Virtual Identities - Social Psychology

Virtual_Identities Belinda Gatz 18:29, 9 Sep 2004 (EST)

9. Virtual Identities - Social Psychology

When people log onto Cyberspace, they are considered to be, either consciously or subconsciously, entering their psychological space. (Surler, J:1998) There are a number of psychological aspects that are important when users form an online identity. These include:

• The Online Disinhibition effect: Users can reveal their side of character that they would normally keep well hidden offline. They may share secrets, emotions or treat fellow users in a manner that is not normal for them. It is through such actions that users feel uninhibited.

• Anonymity: Most users of Virtual Identities remain anonymous to other users. This allows them to behave in such a way that ensures that their behaviour is not associated with their 'real' selves.

• Invincibility: Invincibility allows users to feel free to be who they wish to be. as they are invinvible to other users, as those others are to them, the freedom to express ones belief or emothions freely is available.

(Surler, J: 1998)

The creation of Virtual Identities allows users to swap and change their online personas as they like. They can form new social roles thaty they would not normally deem possible offline. while this can be seen as a positive psychological aspect of Virtual Identities as it can open the window of oopportunity for the users, it can also have a negative effect through the form of deception. Individuals may create false identities with intentions to deliberately deceive or harm others online.

Another important issue that is often discussed when considering Virtual Identities and social psychology is that many users lose touch with the sense of reality. When creating their ‘new’ selves, many people forget their real life and are soon absorbed in the 'make believe'. Others can become so wrapped up in their fantasy world that they begin to resent reality and those within and in the process, can inflict pain and suffering upon not only themselves, but also their family, friends and lovers.

As a direct link to the loss of reality and an important aspect to be considered, Internet addiction is also another issue that surrounds the creation of virtual identities. Many people can spend hours a day in front of the computer, living out their fantasy life, in which who they really are not presented. This in turn can lead to depression about themselves, as once reality sets in that they are not who they created online, people can feel despondent about their lives and those in it.

References

Surler, J. (1999) Hypothesis about online text relationships [Online]. Available: http://www.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/textrel.html [Accessed: 24/10/2004]

Belinda Gatz 16:12, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)