Identity formation is supposed to be a “process in which individuals are self-aware” (David Buckingham, 2008) an opportunity for people to experiment and explore themselves to discover who their one true self or true identity is. With social networking playing a major role in the new generations lives, it appears we are approaching something David Marshall (2010) calls the “specular economy”, where collectively we are becoming more conscious of how we present ourselves and how others perceive us…”. While being self-aware and creating identities is nothing new, “Where the specular economy differs is in its new reconstruction of how the self is reconstituted through the screens of engagement and interactivity…” (Marshall 2010)
I myself am a twitter user, and I have two
different twitter accounts, one for socialising and one for professional
purposes; Essentially I have created two separate identities for myself, and
while aspects of my true self are presented on each account, some traits of my
true identity have also been excluded on either account for either social or professional
reasons, therefore depicting two different identities.
“Identities
are formed both from within and from the outside, in a complex interplay of
mutual recognition and understanding of self and others” (FORNÄS, J,
& XINARIS, C. 2013) and I have taken this in to account when creating my
professional and social personas through Twitter.
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| who would you employ? |
What is interesting about online identities and specular
economy is that while they do play a role in creating a perceived image of oneself
it is not ones true self being displayed. As being self-aware and creating a
persona online means you have chosen what aspects of you to display immediately
making your online persona not you, but your
ideal self, which is not true to life. So is creating online identities and personas all in vain or can they really change who you are and how you are perceived in a real life context?
Buckingham, D (2008). "Introducing identity." Youth, identity, and digital media pp1-24.
FORNÄS, J, &
XINARIS, C 2013, 'MEDIATED IDENTITY
FORMATION', Javnost-The Public,
20, 2, pp. 11-25
Marshall D, 2010, the Specular Economy, Society, Vol.47, no.6,pp498-502
Awesome, I love the question you are posing, 'So is creating online identities and personas all in vain or can they really change who you are and how you are perceived in a real life context?' I think this question goes back longer than you may think. Jorge Luis Borges asked the question in his essay 'Borges and I' in 1960. You talk about true selves as if when you are not online you are that one true self. What Borges shows us is that people are made up of multiple identities, predating the Internet. I know I am a different person in different contexts. I don't know if I am writing this as my true self, or as my writer self. It is really quite funny. The fact that you have two twitter accounts, one socially and one professionally adds another layer to Borges's thoughts on identity. If you have multiple selves in a day to day life subconsciously and then go deliberately out of your way to present two seperate identities, how crazy does that make you? Or does it make you sane? Is everyone schizophrenic? I could go on but I should critique your blog a bit more.
ReplyDeleteI like how you use scholarly resources to back up your claims. I also like the personal touches with regards to your twitter and how you benefit from multiple selves.
What I would have done though, is shamelessly self promote. Every time you mention twitter (I hope there isn't a capital T) you should be sending hyperlinks to your professional twitter. After all, a lot of people reading these blogs are trying to crack into the media field, you might as well build a professional circle while you are given the opportunity,
Anyway, it was a pleasure critiquing your blog.
Link to Borges: http://anagrammatically.com/2008/01/31/borges-and-i-borges-y-yo/
A really good piece which I believe makes the reader think a lot about their own identity. The idea of specular economy interested me in writing a piece on the same topic yet our content is so different. Before even discussing this topic in class, you seem to have already been aware of your own specular economy, with the creation of two separate Twitter accounts in order to protect yourself online. This is a really smart move as the internet can sometimes cause our personal and professional lives to mix and the results could be detrimental to both. By questioning how we present ourselves online, you have made a piece which is both engaging and educational to readers.
ReplyDelete