Which one is the REAL me?
So what kind of online identities are there? Watch this little clip to find out more!
Self-produced
Personally, I keep multiple identities online.
1. For professional use (for school and work)
2. For personal use (for friends and relatives)
Self-produced
Answering to which one is the real me, both personal and professional accounts are the real me. What differs is types of contents and interactions made based on the kind of impression I want to portray to my audience. I mean, you can’t use your Tinder profile picture on LinkedIn that may be viewed by your future employers, right?
Let’s explore more into multiple identities online
Sockpuppetry, which is to create false deceptions of identities online to fit into a particular culture. (Seife et al., 2014)
Going in depth into sockpuppetry, there are 2 different types;
1. Type 1 – the puppet master fabricates a phony persona who has a specific attribute or experience that the puppet master himself lacks.
Case study – Amina Araf (Brekke, 2015)
Tom made up Amina Araf as a Syrian American fighting for Liberal and Lesbian rights in Syria to give his ideas credibility.
2. Type 2 – the fictional personality must be someone other than the puppet master. Type 2 sockpuppets are often deployed as reinforcements in an online feud.
Case study – John Lott (Morin and Morin, 2003)
John was a lecturer, and he invents a student, Mary. ‘Mary’ defends John from it’s harshest critic and compliments him excessively.
FUN BREAK: If you have time, watch Catfish from MTV (or highlights here), I personally loved #2 and #4
Understanding that it is easy to create a ‘human’, some may question how do we identify all these bots? Fake people create fake news, so if you can identify fake news, you can identify fake people too!
Linking back to my previous post, there is a comprehensive guide on how you can do so!
In conclusion, I came up with a table to help you to decide whether you want to keep it professional or personal, single or multiple identities.
Self produced
“Different sites, difference audiences, difference purpose.”
References:
Seife, C., Seife, C., Jameson, E., Monahon, C., McMillan, G., Spector, M., Powers, J., Martínez, A. and Diya, S. (2014). The Weird Reasons Why People Make Up False Identities on the Internet. [online] WIRED. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2014/07/virtual-unreality-the-online-sockpuppets-that-trick-us-all/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2017].
Brekke, K. (2015). I Was Catfished By The Poser Behind ‘A Gay Girl In Damascus’. [online] HuffPost UK. Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-gay-girl-in-damascus_us_55b91b6fe4b0a13f9d1b4165 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2017].
Morin, R. and Morin, R. (2003). Scholar Invents Fan To Answer His Critics. [online] Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2003/02/01/scholar-invents-fan-to-answer-his-critics/f3ae3f46-68d6-4eee-a65e-1775d45e2133/?utm_term=.36b6be35d783 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2017].
Song Cai Ying 
Hi Cai Ying,
Thanks for the interesting read! I find your point regarding sock puppetry particular intriguing. Although I am a believer for having multiple identities online, I am against the idea of using sock puppets. Personally, I feel that sock puppets are the combination of anonymous and multiple online identities.
As sock puppets are used to skew discussions and spread fake news, it shows the unauthentic side of having multiple identities. Take John Mackey for example. He was caught using sock puppets to boost his company’s stocks. It is unethical and eventually served as a shortcut to career disaster. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/technology/16blog.html)
However, more companies are using sock puppet marketing with good effect. Here are some examples: http://www.campaignasia.com/video/would-you-buy-car-insurance-from-a-sockpuppet/433481 & http://mashable.com/2011/05/18/ford-focus-doug-campaign/#kvBPiV.1WSq3
Although these advertisements were said to be successes, do you think that such advertisements do more good (engaging and gets people talking) than harm (may encourage sock puppetry)?
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Hello noticenic!
Wow, thank you for going an extra mile in finding out what good and bad sockpuppets can do! I am particularly amazed by the success of Doug from Ford’s campaign!
I feel that this is something that brands can try out! Adopting a character into their brand may allow them to engage with their consumers even better or better still, stand out from the rest of their competitors!
Adopting a brand character can go exceptionally well, like Mcdonalds and it can go the other end too, just like Burger King.
So the brand image is a crucial factor to consider before adopting a sock puppet for a brand because not all mascots work for all brands. Understanding what the consumers want through conducting a study/survey, helps!
Going back to your question, whether does it do more harm or good? Of course, if the brand uses its puppet to attack other brands, it just shows that how easy humans can hide behind a cute looking cartoon and unleash its inner beast thus encouraging its consumer to do so. But I think it does more good than harm, as this puppet allows brands to bridge the gap between them and the consumer.
Caiying x
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Hi Caiying!
Thanks for your reply! 🙂 I agree that not all brands can adopt sock puppetry. Regarding if it does more good than bad, I’m leaning more towards the good. As it can be deployed as a marketing gimmick, it subconsciously helps to create awareness relating to this issue.
However, do you think it may turn out as a disaster if customers do not get the idea of sock puppetry and thinks whatever the brand is trying to tell them is fake?
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Hi Cai Ying!
Interesting infographics you got there, and I really like how you came up with your own table of PAP! Just like you, I have multiple online identities but both personal/professional accounts are still the real me. I also really like how you introduced the concept of “Sockpuppetry” which is something new to me.
Referring to the discussion on FutureLearn, I realised that most people find that multiple online identities are often time consuming and you know, “fake”. I of course don’t agree that it portrays us as being fake but however, I do agree that it may be a hassle to be managing multiple accounts. Also, how should we prove to people out there that regardless of how many identities we have, we are still being who we really are? Looking forward to your train of thoughts! 😊 (141 words)
Source: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/learning-network-age/3/steps/263025#fl-comments
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Hey Rbcmang2049,
Thank you for your compliments! Here comes my train of thoughts (I hope it doesn’t break down, pun intended)
I agree that managing multiple accounts is tiring and sometimes frustrating! But as technology progress, it is just more comfortable for us to handle the numerous accounts we have!
For example, I own 2 Instagrams accounts (one for curated feed and one for pictures that aren’t ‘instagrammable’). I used to log out and log in into the different accounts which is a tedious process, but thanks to the updates, I only have to tap a few buttons to switch between accounts (WHEW, thank you technology!)
So how do we prove that we are not ‘fake’ on the accounts? Good question! I think whatever you do on the net should tally to whatever you do physically. If you portray a professional image on a particular platform targeting a specific audience, when you meet that specific audience you should keep it your professional behavior.
All in all, I think it boils down to meeting someone physically; just like Tinder, I could easily pose off as a busty and sexy person, and no one will ever find out (just look like how many cases of catfishing there are!)
So the moral of the story is, NEVER JUDGE SOMEONE BASED ON HIS/HER SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT!
Caiying x
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Hey Cai Ying!
Thanks for the reply! And nope, I’m glad your train didn’t break down! 😀
I agree that indeed technology has been making our lives so much easier in terms of convenience. But do you think with the increase in technology, it also ends up complicating our lives a lot more?
We can easily create numerous accounts, and people nowadays can easily hack into systems as well to pose as someone else. So how can we ensure that our “real online identity” does not get ruined by someone out there?
Source: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singaporean-jailed-for-hacking-prime-ministers-office-website
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