On the topic of identities this week, I came across Nicholas’s and Eva’s blog, both tackling on different topics, as presented below.
I have also come across Rebecca’s and Sahana’s blog talking about multiple identities online, which goes to show that people do have different thoughts and agenda behind their choice of their identity.
How did this new information affect me?
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 