Ever look in the mirror one morning and after cursing and swearing at the horrid beast that stared back at you, decide to go back to bed and never leave the house till either your appearance changed for the better or every one else suddenly turned blind? Yes, even I too have those days and the fact that I used ‘even’ doesn’t mean that I believe God chose to flaunt his talents by creating me, it just suggests it. So anyway, don’t you just wish there was some way to annihilate the feeling of insecurity which greets you every morning at the mirror? Well, there isn’t any way other than cosmetic surgery, which costs a bomb and a bag of chips to pay for and sorry folks, cause the norm is: one body, one identity (‘Identity and Deception in the Virtual World’ by Judith Donath, 1996); however you can confide in the fact that it’s possible to be the ‘perfect’ person or the person you’ve always wished you could be, in another realm – the virtual world. Enter the online identity.
In the physical world there is an inherent unity to the self, for the body provides a compelling and convenient definition of identity (‘Identity and Deception in the Virtual World’ by Judith Donath, 1996). In the virtual world, however, you can have as many different identities as you want to create! Fancy being a chick or a dude (or in some sick programs both)? Then be one! Games such as World of Warcraft which I play (no not really cause I’m not a geek like that and yes I’m stereotyping and yes I’m offending but that’s what your blogs are for – to get back at people like me who choose not to understand the ways of the geek) allows you to be anyone you want, from a warrior to a priest or even a I don’t know what they’re called but they have pets that follow them around! You can even choose your character’s appearance! Think The SIMS Online, only with a storyline and people who play it usually own several pairs of spectacles and comic book collections and most definitely are intimate with their right hand (the few minutes of the day that they’re not entirely engrossed in the game). It’s a way of ‘re-inventing’ oneself, living out one’s dream or fantasy but in a different world.
Online identities can however, be stolen – just like an actual real world identity, only much easier. All it takes for your online identity to be stolen is a hacker. Once hacked into your account, the hacker has full access. Scary but true, and all it takes is for the criminal to collect enough personal data on someone to impersonate the victim (Mitigating Identity Theft). It’s like how you’d forge your parents’ signatures on report cards to avoid them seeing the grades you so tragically got, or how you’d speak in a low voice to your principal or teacher over the phone, should they call and enquire on your whereabouts seeing how you skipped school and all, and pretend to be your dad.
Online identities can be a fun thing (if you’re a total geek and have nothing else to do with your time like all you people out there who play MMORPGs or whatever they’re called) if your account’s not been hacked into or if you’ve got hot friends involved in the community and you’re doing it just to have something to talk about at the lunch table. On the other hand, they can be pretty addictive, especially if you’re fat and a total nerd, and take away your social life. Oh wait, if you’re fat and nerdy you wouldn’t have one. The reason Bill Gates is cool is because he’s got a lot of money and although geeky, he’s not fat.
Merry Chinese new year!
References:
Donath, J (1996,11,12). Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community. Retrieved February 20,2007, from http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html
Online Identity. (2007). Online Identity. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved February 22,2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_identity
Schneier, B. (2005). “Mitigating Identity Theft”. Retrieved February 21, 2007 from http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/04/mitigating_iden.html
World of Warcraft Review, retrieved February 22, 2007 from http://www.firingsquad.com/games/world_of_warcraft_review/
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2 comments:
Dude... love ur writing... anyway to make the links clickable, @ the edit post page, go to the compose tab... highlight the url you want to link... then click on the link button above... its the one between the align left button and the text color button... just make sure the hyperlink info is correct and click ok... Well that was easy rite... ;)
A little on the insane side, but I'll accept it (don't bet on other teachers doing the same). World of Warcraft as an example of online identity works. You're on track, but do note some points in class which you might have missed out on your write-up.
Full grade awarded. :)
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