Reflective Summary – Topic 2
This week we were tasked with looking into the merits and disadvantages of using multiple online identities and whether or not using more than one can affect our interactions online. This topic has been very interesting, especially with a lot of recent relevant news stories to link them with.
Before this, I had not given much thought to the ideas of anonymity and authenticity on the web despite being a walking example of the problems we face when deciding between them; something that could be said of most people. Looking at this has really opened my eyes to decisions we make unwittingly when creating different user accounts for different web based services.
It has also been extremely interesting and useful to be able to apply some of my sociological knowledge gleaned from my criminological studies to what I feel is becoming an increasingly relevant aspect of modern society. Being able to use Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor in conjunction with online personas has undoubtedly increased my understanding of the way in which he speaks about the use of roles and how individuals are constantly adapting their behavioural output depending on the actions they are expected to take and the context of the setting.
This was highlighted when talking to rknowles92 about how authenticity, integrity and anonymity take on different degrees of importance in different situations i.e. how the role of an academic or expert in a field automatically attributes a level of respect and trust towards their output than someone who does not possess the qualifications for this role.
On the whole, it has made me think a lot more about whether or not I maintain a high level of inter-connectivity between my online personas. While using a single username and password may make it easier to remember, and lend authenticity to what I say from every account, it also means that you lose a certain amount of security and privacy; always having to think about what you say and how it could be interpreted by followers of each account.
