Life on the Screen

IDENTITY

IN THE AGE OF THE

INTERNET

(Turkle 1995)

Computers have changedour PERCEPTION of ourIDENTITIES

Computers:

1. Function as tool2. Project our ideas & fantasies3. Augment our intellect & physical

presence4. Fulfill our social thoughts5. Create new social & cultural

sensibility6. Enable us to live in virtual worlds in

which we are not alone7. Are evocative objects that cause old

boundaries to be negotiated

Cyberspace

William Gibson’s hallucination!

The SPACE where computer mediated communication between an unlimited number of people from around the globe exchange ideas,

conduct business, create, play and engage without the need for a shared physical (bodily) presence.

Everything we do online

• e-mail• read• video conferencing• blogging• gaming

is part of Cyberspace

We Interact And Augment

interact with others

partake in virtual communities

impersonate others

Eroding Boundaries Between Real & Surreal

LET’S PLAY!!!We are reinventing ourselves as we go alongThe self is constructed & rules of social interaction are built

show

Let’s pick the NEW you

You navigate, converse and buildAre evocative objects for thinking about identityOffer new forms of communities

* use of windows (places)* interact with others * adhere to different roles

Offer new forms of collaborative written literature

* similarities with script writing* you are the author; self is

constructed

Our Sense of Limitations Fades

MUD

what previously seemed abstractis now experienced in MUD

real & artificial are disappearing philosophy has become mainstream

How is this ARTIFICIAL

Culture of Simulation

affecting our self-perception

in real-life?

What Are The Disadvantages?• Social isolation

– strong relations replaced by weak mediated relations (Kraut et al 1998)

• Diminished real-life involvement– cultivating loners (Nie & Erbring 2000)

• Impoverished social interaction – shallow, deceiving online interactions (Nie. 2001)– deception in light of self-protection (Curtis 2010)

• Fragmented culture (potentially)– changes language needs; creates subcultures

• Destructive self-exposure (YouTube)– hidden dangers of self-exposure – YOU NEVER KNOW WHO MIGHT BE WATCHING IN

CYBERSPACE

Online Desires Turn Soar Offline

QuickTime™ and ampeg4 decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Beneficial Outcome of the Virtual World

• Can boost social confidence• Assist in social growth and participation• Online relationships are considered fun (not all too

serious)• Enable small voices to express • Allow real life limitations come true in surreal life

Conclusion

Computers are used to become comfortable with new ways of thinking about evolution, relationship, and much more . . . bound by our capabilitiesin real and virtual life

Both should be in balance if we’ll continue to immerse online and offline!

“People who live parallel lives on the screen are nevertheless bound by the desires, pain, and mortality of their physical self.”

(Turkle 1995)

References• Bell, D., Loader, B.D, Pleace, N & Schuler (2004). Cyberculture, London: Routledge• Curtin University. ‘Identity Deception in Virtual Communities and Networks and its Requisitoires’

(Internet) 10 May 2010 viewed from <http://networkconference.netstudies.org/2010/05/identity-deception-in-virtual-communities-and-networks-and-its-requisitoires/>

• Henley, J. ‘Teenagers and Technology: I’d rather give up my kidney than my phone’ (Internet). 16 July 2010. Viewed from http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/16/teenagers-mobiles-facebook-social-networking

• Kraut, R. Kiesler, S. Mukhopadhyay, T. Scherlis, W. and Patterson, W. (1998) ‘Social Impact of the Internet: what does it mean?’ Communications of the ACM, 41 (12): 21-2

• Nie, N.H. (2001) ‘Sociability, interpersonal relations and the Internet; reconstructing conflicting findings’, American Behavioral Scientist, 45 (3): 420-35

• Nie, N.H. and Erbring, L. (2000) Internet and society: A preliminary report. www.stanford.edu/group/siqss

• McCartney, T. ‘Australian Teens Protective of their Online Identity’ (Internet) 18 February 2010. Viewed from <http://www.australianwomenonline.com/australian-teens-protective-of-their-online-identity/>

• Van Dijk, J. (2006) The Network Society. London: Sage Publications• Verhaeghe, A. (2010). Teen-memes: Memetic branding and identity of youngsters. Ghent: InSites

Consulting• Youtube. Viewed from <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w4_Hrwh2XI&feature=player_embedded>• Rheingold, H. (2000). The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Cambridge: MIT

press.