh presents a number of technologies that help maintain separation of identities. Furthermore, he posted a very interesting TED talk (see below), which shows that from psychologist perspective humans may be able to maintain multiple personas on the Internet.
My comments:
