If I ask you if are you the same person as you are on the Internet, it’s a strange question But if you think about it, maybe. The data shows that almost half of the 1,500 social media users have alternate accounts. There are many reasons, but the most common is to share thoughts without being judged. The second is wanting to monitor someone. And for some people, it is also used to show another personality to the people you want to show.
Myself, I have a YouTube channel with 2w followers whose content how to make baking. In terms of the personality of this account, I am a very hardworking and procrastination-free person. This is actually the opposite of what I am in the real world, but I have to maintain this identity to gain the love of my followers.
So How to construct identity in the digital world?
- Impression Managent
This idea comes from Erving Goffman, who also published ‘The Presentation of Self in daily life’ where he argues that the world is a huge stage. Everyone’s playing a different role. Some people deliberately change their behaviour to change the impression in front of others. In public and in private, they are two completely different people. For example, some influencers will deliberately create a profile to conform to public expectations. They even change their image based on fan comments. So it can control them better. Even though I am such a person, it‘s different to friends and the elderly. I will be myself in front of them
Reference:
An Overview of Goffman’s ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life’ (no date) ThoughtCo. Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/the-presentation-of-self-in-everyday-life-3026754 (Accessed: 12 December 2023).
It’s true, I also have different social accounts on the same social media. We do tend to be more inclined to show only the side of ourselves that we wish to be in front of different people.As you say the celebrity effect is even more.So,perhaps the behaviours are just to get more attention or positive stares.
I do agree with you that almost everyone has trumpets, and the purpose of these trumpets is to show the real you. And to be honest I do block my parents and relatives at some point when I’m posting to my friends, I just don’t want to create conflict.
I’m not sure I would say that this is adequate enough to explain identity in the digital world. You’ve added the theory that is used to analyse identity which is great, however, this isn’t enough. There is no in depth explanation of the theory as well as who came up with it. Not even a personal part about you and what you associate your identity to be. But, I can agree on the fact that people may have one or more account(s) to differentiate their identities so there’s less judgement. Just need more on yourself and the theory itself.