#UOSM2008 Topic 2: Online identities, Pros and Cons.
Question: “Discuss the arguments for and against having more than one online identity”.
Picture source: http://brandconfessions.com/profiles/blogs/5-tips-for-managing-your-social-media-identity
I personally don’t think that Licklider (1963) could imagine that his idea for connecting several computers to make it easier to pass scientific and military information will grow later into this enormous network called the Internet. Demanding grows in popularity of online activities has lead people to create their “digital identities”. However, what is this “Digital identity”? This term is used to describe personas that individuals use across social networks in which they are represented (Williams et al., 2010) . However, how smart is it to have your information be constantly available online and what are the pros and cons of this situation? Below you can find a list of both, my personal and public opinions on this question:
Pros:
- The first and the most important one is obviously the communication. Social networks allow people to communicate from anywhere to anyone, in any numbers.
- Let’s not forget about online identities created in LinkedIn, which helps a lot people find jobs, share knowledge and companies to advertise and promote themselves. One of my friends got his job offer via LinkedIn, the company found him itself.
- Real-time information sharing and News cycle speed have increased, you get news about others and the events much faster
Picture source: http://gearpatrol.com/2009/06/17/be-a-better-man-in-30-days-day-16-know-how-to-manage-your-online-identity-image/
Cons:
- The face-to-face connection is losing its weight. I still do remember my first day in the UK, when I was coming back to my accommodation and there were two teenage girls in front of me, and they were going to say goodbye to each other. I was quite surprised to hear: “See you on Facebook” instead of “See you tomorrow/later”.
- Time-waster. As it can be understood from the name, the vast majority of people do use social networks wisely
- Identity fraud. This can happen as anyone can create a false identity and pose as someone else
Picture source: http://brandconfessions.com/profiles/blogs/5-tips-for-managing-your-social-media-identity
What is my opinion? This might sound strange to hear this from a young person who considers himself a “Digital Resident” of the Web and a person whose major is in Information Technology in Organisation, but I will be honest and say that I’m quite against putting your entire life online to be visible by others. Yes, online communication is good, it removes borders between countries and nations; Yes, it allows people to share their happiness and pain with others and Yes, those who are afraid to speak in public can have their freedom online to express their opinions as they want. However, all of these, and more, must be to some extend!
If my young cousin spends his whole time online and doesn’t know who is Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, George Washington, Shakespeare, etc., this is not acceptable; if people spend more time online rather than with those who dedicated their lives to you (relatives, parents, etc.), this is not acceptable; if people know more about you than they should and can use this against you, this is not acceptable.
I saw this video below nearly one year ago and always used it as an argument when we debate with my friends on this topic. It does worth watching it. And I will just summarize with the last words from this video: “Your entire life is online, and it can be used against you. Be vigilant!”
And last but not least, as an IT person I would be happy to share information about some useful and free softwares and techniques that can help you remain anonymous on the Internet:
- ToR – The Union Router (https://www.torproject.org/), is basically a free software network that uses a set of relay nodes to hide the original source of the traffic
- Use anonymous VPN/Proxy service (http://www.hidemyass.com/), such as HideMyAss, which similarly to ToR will hide the source of the incoming data
- And finally, spoof your IP source address, which in a more understandable way means changing your IP address .
REFERENCES
- Cosmato, D., 2013. Love to know social networking. [Online] Available at: http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Social_Networking [Accessed 22 February 2014].
- Ibraz, A., 2010. Fundamentals of Computing. [Online] Available at: http://mason.gmu.edu/~aibraz/disadvantages.html [Accessed 22 February 2014].
- Joel, P. & Charlotta, W., 20010. Network anonymity. Project. Sweden: Information Security Course Linköpings universitet.
- Murdoch, S.J. & Danezis, G., 2005. Low-cost traffic analysis of ToR. Security and Privacy, 1(1), pp.183-95.
- Williams, S., Fleming, S., Lundqvist, K. & Parslow, P., 2010. Understanding your digital identity. Learning Exchange, 1(1), pp.1-6.