Cyberspace and Identity

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Multiple identities have been increased by the creation of cyberspace communications according to "Cyberspace and Identity" by Sherry Turkle. Turkle uses four main points to establish this argument. Her first point is that online identity is a textual construction. Secondly she states that online identity is a consequence-free moratorium. Turkle's third point is online identity expands real identity. Finally, her last point states that online identity illustrates a cultural concept of multiplicity. I disagree with many aspects of her argument and I have found flaws in her argument. Technology is an area that does not stand still and consequently outpaced Turkle's argument.

First, Turkle states that cyberspace makes it possible to alter the textual representation according. Textual construction allows users to change their appearance or behavior with a couple strokes on the keyboard. People are given the chance to express themselves in a different light because of the relative anonymity in cyberspace. Role-playing and using different identities are exercised by either changing names or by changing places. People may change their identity each time they start "cycling through" their windows, and with each window comes a different persona. Therefore, a presence distributed over many windows causes a creation of many text-based identities.

Turkle's second points says an online identity is a consequence-free moratorium. Many psychological effects result from the use of the internet. Occasionally, people will use a resource, such as instant messaging, to resolve conflicts, whether they are trying to work through a problem or acting out on a problem. The definition for moratorium is "time out" but in this case mor...

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.... She says online identity is textual based but technology has furthered itself to make it visual and textual based. Turkle also says that cyberspace is a relatively consequence-free moratorium yet it seems to me that there is nothing relative at all about it. It has many consequences. She states that online identity expands and affects real identity but I disagree. I believe that online identity can not affect real identity because they should be the same. No one should play around with online identities because when returning to reality, a person will have a false sense of security and self. The world has moved on from Freudian ideas to new social practices of identity as multiplicity.

Turkle, Sherry. "Cyberspace and Identity." Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2003. 271-280.

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