Connectivity: Who’s hiding behind your Online Identity?
Everyone knows what it feels like to want to be someone else. We all long to look different, act different, and be surrounded by different people, every now and then.
The Internet has made all of this possible. Online, anyone can be who they want to be, who they feel they should be in real life, or just someone they admire.
People are now able to reinvent themselves, anyway they seem fit. All thanks so a phenomenon called the Online Identity.Online Identities are most commonly used by network users, displaying themselves on forums, RPG’s or even online messengers. Though some people use their real name, most choose a different title, a pseudonym.
Usually, users can pick a visual representative of themselves, known as an avatar. This small picture is usually shown next to the chosen screen name.Online Identities are more then simply a name, it can go as far as people trusting the person behind it, making the user important to other people.
To lots of people, their online ID is more ‘real’ then their real life identity. Online there are no rules, or only the ones you’ve made up yourself. We’re no longer restricted by social codes or peer-pressure, lots of people using an online ID feel that they can finally be themselves and open up to all the things they keep inside most of the time.One of these people is a friend of mine, known online as DFX. He chose his name simply to hide himself while he posted his writings (short stories and some poetry) online. This way it was easy to hide from criticism, since it wasn’t really him, but DFX, who wrote them.
Currently, he’s known in several internet communities by his screen name. People ask him for advice, and are exited that he want’s to talk to them “In a way” he says “DFX is both someone to hide behind, as someone who’s more ‘me’ then me, all because there’s no direct physical contact between me and the other users.”
Online Identities can be used for various purposes. People may be looking for affection, for a way to express their sexuality, or simply to make friends. Online, anyone can choose to be anyone, but even though that may seem as a way to escape from everyday life, most people represent themselves in a way that is rather similar to their real life identity.
One way or another, the anonymity that the online world provides is not being used fully.
It seems as though most users of the World Wide Web are simply looking for another form of acknowledgement of their social skills, just like in our day to day reality.
Another blog about Online ID can be found here.
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