Gem Bosworth 18:38, 16 Sep 2004 (EST) Online_Dating
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A virtual identity is a persona that is implied when communicating online. It is a percieved view of who you are when online. The online identity dramatically changes due to the fact that it is a visual medium with relatively small levels of truth are actually described. Virtual identities are the online users published personality,physical description and the ability to improvise whoever you want to be.
The online identity is one that is usually (in most cases) embelished to make the physical person be more intelligent,sexier,skinnier or bolder. The personality chosen usually embelishes what the person already has or inspires to be. It encases what the person finds attractive in the other sex, particularly in online dating and also what their ambitions to be like are. Similar material can be located within Sexual Identity Online
The implications for virtual identities is who is telling the truth and who is embelishing their own personality for the will of others. In both spaces, virtual and physical, this can cause major trust issues and identity problems when communicating.
The virtual identity is neither reliable when transposed to the physical world and haunts the user to become the pseudo character. This character can never live up to the expectation in the offline world due to the actual person involved.
Virtual identities can be fun when not seriously taken into account, yet, increasingly more people are imagining this character as real and problems arise. This can be found in online games which depict real characters and life skills. The engagement in such an intense game that mirrors a character for the online lifetime changes the user and their identity to themselves. Multi-user online games, for example, Everquest, provide a character that is forever building itself and becomes so lifelike that the user assumes this persona and re-enacts this imagined constructed figure.
Chatrooms are another medium that infiltrates the online user and asserts a virtual identity. The ability to choose a name for the user to be alerted allows for a new persona to develop. Truth is a minor occurance in the online world where the virtual identities are embelished and created to the users benefit and choice. In chatrooms this is commonplace to become a new identity due to the fact that no-one knows the real you. However, this is important from the issue of security and safety on the Internet and the purpose never to give out personal information.
Therefore, identities are masked by virtual identities on the Internet for obvious security reason plus the entertainment value of posing as the identity you would like to be.
This can also be commonly found within the online dating profiles. When asked for private information regarding your appearance or self promotion it is a usual occurance that people lie or embelish their flaws within themselves. Online dating is a forum that can never be truefully honest due to the act of trying to attract a person. The implications of this is that online users can be gullible and be disappointed when the truth is relised in the physical space. This can sometimes cause concern for a moral panic from users, parents with children at risk, and online dating participants.
Absolutely anyone with access to the Internet and in an imagined virtual communities can have a virtual identity. No registration or membership required - simply dial up, sign up with virtual nickname which begins your journey as a virtual identity and communicate by text to others. The advantage of such identity is that you can change virtual identities whenever you feel the need or desire to assume a different persona. Gem Bosworth 16:00, 27 Oct 2004 (EST)
Virtual Identity is a representation of oneself in an online environment, portraying themselves as anything they want to be.
One of the more interesting changes to our communities is the development of identities. The developments of virtual identities started in the early 1980’s. During the development of the computer, few predicted the power it would have in shaping a person’s identity. Through the development of the Internet in the 1990s, virtual identities for the first time could interact, in a specific online environment, without a physical barrier.
‘Sherry Turkle suggests that the internet has brought with it a new way of thinking about the identity as having the potential to be multiple. “Through the internet,�? she states, “people are able to build a self by cycling through many selves.�? (Turkle 1995:180).’ Online users can adopt different identities from the ones they have in ‘real life’, this virtual identity is exclusively specific to the internet. However there are many consequences of an online identity; causing a heightened connecting to the computer, often challenging and sometimes defying gender identify.
By changing someone’s actually identity and attaching themselves to the change, there is potential of human being suffering in the future, from the loss of commitment in relationships. Society has become over-stimulated, from the bombardment of instant gratification through technology. Impactions and issues to do with the responsibility and accountability of virtuality are yet to be revealed.
To the millions of Internet users worldwide, the virtual is very important. (Flew 2002) established a number of reasons for peoples involvement in the concept of the virtual identity. These include; the ability to change character, the opportunity to form friendship and relationships; otherwise difficult to obtain, the ability to express views and opinions without being discriminated against, possibility of sexual relations, the ability to find groups with the same interests and to generate ideas amongst like-minded people.
The role of virtual identities plays a significant impact in many users’ lives. It enables them to access people globally, regards of their real identities, friendships and relationships are always available and the ability to create a new self identity is freedom.
However many users loose touch with reality when creating their ‘new’ selves, this can hurt their family and friends but ultimately themselves. Jessica O'Connor 19:39, 26 Oct 2005 (EST)
Gatz, Belinda and Keneally, Laura. (2004) Virtual Identities, M/Cyclopedia of New Media, http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Virtual_Identities (accessed 28th September 2005).
Online Dating - Gay/lesbian Online Dating
Online Dating - Subculture in Online Dating
Online Dating - Cultural Trends
Online Dating - Internet Chatrooms
M/Cyclopedia, Virtual Identities [1]
Gem Bosworth 22:49, 27 Oct 2004 (EST)
Jessica O'Connor 19:25, 26 Oct 2005 (EST)
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