Moral_Panics_and_the_Internet
Identity plays a key role in virtual communities. Use of the Internet has developed and changed people’s real life character identities in many ways, both personally, and how they are perceived within society.
When personally experiencing the Internet and its capabilities, people’s individual personalities have that opportunity to change, either for the better or worse. The Internet seems to involve people within its cyberspace, creating an online identity for the user. This can be seen as a positive attribute as people can be judged by the merit of their ideas, rather than by their gender, race, class, or age (Smith & Kollock, 1999, p.9).
While this may enhance this sense of identity within cyberspace, it unfortunately may decrease the user’s physical identity amongst their families, peers and co-workers. People tend to become isolated from the rest of the world as they continue to live in a fantasy of unreal identities. This is causing concern within society as people are thought to lose their sense of reality, interaction, and their personal identity.
An example of this involves a young man who, after becoming trapped in a virtual world of online games, committed suicide. This person would play for hours, ignore his family, and eventually quit his job. It is this sense of losing one’s real life identity that is causing concern throughout society (Miller, 2002, http://www.suicidereferencelibrary.com/test4~id~1177.php)
Another concern with identity is how they are perceived by others within an online society. When experiencing chat rooms or posts, there is always the possibility that while you think you may know the person you are chatting with, you can never be 100% sure. Online interaction strips away many of the attributes that are part of face-to-face interaction.
Brooker, W, & Jermyn, B. (2003) The Audience Studies Reader, London: Routledge.ISBN 0415254345
Miller, S.A.(2002) "Death of a Game Addict: Suicide After Long Hours on the Web", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, retrieved August 10,2004 from http://www.suicidereferencelibrary.com/test4~id~1177.php
Smith, M. A, & Kollock, P. (1999) Communities in Cyberspace, London: Routledge.ISBN 0415191394
Katie Johnson 09:25, 29 Oct 2004 (EST)
