Definition
“An internet
identity is a social identity that an Internet
user establishes in online communities and websites. It can also be considered
as an actively constructed presentation of oneself.” [2]
Introduction
“I’ll drop you
a text later….no wait Facebook, no Twitter, no Skype me ahh never mind just
send me Snapchat xoxox” – A intoxicated fresher!
As referenced
in my last post our time spent interacting with the online world is increasing.
This means more usernames, more accounts, more passwords and more platforms to
share from. This is great we are getting services for free. But we have to ask
ourselves what are they getting in return, what is their purpose for providing
us with these great services free of charge.
For
With new Internet
services popping up everyday, it is inevitable that we as users are going to
build up a variety of online identities that we can contribute and share from.
This can be seen as a good thing, ‘its good to share’ – Mum and Dad! But where
should we draw the line?
It’s definitely
useful to have online identity as you don’t have to login multiple times. [1] It
speeds up process that we take for granted e.g. Gmail login. Logging in is
almost seems old fashion especially by digital residents.
By having an
identity we can promote the positive aspects of our lives and downplay the
areas we are not so happy with. LinkedIn is a great example; it allows users to
promote themselves and show off all their achievements to date, therefore
making them more attractive to potential employers.
“The best
things in life are free” – Coco Chanel
Against
The issue with
having so many online identities is that you cover a variety of Internet
services, thereby giving away information about your private life. You have
your usual suspects such as Facebook and Twitter covering social aspects. But
then there are others, e-mail client’s such as Gmail, which is linked to Google
maps so our location is linked as well! Nike sports bands are linked to our
phones to share with our friends how fit we are. This is all-fine and provides
useful services, and will make our lives easier when swapping between services.
However commercial
companies are building up profiles of you based on your combined internet
interaction and forming a profile of you which they can then sell.[1] With
no direct financial gain to the individual.
This is a
difficult subject to analyze. If your school/university sold your details onto
a third party, you would be extremely annoyed as well as it being a breach in
the data protection act. [3]
On the other
hand if Facebook sells your age, location and interests to a marketing agency,
so that they can market relevant products to you. There is not a lot you can do,
as you have posted that information to the Internet and to the public, anyone
has access to it now.
“There
ain't no such thing as a free lunch.” Robert A. Heinlein
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Personal Experience
From my use of social networks in
terms of Facebook usage there seems to be an image for young people and even
some adults that if its not on Facebook it didn’t happen. This is a strange
concept as yes it’s great to relive the memories of someone’s birthday the
night before, but I don’t need updates of every time you’ve left the house!
Summary
In summary, I
believe it is essential to monitor and constantly evaluate what information
users are posting to the Internet. Even this blog post when published will be
affiliated with my name. I would urge readers to look at what they have posted
today and whether they would tell a stranger on the street what they have said
online and share relevant media with them? Or would they prefer certain content
to be kept private, and out of the public eye?
References
[1] http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/internet-technology-matters/privacy-identity
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_identity
[3] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents
I really enjoyed reading your post, and I thought the two quotes were a nice touch! I agree with your points on privacy, and how it is hard to control the content we post, and where the information we share might end up.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to the part about how our social situations have changed recently, and I don't remember the last time I was at a social event and a moment of silence wasn't filled by looking at one's phone, the fact that everyone was busy checking their phones created that silence. Admitedly, I'm also one who is constantly using Whatsapp, checking Facebook notifications and laughing at Snapchats in the corner, and it is such a shame how reliant we are on technology sometimes. I recently stumbled upon this article, and it seems like a great idea, however I'm honestly not sure how long it would last within my group of friends, no matter how close we are/how much we have to talk about, one will always have a sneaky peak at their phone in their pocket. http://www.getkempt.com/the-code/the-phone-stack.php. This lack of self control also owes to the multiple platforms and profiles people of our age are actively maintaining; again, at a social situation, how many people will whip out their phones to 'Instagram' the night, or post a status about catching up with old friends?
However, having said that, this year I have been more reluctant to post things on Facebook as it really is starting to lose its appeal. I'm not denying the usefulness of the network site, as it is vital to organising social events and groups, however I am posting less and less statuses these days. I used to, like you say, post a status about almost everything I did, whether that be what film I was watching at home, or what I was doing with my friends, and a picture would usually accompany that post. However, I now tend to only post big news to my friends, partly due to privacy issues making Facebook less attractive and a conscious effort not to overshare pointless information on the networking site. I'm in agreement with some articles I have read predicting that Facebook will soon enough die out like the plague http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/10593826/Facebook-will-die-out-like-the-bubonic-plague.html what do you think?
Thanks for your comments Kimberly, I look forward to reading your post.
DeleteThe phone stack seems like a great idea, I'm similar to you in that I'm not sure how long it would last either!
I think this trend away from Facebook is certainly something to be considered over the next 12 months.
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-facebook-isnt-dead-2013-12
This article mentions how Facebook is playing the long term game rather than a short term one.
I think the reduction in numbers is definitely something to be considered. To a certain extent I think it depends on which social circles you run in. If your close friends are posting multiple times a day, I think you would be inclined to post more often.
Also sometimes people tend not to think about what there posting. For example on my newsfeed someone had taken a screen shot of their order confirmation, with order id, e-mail and name included. This is careless as anyone could ring up and get the package redirected with that sort of detail.
I really liked your post, particular the structure. Breaking it down into for and against made it easy to read. Like Kimberly I thought the two quotes were a nice little addition, making the post feel more personal. By starting out with the definition of Online Identity it sets the reader up well for the content to come.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that you pick up allot on the issue of companies buying and using personal data for marketing purposes. Do you think this is more of an issue than online fraud? I do not mind the personalising of online advertisement, its much better than getting the generic slimming advertisements. What I would mind would be for someone to hack my email accounts or steal my card details.
I equally share your concern for the diminishing human experience caused by Online Identities. On so many an occasions I have found myself surrounded by friends who seem so eager to share what fun their having online, that they don’t appear to have the chance to have much fun at all. I didn’t even pick up on problem in my blog and I think it’s actually the factor of online identities, which annoys me most. I thought this was a nice little article on the matter.http://www.sayitsocial.com/2013/11/how-generation-y-is-ruining-your-social-life/
I think it would have been valuable for you to have dedicated a paragraph to being anonymous opposed to having an online presence. For instance you could have mentioned that posts with a known and recognised author hold more integrity.
Overall I really enjoyed reading your post, and thought you presented a good argument, with strong supporting evidence. I look forward to reading more from you in the future.
HI Jazmin, thank you for your kind feedback, I look forward to reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your question,
I don't think it's quite online fraud, as we as users are volunteering our information freely but I do think it is a very fine line yes! I think if you told people their details were being sold online they would react badly though!
A very interesting article from 'sayitsocial', with the key point being that as a result of checking our phones all the time we are being social at scale but unfortunately as a result of this it is distancing our social lives from actual personal interaction. I can often relate to this as people seem to be intent on checking their Facebook on their phones, all the time.
Thanks again for your feedback.