Currently browsing category

Topic 2 2017, Page 3

Topic 2 – Is there a Benefit to having Multiple Digital Identities?

To understand the arguments surrounding identity, one must understand the meaning and the process of its development. According to Techopedia (n.d.), a digital identity is comprised of key data attributes – username, date of birth, online search activity, etc. – and digital identifiers – email address, domain name, etc.- claimed in cyberspace to reflect an individual or organisation. The graphic above demonstrates “7 Steps To Building Your Digital Identity”. Continue reading →

Should we have multiple online identities?

With the development of the internet over the past few years, having a social media account has become the norm for most people in society. Most people will have a Facebook or Twitter account as a way of keeping in the loop, as well as having this personal account it is now common that people will also have a professional online identity more appropriate for a professional lifestyle. Therefore providing the opportunity for multiple online identities. Continue reading →

Topic 2: Online Identities – Who do you think I am?

Figure 1. Online vs. offline self. The above video beautifully demonstrates how most people have multiple online identities. According to the Internet Society (2011), an ‘online identity’ is the sum of one’s characteristics and interactions on the Web. An online identity consists of several partial identities or personas that represent different characteristics, based on the information ourselves and others provide (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2015). Continue reading →

A discussion on having multiple online identities – a marketing view

Your online identity (ID) is a sum of your characteristics and interactions when you use the internet (Cameron, 2005). Shown on the graphic below from we are social, 50% of the world’s population uses the internet and 37% are active social media users. With the growing influence of social communities on our day to day lives (e.g. for business, banking and socialising) we’re experiencing an increasing need to manage our online ID. Continue reading →

Topic 2: Online Identities

The internet has become an indispensable facet of daily life, especially in the last decade. This has led to web users, whether consciously or unconsciously, creating what are called online identities. WHAT IS AN ONLINE IDENTITY? As a whole, your identity sums up all of the characteristics (i.e. hometown, date of birth etc.) that make you who you are. Continue reading →

Topic Two- Multiple Identities

As our globalized world continues to flourish and new online systems emerge, the gap between which we can separate our online persona from our real-life activities is decreasing (Costa and Torres,2011).In the 1990’s web user remained anonymous through concealed identities, however, the creation of social networking sites and the formation of personal online profiles places our personal information to a public setting and puts our online activities under surveillance (Krotoski, 2012). Continue reading →

Anonymity is endangered

Gradually the ability to use the Internet anonymously is being eroded away, every website you use seems to require you to setup some kind of account to participate often requiring part of your real identity to continue despite it not being strictly necessary for operation [1]. This trend towards full disclosure has raised concerns about the future of anonymity on the net. An identity is the collection of attributes and behaviors that describe an agent, typically a human or computer [2]. Continue reading →

Online identities: are you in control?

The birth of cyberspace provided ‘a new space for the re-construction of the self as a new persona or even personas’  through a wide range of services and platforms (Costa & Torres, 2011). The ability to establish multiple online identities can appeal to users who want to remain anonymous (using pseudonyms) or, for example, want to separate their personal social life from their online professional sphere. Continue reading →

For and against multiple online identities: We are who applications and other users say we are

Web ‘Technological advancements’ arguably shape how we should manage multiple online identities. Having moved from a static ‘Read’ Web towards a social, dynamic interactive, collaborative and networked Read-Write Web (Costa and Torres, 2011) Cyberspace engagement increasingly requires digital identification: users purportedly navigate and negotiate identity by creating and managing ‘multiple’ online identities. Continue reading →

Topic 2: Online Identities

Your ‘online identity’ is the sum of your characteristics and interactions with the web (Internet Society). This is not limited to social media, but also includes aspects of online shopping, banking, gaming etc. An online identity is made up of several partial identities, or personas, that represent different characteristics based on information that ourselves and others provide. These concepts are summarised below. Figure 1. Summary of online identities. Continue reading →

Topic 2: The many faces of me: Different sites, different audiences, different purposes.

In this week’s post, I will discuss multiple online identities; I acknowledge that this topic is broad in scope and is also akin to privacy and fake identities. However, the aim of my post is to highlight the benefits of having the appropriate number of online profiles and underline where multiple identities can equally become obsessive and counterproductive. (Butler, 2010) theory of Performative Identity (1) is a great premise for exploring online identity in further depth. Continue reading →

Should multiple online identities be allowed?

As we interact with different websites, each has a different perception of who we are. These perceptions are referred to as partial identities – subsets of our true identity. Take Amazon for example who store cookies to build an identity through the products we buy. This information is then used for our benefit, for example by advertising on Facebook. In addition, we also present personas online. These are partial identities which are instead constructed by ourselves. Continue reading →

Topic 2: Online Identities

With the online world advancing, the use of the internet is increasing as we find ourselves enveloped in accessible information. We reap the wonderful benefits of this with our abilities to connect with family and friends from around the world, shop online and access endless information. However in doing so we leave behind our own ‘digital identity‘. Digital Identity: is the information we leave online, the sum of our characteristics. Continue reading →

Topic 2: Online Identity

  Original Source here Over the last decade or two, the internet has quickly become the place for people to socialise not only across countries but across the room, increasing the need to create a permanent identity on the internet. On social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter, you can choose who to ‘friend’ or ‘follow’ but how do you know these profiles represent who they are meant to.   Here is an example of using one account to create another. Continue reading →

Topic 2 – Who are we?

In an era of increasingly blurred public-private spheres, any online activity contributes toward a digital identity (Boyd, 2008). Many concerns exist surrounding the formation of a single identity, let alone multiple. Through assumptions of openness and reinvention, Costa and Torres (2011) argue that creating multiple online identities can be beneficial, but this curation depends on our priorities. Continue reading →

Topic 2: Online Identities

The web is a wonderful thing. It lets us access a pool of knowledge at our fingertips; connect with family and friends on other continents and even order items online for same day delivery. However, with the many amazing benefits of the online world, also come some concerns. Use of the Internet grows exponentially every day and with that, more and more people are leaving digital footprints behind and creating what is called their ‘digital identity’. Continue reading →