This essay is written to represent what has been tackled in my group’s presentation.
It is human nature for both youngsters and adults to portray one or more than one identity. Some people like to show their ethnic identity, while others prefer to depict multiple identities. The terms “multiple identity” and “virtual identity” are often overlapped; but there is a major difference in meaning. When one presents multiple identities, he/she is able to embody multiple identities simultaneously but within boundaries, unlike virtual identities. Another difference is that portraying multiple identities happens in real life, unlike virtual identities, which happens in the virtual online world. For example, a 36-year-old lady can have multiple identities, for instance, a mother, a lawyer, a sister and a friend, but cannot be a 60-year-old woman or man. However, people can form a character of their own (computer-generated identity) when using the Internet. Virtually, a man can be a woman and a woman can be a man. A youngster can be old, and the old can be youngsters. This kind of identity which is more fluid and performed, and where the subject is embodied is called “virtual identity” (Benwell & Stokoe, 2006).
Linguists have carried many studies regarding virtual identities and adolescence. The vast majority of scholars have agreed on the reasons behind adolescence constructing virtual identities in online media. The most significant reason is the fact that teenagers at the age of puberty are in a phase of exploring themselves and knowing more about identities. This point was also developed sociologically.
Within the social interactionist perspective, adolescents take on the roles of others through playful stances where they assume diffe...
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...people internationally and learn about other cultures. Most youngsters are keen on Korean media, and therefore, they are learning to read and write in Korean. Language wise, English, Korean Arabic, Arabinglish and features of netspeak is used when they virtually communicate. In spite of the freedom they have in virtual worlds, they still show great care for their ethnic identity by writing religious quotes in Arabic and by defending their religion.
It is worth noting that teenagers nowadays are beginning to watch Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian drama. What might be the reasons behind Saudis moving to Eastern drama rather than Western drama? Are there Ethnic similarities between Saudis and Eastern people? Will they love them as much as they love Koreans? Will they learn their languages? These questions are worth exploring in further researches.
Ever since the dawn of time, people have been communicating with others around them and with today’s technology people can interconnect with people across the globe. They have access to a wider range of peers and colleagues like no other time period and the possibilities continue to advance these communications. Yet as those in the world continue to make new friends and hear the opinions of more people they slowly develop a dual personality. Though people have always had parallel identities, one for family and friend, and another for acquaints and strangers, as Barbara Mellix points out in her essay. Mellix is a writer and educator who’s essay “From the Outside, In” tells how she grew up learning two identities so she could function in both her personal world with close family and friends, and her world that dealt with others. Now as the world of the others has expanded with the help of technology so has the use of the second identity and it has taken the form of the online identity. People’s second online identity is always on an aggressive defense, paranoid to the point of any wrong thing said or unsaid could lead to a fight, and they tend to only be happy when there is someone to attack. In the physical world where people are surrounded by true friends and people they trust with their emotions and they are more caring and sympathetic of others’ pain. However the online identity poses a threat to the personal identity as people begin to pull traits from one identity to the next. Although not having an online identity Mellix can relate to this with an experience that involved confusing her identities. Mellix describes how when her personalities become mixed, she was puzzled about who she was and who belonged in her personal iden...
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.
"Identity is a dynamic feature of social life. That is, it is something that is constantly evolving and changing. For some people, identity can change rapidly and dramatically, of course, but for most of us our identities evolve slowly and imperceptibly" (Livesey, n.d., p.1).
Stealing the identity of another is not an honest act. However, the Internet allows many opportunities for exploration of identity and has displayed personal social exploration to fulfill their curiosity. According to Lemke (1998), young people develop a sense of full presence online, living in them semiotically as they make cultural and personal sense of their participation. The shaping of an identity plays a vital role in the online world especially in having sustained online presence within any particular online-group. Turkle (1995) believes identity tinkering online opens the potential for young people to take risks and to explore all aspects of one's identity.
The prominence of social media and computer mediated interaction has lead to a rise in anonymous communications between individuals. Anonymity, in many online contexts, is seen as a negative attribute of the internet; where people are given the option to be awful and toxic to one another through comment threads or community forums. However, anonymity online offers the possibility for personal exploration and experimentation that is often unavailable in real life. Identity development, considered an essential part of adolescence, is made accessible to many through online spaces where individuals can take risks with reduced chance of physical harm. Similarly, the absence of identity that anonymity affords allows individuals the opportunity
In today’s society technology plays an important role in the lives of many adolescents. Technology is a major key to countless needs in the world and helps with many important issues. Technology is used daily by adolescents in school for educational purposes and in their homes for pleasure and education. There are numerous types of technology such as cell phones, televisions, radios, computers, gaming systems and many other different venues that are used by these adolescences. The use of technology has dramatically increased over the years and can result in positive and negative effects in adolescence development. Some of these technological venues allow adolescents to create avatars. As Daniela Villani explains, “an avatar is a graphic representation that is personified by a technology venue and includes a picture of a cartoonish character". The avatars are becoming a major tool for helping adolescent’s development with realizing his or her self-image, learning communication and interaction skills, and helps with the preservation of self-esteem.
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
Generations who grew up listening to the newly emerging radio and eight-track cartridges, know what it means to have genuine face-to-face interactions with their peers. Today, the Millennial’s and Generation Z folks are becoming dissociated from their peers as they are raised and integrated into the daunting virtual world. With puberty being a time of embarrassing change and exponential growth in intellectual aptitude, adolescents are now hindered by the ever-present virtual world that Facebookoffers, result...
...clude the sense of human identity. People who express several aspects of self cannot develop the “aesthetic self,” as they have no experience in sharing the real feelings to others. People who express several aspects of self cannot develop the “aesthetic self,” as they have no experience in sharing the real feelings to others. Turkle’s analysis of the computer as a reminiscent object and the human relationship with the object helps us to understand online identity. Undoubtedly, technology has changed the way of leaning and thinking that helps to find the identity of individuals. As we are highly depend on technology and computer in recent times, the dependency and relationship with computer and technology are the potential to severely influence our formation of identity. As Erik Erikson and Turkle rightly said, internet has provide a safe place to find our identity.
Valentine, G., & Holloway, S. (2002). Cyberkids? Exploring Children's Identities and Social Neworks in On-Line and Off-Line Worlds . Annal of American Geographers , 302-319.
To begin with, we technically are not born with identity; it is a socially constructed attribute. Identity is a transient thing, which changes over time as we grow and mature. The self-concept, which is our own personal understanding of who we are, combines with self awareness to cultivate a cognitive representation of the self, called identity (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2010, p.118). In other words, who we are is controlled by internal and external factors that combine to make us who we become. Bring new media outlets into the equation, such as the internet, and media is now regarded as an "extension of everyday life and a tool of cultural change" (Singh, 2010). Thus, identity formation, as a social concept, is being transformed in new and even more global ways.
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.
“All the world 's a stage, and all the men and women merely player… ” (2.7.146-47). Shakespeare’s poem pointed out everyone is only actors on the stage of this world. Goffman (1959) has a similar theory with Shakespeare that everyone is a performance; at any given moment, we play different roles. Through social media, everyone can carefully select what role that we want to project on virtual sphere.I argue that my identity changed varies different platform. In this essay, I discovered who am I online, what roles I was playing and how did I manage the impression I crave to give others on Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Line.
Inside the majority of American households rest the unlimited territory of the internet. The unlimited and always advancing possibilities have unlocked powerful new tools in communication and socialization. Tools such as: long distance visual communication, international circulation of personal thoughts, and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) have all led to a closer but more distant community of people. The positive side can attribute to the fact that the younger generation seems more in tune with their international counterparts. Youth have the ability to anonymously communicate with others through various message boards, mostly governed by one policy, freedom of speech. The anonymity of the internet has created a community where social outcasts mingle freely with others; a society where jocks can converse with geeks without fear of reprisal. This community releases people from the bounds of their own flesh. Yet, technological advances have pushed society into the next dimension of communication and socialization that seemingly override traditional and more personal vessels of communication.
Most common among young adults and teens, social networking plays a significant role in the social lives of adolescents. The teenage years are “a time of identity formation and role development” (Pew Internet and American Life Project 11). Online identity among friends and peers has now become as significant as one’s own personal identity, in that online information can be seen by many and online interactions have become a primary source of communication. As a result, teens tend to concentrate greatly on social life and now a majority use social networking sites and other social media as an outlet for this personal growth.