Everyone has ability to show what they believe describes them without the inconvenience of a 3 hour conversation; this is all thanks to social media and the online world. People are constantly using digitally mediated environments, or DMEs, which are websites such as, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, to broadcast an identity that reflects their ideal selves. In Gary Hamlin’s article he focuses on the benefits of identity construction and self-presentation on the web. First, he explains how though web and social media platforms an “individual has power over her own identity. People are able to authenticate their self-image though pictures, posts and videos, but at the same time they can hide undesirable aspects of their lives, something that is more easily done digitally than physically. The most significant benefit Hamlin points out is that web users have “the ability to construct identity by non-traditional means.”; or more specifically, have access to digital association. Digital association can seem very beneficial to an online consumer, but it does have many drawbacks.
Digital association allows one to correlate themselves with symbols and brands. According to Hamlin, it “allows virtual consumers to engage in self-presentation though the digital display of brands, products, or services that they identify with”. When someone associates a brand with their name on the web it allows them to form groups with others because of a common interest. This is where group pages and forums come in handy online. The beauty about digital association is that the people do not have to own the brands they associate themselves with. Hamlin goes on to say that, their “freedom to associate their digital selves with things they might not be able ...
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... of digital association create the bond between an individual and a brand, or object that relates to their ideal self. Because this association is being done digitally there is no need for the individual to own the object they associate with, breaking them from any financial constraints. This kind performativity on the internet relinquishes an individual of the need to physically clarify their values, because now everyone can them online. Digital association has even helped me remain close to my lost family member; however, this enhanced form of performativity does come with possible negative outcomes. Digital association with brands can cause “consumer confusion”, and can create online narcissism, which stems from the constant approval from one’s peers. Many people find digital association on the web convenient, but some can overuse it or even fall victim to it.
I feel as though more and more teens of this generation are using social media in order to seek approval of attention of others. Since they are expected to use social media in a way to create an online audience, they post pictures of themselves and activities so that they can get a “yes” or “no” response from their audience. If someone posts a picture online and someone who is considered a “friend” makes a positive comment on the photo, then they have received approval of their actions. If someone makes a negative remark on the photo, then they have received disapproval. She uses various examples of how young adults use social media to create a persona of themselves, such as when girls post sexualized pictures of themselves and create avatars of themselves (Orenstein, 448). This means that how they are seen online will affect how they act in real life. When Orenstein says that “the self, becomes a brand”, she means that young adults have to act in a way that is perceived to be socially acceptable by their peers, and the image of how everyone sees you. So many people today use social media, and the biggest one that is being used is Facebook. Profile pictures, albums, and statuses are things that gets posted up for anyone to comment, like, or dislike. Your “friends” on
The internet, an unregulated environment where both government and advertising agencies watch your actions and create profiles based on various traits. This is the picture painted in “The Daily You: How the New Advertising Industry is Defining Your Identity and Your Worth,” by Joseph Turow. Turow addresses the issue of how lack of government intervention and poor industry self-regulation has led to a situation where every click is analyzed to the point that even when advertisers omit the users name and address, users are still very much known. Based on these profiles, targeted ads and deals are sent to each individual, creating a class-based system that is defined by what advertisers have concluded the individual likes. The main thesis by Turow
For centuries, humans have used their interaction with one another to help shape outsiders' perceptions of them. Often communication experts refer to this as constructing one’s “social identity.” For many years, this projection of self-came through interpersonal communication; face-to-face communication or other forms of personal interaction. In the progress of technology, this development of one’s personal attributes has come to include photographs, letters, published and unpublished writings, and physical attributes. Many aspects of a person’s “identity” as others see it are difficult and almost impossible to define. In the modern age, such vague characteristics are both helped and hindered by using social media and the internet to “construct”
Pearson, E. (2009). All the World Wide Web’s a Stage: The Performance of Identity in Online
Individuals conceived between the years of 1980 and 2000, as indicated by this article, experience serious difficulties finding their actual self due to the online networking outlets; they regularly depict another person life of a fantasy dream American life on the web. As today’s more youthful era makes the transition to adulthood, trying to accommodate between online and offline characters can be hard. “Van den Bergh asked 4,056 individuals, ages 15 to 25, when they felt they were or weren't being genuine online or logged off, with companions, folks, accomplices or employers.” Through this research he found,
In an article called “Relationships, community, and Identity in the New Virtual Society” Arnold Brown explains two different identities one that he calls “found identity” and the other “made identity” (34). The found identity is one that is created by one true self, it’s based off your background, your religion, your sex, everything that truly defines who you really are. And then there’s your made identity the one you make for yourself and how you wished to be seen. As technology advances, the easier it will be for young girls to create these made identity’s of out these famous celebrities, having them focus on things that don’t matter instead of valuing who they really are.
Today, modern technology has changed our way of life in many different ways. We spend most of our time staring into our phones and do not realize our surroundings. According to Jean Twenge, the author of “ Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation”, ninety-two percent of teens report going online at least once a day, and fifty-six percent admit they go online several times a day. This may sound unrealistic but why do we spend so much time on social media? In “ Our Minds Can Be Hijacked”, an article by Paul Lewis, Lewis interviews Google, Twitter, and Facebook workers who helped make technology so addictive and demonstrates how we can prevent ourselves from being harmed by it. I believe companies are partially responsible for creating addiction
Before the internet, our characteristics such as style, identity, and values were primarily exposed by our materialistic properties which psychologists define as the extended self. But people’s inferences to the idea of online self vs. offline self insisted a translation to these signals into a personality profile. In today’s generation, many of our dear possessions have been demolished. Psychologist Russell W belk suggest that: “until we choose to call them forth, our information, communications, photos, videos, music, and more are now largely invisible and immaterial.” Yet in terms of psychology there is no difference between the meaning of our “online selves” and “offline selves. They both assist us in expressing important parts of our identity to others and provide the key elements of our online reputation. Numerous scientific research has emphasized the mobility of our analogue selves to the online world. The consistent themes to these studies is, even though the internet may have possibly created an escape from everyday life, it is in some ways impersonating
The Organization-related web site that I chose for my module 6 critical thinking assignment is from the ever popular Coca-Cola Company. The Coca-Cola organization is a global company that utilizes digital media throughout its business model. As required by the assignment I have identified and located the following two examples of Coca-Cola’s use of digital media. The first example is the use of “digital media in advertising” and the second is the use of “digital media in its sustainability program”. The first example I identified in the Coca-Cola web site was the marketing and advertizing program that Coca-Cola initiated called the expedition 206. In this campaign Coca-Cola through an online selection process would send three young people to 206 countries where Coca-Cola is sold. This group known as the ambassadors will attend different functions in each country and interview people throughout the year. The interviews will be centered on what makes people in these countries happy and promote the Coca-Cola product. The Coca-Cola Web site had a link that transferred me to an article by Ad Age Digital. (2009). Which stated “Coca-Cola is gearing up for its largest social-media project ever, one that will test its own internal flexibility and force a number of its global markets into the digital and social-media space” (para. 1). This expedition was documented by the three young people or ambassadors and also allowed personnel from all over the world to interact with the expedition members and influence their decisions on destinations to visit and people to interview. Typically an add campaign is centered on the written word, television commercials or online Spam messages. In this case, Coca-Cola used several social media program...
Social networking sites have become popular over the years, like twitter, which allows users to present themselves through their tweets using photos, hyperlinks, or hashtags. Boyd (2010) argued that social media platforms like Twitter encourages members to use their actual identities but it does not mean people are presenting themselves online the way they do in real life.
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.
Young, Nora. The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World Around Us. Toronto, Ont: McClelland & Stewart, 2012. Print.
When we talk about social media and identity, what comes to mind? We all know they have a pretty complicated relationship, but how exactly is social media related to identity? In exploring the connections between social media and identity, we have realised there has been a gradual but obvious transition within the social media- identity relation. Within this essay I am going to take a look at how the linkage between social media and identity has evolved over the course of my studies.
The influence of rapidly growing social media, television, and the internet has taken the world by storm in recent years. Its fascinating development over the years is nothing short of remarkable when you take into account that 20 years ago, only 16 million people in the world were "online", compared to the 2 billion that roam on the internet now. Modern communications technology has now become so familiar and utterly banal, yet there is still this tingling sensation when one receives a text from a love interest on Facebook or WhatsApp. Human identity, the idea that defines each and every one of us, is on the verge of being radically defined by social media. This essay will provide a balanced outlook on the positive and negative effects that social media have had on the behaviour and thinking on humans. The topic is a very controversial one, but the purpose of this is to help readers formulate a view on whether the arguments in this essay benefit society in general, or whether they harm the well-being of the human brain and detach us from reality.
The digital culture has clearly changed and impacted the ways of modern life by connecting most of the world’s population through various social outlets. These networks can intertwine creativity, politics, values, advertising, religion, personal connection, and the list can go on and on. In many cases the digital culture has made things easier in terms of communication and interacting socially or for business purposes. Certain platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have evolved from connecting and sharing with personal friends to a multifaceted platform that connects one to the world. These types of social networks have in someways created a generation that depends on what I call a “digital significance” and is a intricate part of their existence