200 words or less – ready, set GO! :)
In the last post we considered (or rather I suggested we consider) how online communities play into our sense of identity and self. Princess Pointful, once (and probably still) a well known blogger who received several SUPER BLOG awards (by 20sb) and has been featured in print blogs, is a great case of how an online identity can significantly impact a “physical” identity. Back in May she announced she was going to take a break from blogging and then followed up with comments discussing how different her life was now that she wasn’t blogging as regularly. At one point she asked her readers if she should give up or continue and quite literally discussed that her ego has been deflated a bit (though it appears she has taken that post down) and I wondered if you have to ask the question, well … maybe that’s your answer??
The online world has meaning. It contributes to our sense of worth, connection, self esteem, etc. But just as in the world outside of the internet, when we use connections with others as our point of personal validation we open ourselves to the possibility of losing it all with one false rumor, one bad post, or just losing our edge period. Having a balanced life between online and social engagements is one way to prevent loss of self worth due to decreased online activity. Though with that said, just like in the social world, if one finds they no longer fit within one clique or group, there are many other groups for which one may seek acceptance. And in an online world there are no geographical boundaries preventing one from finding the group to which they belong.
Next up – now that we’ve seen an example of an “expert” in the online community, we’ll look at experts in sociology and see what they have to say.
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I know I’ve said before that I feel I live only through the Internet these days. Sure, it has it’s risks.. but so does old school socialising.
Living this way, it’s ahead of the curve. It’s cutting edge. You can’t beat it.
Is not the on-line world a fantasy world? Each individual secrets themselves behind an alternate identity ie. their user name, personal profile. So when you leave this realm and join the real world there is sure to be a let down. You are no longer what you envision yourself to be or who dream of being you are who you are. But… Here again who you are is quite a bit about what stereotype you have been placed by your community, by what you wear or who you date. The on-line community doesn’t care because they can’t see what you look like.
I would say an online “self” or “identity” can be a good thing as long as it doesn’t take over your life. I’ve noticed that I enjoy getting comments to posts I make on facebook, etc, and sometimes it is easier to have a difficult convo over chat than in person. However, like all things, there must be moderation in all things. There are multiple sayings about this: “A life of excess leads to unfortunate consequences,” or “All excess leads only to suffering,” etc. The recent movie “Gamer” is an example of this. It is a movie about a new type of online community where people can pay to play the game or be paid to get played in the game. Gamers control real people within the online community. Many of the characters in the movie are portrayed as fat slobs with no social skills who live in dark, creepy places and have unusual and perverted proclivities. This begs the question do they play the game because they are fat slobs without social skills and could never function outside an online community, or can they not function in an outside community and are fat slobs because they are habitual gamers? Maybe the real world is necessary to keep people acting within an accepted set of behavioral norms, otherwise people would enter the public realm acting like the do in their dark, creepy places…..and we can’t have that now can me!?