Danielle Sicignano
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The Person Behind the Computer Screen: Online Identities
The definition of identity is: the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. This is something we struggle with our entire lives. We are constantly trying to figure out who we are and what our purpose in life is. Our identities change rapidly over adolescence to form what we come to think is our true identity during adulthood. In this day and age identity and the internet go hand in hand. The internet helps us form our identities and let them known to all. It also lets us change who we want people to think we are and form our own online identities.
An online identity is a social identity that network users established in online communities. Some people use their real name online, but most Internet users prefer to identify themselves by means of pseudonyms, which reveal varying amounts of personally identifiable information. In some online contexts, including internet forums, MUDs, instant messenger, and massively multiplying internet games, users can represent themselves visually by choosing an icon-sized graphic image. As other users interact with an established online identity, it acquires a reputation, which enables them to decide whether the identity is worthy of trust.
Internet identities can be a dangerous thing depending on how much information is given. Postings of photographs and basic personal information can be an open invitation for stalkers. Sexual assaults of teenagers have been liked to web sites that are based solely on personal profiles such as MySpace. This is because when you have an online profile not only people that you know and want to see it can, other people can as well, making these profiles predator magnets.
Many people out there that are trying to be safe are putting more information out than they realize. Jenny, a 13 year old from Wisconsin, didn’t give her address, phone number, or even the town in Wisconsin she is from, but from her profile you can find out all of this information. To start Jenny includes her e-mail address on her web page which is her first and last name. But you can find out where Jenny lives much easier than by her name because her mom is a rare cat breeder and she includes a link to her mother’s web page on hers. On her mother’s page you can find their address, phone number, and a map to their home.
There are written rules of what information should be included and what shouldn’t be to protect yourself. These rules are supposed to be followed but often aren’t when making online profiles that will be open to the world wide web. You are not supposed to include any information that will identify you such as your full name, nicknames, and contact information. Nothing that can relate directly back to you and where you spend time.
Though giving too much information is dangerous giving certain types of information about yourself can be helpful to others. People tend to do this type of writing on blogs or online journals. If you are ever confused about yourself and issues that you are having, you can find a blog written by someone who has the same issues as you. You can find someone that is just like you when you think you are lost in the world. An example of this is if you are having gender identity problems. In sociology , gender identity describes the gender with which a person identifies. A person can perceive themself to be a man, a woman, or describe themself in some less conventional way. It can also be used to refer to the gender that other people attribute to the individual on the basis of what they know from gender role indications such as clothing, hair style, etc.
Many people out there are born one gender and relate more to the other. In Jackie Thorne’s story She talks about being born a man and at a young age realizing he liked to dress in women’s clothing. Throughout high school he wore a few items that are typically not worn by men such as bras and panties. He tried to asses what this meant by reading everything he could on the topic. In the end he came to the conclusion that he was a homosexual male transvestite but suppressed this fact throughout college and his fifteen years of marriage to a woman. But over time he could no longer suppress the facts. He divorced his wife and the secret was discovered by a coworker who then spread Jackie’s private business throughout their community. Anyone who is a transvestite can read Jackie Thorne’s story online and see that there are people out there like them, going through similar things.
Personal information, as we have seen, can be both good and bad depending on what information is given. But another problem with online identities is that you don’t know if they are the person’s true identities. You can say you’re anyone you want and no one can know for sure. I’m a 21 year old female but I can easily go into an online chat room and tell people I am a 16 year old boy or 71 year old woman. If they ask for a photo I could easily sent them a picture of someone else that I found on the internet or a photo of a friend or family member. It is that easy to creating a new identity for yourself.
In simple, harmless conversation this is not a problem. But people form relationships over the internet. They begin to think they know the person behind the computer screen. They form attachments and begin to trust them. At times these people even fall in love. This is when people arrange meetings. Until these meetings you can’t know if these people are who they say they are.
It is hard to truly know if the person you are communicating with over the internet is who they say they are. It is hard to know who is taking an interest in you. Because of the internet identities can be dangerous. But no matter what we do we are vulnerable. It is extremely hard to keep all of our personal information a secret. By participating in these online profile sights and chat rooms we are taking a chance. But sometimes taking this chance can help others identify themselves. Having an online identity seems to be a lose/win relationship that we just have to take our chances with and try to be careful.