And the changing face of identity

How is the internet changing Identity?

• The internet, social networking sites and content sharing sites like YouTube are changing how identity is perceived and constructed.

• What evidence can you think of that agrees with this statement?

• How can we create an identity online?

• Does this identity change from reality?

• “Texting, emailing, posting all of these things let us present the self as we want to be. We get to edit, and that means we get to delete, and that means we get to retouch.”

– Sherry Tuckle, Connected… but Alone

YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram etc…

• Sites like YouTube, Facebook etc… allow us the opportunity to increasingly MEDIATE our own identity

• By choosing what to post or what to say in our latest status we chose what version of ourselves we will present to the online world

• “Whenever there is time to write edit and delete there is room for performance”– Sherry Tuckle, Connected… but Alone

My Online Identity

Identity is changing

• Look at your Facebook profile.

• Do you mediate your own identity at all?

• Look at the posts you have created? What image of you do we get from each of these?

How can this affect the representation of youth?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cKpvwlSGOI

New communities

• This new sense of identity and community is both connecting and isolating at the same time

• We are increasingly connected to the world, but at the same time increasingly disconnected from reality

• MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) like WOW (World of Warcraft) are increasing in size, allowing people to escape into a imagined world where community and identity are malleable and easily constructed

Authenticity?

• This ability to construct an identity, to be unseen while communicating increases the risk for impersonation and fraud

• It creates a sense of anonymity, a false sense of security

• People post things they would never say in person, trolls etc…

What does this mean?

• Identity is constantly in flux, we are unable to distinguish between what is authentic and what isn’t. We are frequently constructing our own identities, presenting a mediated version of ourselves to the world

• Equally the collective identity of youth and youth culture can also be affected by this movement to online cultures

• Rather than being controlled and constructed by outside onlookers, British youth can now take control of their own representation creating UGC (User Generated Content) to reflect what they see, feel and experience

• This idea was realised by the TIME magazine person of the year in 2006

Opening Statement

• The internet, social networking sites and content sharing sites like YouTube are changing how identity is perceived and constructed.

• Take another look at this statement

• Can you think of any new evidence that supports this?

Exam Question

• Plan your answer to the following question:

• “The media do not construct identity; they merely reflect it” Discuss.

• Remember to include:– More than 1 type of text

(TV/Film/Newspaper/Online)

– Past, Present and Future representations