Virtual Identities

In the virtual world of the Internet, identity is fluid. We can choose which aspects of ourselves to reveal or invent an identity that doesn’t reflect our life in the real world.

Identity shaping is a given on social networking sites like Facebook. I’ve tried to use my profile picture to shape my online identity in different ways. Many of my profile pictures I picked because I thought a particular picture was more flattering. But I often wanted to showcase other aspects of my identity too: Sometimes I wanted my picture to say “I’m good with babies” or “I can make beautiful, creative cakes” or “I won second place in a costume contest” or “I climb mountains.” Most recently, I used a picture from my wedding day to reflect my new identity as a married woman. 

My choices of profile pictures consistently reflected how I wanted my peers to see me, but I could have chosen to shape my identity based on my need for acceptance in a different group. For instance, one of my friends who was preparing to apply for med school told me she frequently checked her profile to make sure there was nothing there that would make her look unprofessional.

When we want online relationships to coincide with our face-to-face ones, we usually create an online identity that correlates, at least somewhat, with our real identity. But in some situations people create identities completely separate from their real selves. A couple months ago my friend “Jason” told me a story about how he used an assumed identity online. In high school, he and his friend “Blake” started a website that included an online discussion board. When Jason disagreed with Blake’s comments one time too many, Blake blocked Jason from the board. To retaliate, Jason decided to create a new username on the website, unbeknownst to his friend. He carefully composed comments that coincided with Blake’s opinions. Over time, Blake liked this new identity so much that he invited him to be a website administrator, not realizing that the user was Jason. Jason used his administrative power to delete everything on the website. While his reaction was immature, Jason understood that in the digital world he could change identities at will to manipulate others’ reactions.