Are we representing our true selves in our online identities? Or just who we wish we were?
The definition of Identity, as quoted by the Cambridge dictionary is “who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group that make them different from others”, to what extent does this definition apply to an individual’s online presence? As technology continues to develop and humanity delves further into the age of information, our physical and online presences are continuing to merge. In this information age society is beginning to value the identity of an individual’s online presence equivalent to, or in some cases more so than their physical “face-to-face” persona.
With the ever-increasing value of online social networking, especially in millennial society -will our offline identity become second to that of our online presence? In my personal situation I have 1,325 friends on Facebook, whenever I post or share on average 35% of my friends will see that material, that’s over 463 people. However, if I was to express the same content in my post in person, it will rarely be heard by more than 1–10 people in a social situation, by spread of word it may reach an extra 30–50 people, that’s no more than 60 people in total. Instantly, almost 400 people have altered their opinion of me, however insignificant the change is, it is present. Even if only 30% of the 463 people who saw my post read it in detail, that’s still almost 80 people more online than in person.
An article shared by The Guardian found that multiple online personalities all lead back to the same personality. When people are dissatisfied with their offline personality, they attempt to be someone else online, whether they try to be kinder, braver, smarter, or comedic, but in most cases, they fail to export this online personality they possess into their physical self. It may be because of a variety of factors, they may not have the time to review what they want to say in person, they may not be able to resist the urge to say something stupid or inconsiderate.
But what is the reward for so many behind having an online presence, is it just to stay connected with friends, to gain fame, or could it be something else? An article written by Olivia Freeman says the reason could be behind the culture of “Liking, sharing, and commenting”. It found that “A sense of social order was seen through the enforcement of rules around utilization of a currency centred on likes, emojis and comments”. While this study was focused on millennials, it can easily be extrapolated that the same motivation could be behind adults and their online identity.
In conclusion, it can be easily seen that as human society continues to expand into the information age, our identities are in flux. They are stuck somewhere between the person we are offline, and the person we want to be online.
References
https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2015/sep/24/online-offline-personality-digital-identity
