- One definition from the Concise Oxford English Dictionary for identity is: "the fact of being who or what a person or thing is, the characteristics determining this." More simply, one might say your identity is the answer to the question: "Who are you?"
- Digital or online identity is a portrayal of who you are in a digital or online format. Like any form of identity, this presents only a slice of who you really are, and in some ways allows a person to more carefully control what that presentation of identity is.
- With the ability to construct your online personas, questions are raised related to the intention behind how this representation is conveyed. Is an online identity a "true" identity or is it something inauthentic, simply constructed by the portrayer.
- "In sum, the selves that we have are composed of multiple identities and contradictory experiences. In late-modern society, it is almost impossible to have a fully unified, completed and coherent 'self'; rather, we all tend to have fleeting, multiple and contradictory selves" (Charles Cheung "Presentations of Self on Personal Homepages", p45)
PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE SHARING OF PERSONAL INFO
- Online identities can blur the line between what we traditionally think of as public vs. private information. It also can challenge comfort zones regarding what we might consider personal spheres.
- By placing your identity in a digital format instead of a living format, it places this information in a place that can potentially be used by others
- People can hide behind a constructed identity to harm others in ways they might not as their "real life" identities.
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