Online identity
Encyclopedia
An online identity, internet identity, or internet persona is a social identity
that an Internet
user establishes in online communities and websites. Although some people prefer to use their real names online, some internet users prefer to be anonymous
, identifying themselves by means of pseudonym
s, which reveal varying amounts of personally identifiable information
.
In some online contexts, including Internet forum
s, MUD
s, instant messaging
, and massively multiplayer online game
s, users can represent themselves visually by choosing an avatar
, an icon-sized graphic image. Avatars are how users express their online identity As other users interact with an established online identity, it acquires a reputation
, which enables them to decide whether the identity is worthy of trust
Some websites also use the user's IP address
to track their online identities using methods such as tracking cookies.
The concept of the personal self
, and how this is influenced by emerging technologies, are a subject of research in fields such as psychology
and sociology
. The online disinhibition effect
is a notable example, referring to a concept of unwise and uninhibited behavior on the internet, arising as a result of anonymity and audience gratification.
, i.e. the usage of the web to support the social process, represents a space in which people have the possibility to express
and expose their identity in a social context.
For instance people define explicitly their identity by creating user profile
s in social network services such as Facebook
or LinkedIn
or in online dating service
s . By using blogs and expressing opinions, they define more tacit identities
.
The disclosure of a person's identity may present a certain number of issues related to privacy
and the undesired disclosure of personal information. However many people adopt strategies allowing them to control the level of disclosure of their personal information online .
s. .
In the case of social network service
s such as Facebook, companies are even proposing to sell 'friends' as a way to increase a user's visibility, calling into question even more the reliability of a person's 'social identity'.
in their contribution to the book Building Virtual Communities explore online identity, with emphasis on the concept of "masking" identity. They point out that whenever an individual interacts in a social sphere they portray a mask of their identity. This is no different online and in fact becomes even more pronounced due to the decisions an online contributor must make concerning his or her online profile. He or she must answer specific questions about age
, gender
, address
, username and so forth. Furthermore, as a person publishes to the web he or she adds more and more to his or her mask in the style of writing, vocabulary and topics. Though the chapter is very philosophical in nature, it spurs the thinking that online identity is a complex business and still in the process of being understood.
The kind of mask one chooses reveals at least something of the subject behind the mask. One might call this the "metaphor" of the mask. The online mask does not reveal the actual identity of a person. It, however, does reveal an example of what lies behind the mask. For instance, if a person chooses to act like a rock star on line, this metaphor reveals an interest in rock music. Even if a person chooses to hide behind a totally false identity, this says something about the fear and lack of self-esteem behind the false mask.
Because of many emotional and psychological dynamics, people can be reluctant to interact online. By evoking a mask of identity a person can create a safety net. One of the great fears of online identity is having one's identity stolen or abused. This fear keeps people from sharing who they are. Some are so fearful of identity theft or abuse that they will not even reveal information already known about them in public listings. By making the mask available, people can interact with some degree of confidence without fear.
Wiszniewski and Coyne state "Education can be seen as the change process by which identity is realized, how one finds one's place. Education implicates the transformation of identity. Education, among other things, is a process of building up a sense of identity, generalized as a process of edification." Students interacting in an online community must reveal something about themselves and have others respond to this contribution. In this manner, the mask is constantly being formulated in dialogue with others and thereby students will gain a richer and deeper sense of who they are. There will be a process of edification that will help students come to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
, rock
fans
, etc.) the authors may also meet off-line, and lead to the concept of blended identity.
is still very present in real life. In the online world, users have the opportunity to enter popular MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) as typified by games such as Final Fantasy 11, World of Warcraft
or Second Life
where there is abundant opportunity to redefine sexual and gender identity, and where a large portion of interaction is dedicated to the building of relationships. However, online spaces are not disconnected from offline ideas of gender and sexuality. While these online arenas offers some space for redefiniton of gender and sexuality users are at the same time constrained by their offline social context as well as norms formed in the online community
This freedom results in new opportunities for society as a whole, especially the ability for people to explore the roles of gender and sexuality in a manner that can be harmless, yet interesting and helpful to those undertaking the change. Online identity has given people the opportunity to feel comfortable in wide-ranging roles, some of which may be underlying aspects of the user's life that the user is unable to portray in the real world.
A prime example of these opportunities is the establishment of many communities welcoming gay and lesbian teens who are dealing with their sexuality. These communities allow teens to share their experiences with one another and older gay and lesbian people, and may they provide a community that is both non-threatening and non-judgmental. In a review of such a community, Silberman (in Holeton, 1998, p. 118) quotes an information technology worker, Tom Reilly, as stating "The wonderful thing about online services is that they are an intrinsically decentralized resource. Kids can challenge what adults have to say and make the news." If teen organizers are successful anywhere, news of it is readily available. The internet is arguably the most powerful tool that young people with alternative sexualities have ever had.
The online world provides users with a choice to determine which sex, sexuality preference and sexual characteristics they would like to embody. In each online encounter, a user essentially has the opportunity to interchange which identity they would like to portray. As McRae argues in Surkan (2000), "The lack of physical presence and the infinite malleability of bodies complicates sexual interaction in a singular way: because the choice of gender is an option rather than a strictly defined social construct, the entire concept of gender as a primary marker of identity becomes partially subverted."
. As McRae (1997, p. 75) states, "Virtual sex allows for a certain freedom of expression, of physical presentation and of experimentation beyond one's own real-life limits." At its best, it not only complicates but drastically unsettles the division between mind, body and self in a manner only possible though the construction of an online identity.
disabled identity. The beneficial effect for people with disabilities is in terms of providing a level playing field where they can be treated on their merits as a person, rather than as a disabled person (Bowker & Tuffin, 2002).
and the ability of pedophiles
to obscure their identity.
Finally, the concerns regarding the connection between on and offline lives are challenging the notions of what constitutes real experience. In reference to gender, sexuality and sexual behavior, the ability to play with these ideas has resulted in a questioning of how virtual experience may affect one's offline emotions. As McRae (in Porter, 1997, p. 75) states,
At its best, virtual sex
not only complicates but drastically unsettles the division between mind, body, and self that has become a comfortable truism in Western metaphysics. When projected into virtuality, mind, body and self all become consciously-manufactured constructs through which individuals interact with each other.
: the deal can succeed only if the parties are willing to trust each other, but they have no rational basis for doing so. But successful Internet trading sites have developed reputation management systems, such as eBay's feedback
system, which record transactions and provide the technical means by which users can rate each others' trustworthiness. However, users with malicious intent can still cause serious problems on such websites.
depends on how an identity management infrastructure is developed. Law enforcement officials often express their opposition to online anonymity and pseudonymity
, which they view as an open invitation to criminals who wish to disguise their identities. Therefore, they call for an identity management infrastructure that would irrevocably tie online identity to a person's legal identity
]; in most such proposals, the system would be developed in tandem with a secure national identity document
. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google
, has stated that the Google+
social network is intended to be exactly such an identity system; the controversy resulting from Google+'s policy of requiring users to sign in using legal names has been dubbed the "nymwars
".
Online civil rights advocates, in contrast, argue that there is no need for a privacy-invasive system because technological solutions, such as reputation management systems, are already sufficient and are expected to grow in their sophistication and utility.
The most vulnerable age group to online predators is often considered to be young teenagers or older children. "Over time — perhaps weeks or even months — the stranger, having obtained as much personal information as possible, grooms the child, gaining his or her trust through compliments, positive statements, and other forms of flattery to build an emotional bond." The victims often do not suspect anything until it is too late, as the other party usually misleads them to believe that they are of similar age.
The show Dateline
on NBC
has, overall, conducted three investigations on online predators. They had adults, posing online as teenage juveniles, engage in sexually explicit conversations with other adults (the predators) and arrange to meet them in person. But instead of meeting a teenager, the unsuspecting adult was confronted by Chris Hansen
, an NBC News correspondent, arrested, and shown on nationwide television. Dateline held investigations in five different locations apprehending a total of 129 men in all.
Federal laws have been passed in the U.S. to assist the government when trying to catch online predators. Some of these include wiretapping, so online offenders can be caught in advance, before a child becomes a victim. In California, where one Dateline investigation took place, it is a misdemeanor for someone to have sexually-tinged conversations with a child online. The men who came to the house were charged with a felony because their intent was obvious.
, which is owned by Sony Online Entertainment, Inc.
, attempted to sell his Everquest identity on eBay. Sony objected, asserting that the character is Sony's intellectual property
, and demanded the removal of the auction; under the terms of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA), eBay could have become a party to a copyright infringement
lawsuit if it failed to comply. Left unresolved is a fundamental question: Who owns an online identity created at a commercial Web site? Does an online identity belong to the person who created it, or to the company that owns the software used to create the identity?
cannot be transferred to Slashdot
.
Multiple proposals have been made to build an identity management
infrastructure into the Web protocols
. All of them require an effective public key infrastructure
so that the identity of two separate manifestations of an online identity (say, one on Wikipedia
and another on Twitter
) are probably one and the same.
OpenID
, an open, decentralized standard for authenticating users is used for access control, allowing users to log on to different services with the same digital identity. These services must allow and implement OpenID.
or in interest-centered sites like Blogster
, to protect personal information and allow them more editorial freedom to express ideas that might be unpopular with their family, employers, etc. Use of a pseudonym (and a judicious approach to revealing personal information) can allow a person to protect their "real" identities, but still build a reputation online using the assumed name.
The creation of online social networks like MySpace
and Facebook
, allows people to maintain an online identity within an overlapping online and real world context. These are often identities created to reflect a specific aspect or best possible version of themselves. Representations include pictures, communications with other 'friends' and membership in network groups. Privacy controls, especially limited to specific networks on Facebook, are also part of social networking identity.
With the prevalence of remote internet communications, students do not form preconceptions of their classmates based on the classmate's appearance or speech characteristics. Rather, impressions are formed based only on the information presented by the classmate. Some students are more comfortable with this paradigm as it avoids the discomfort of public speaking. Students who do not feel comfortable stating their ideas in class can take time to sit down and think through exactly what they wish to say.
Communication via written media may lead students to take more time to think through their ideas since their words are in a more permanent setting (online) than most conversations carried on during class (Smith).
Social identity
A social identity is the portion of an individual's self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. As originally formulated by Henri Tajfel and John Turner in the 1970s and 80s, social identity theory introduced the concept of a social identity as a way in which to...
that an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
user establishes in online communities and websites. Although some people prefer to use their real names online, some internet users prefer to be anonymous
Anonymity
Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...
, identifying themselves by means of pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s, which reveal varying amounts of personally identifiable information
Personally identifiable information
Personally Identifiable Information , as used in information security, is information that can be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a single person or can be used with other sources to uniquely identify a single individual...
.
In some online contexts, including Internet forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s, MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
s, instant messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
, and massively multiplayer online game
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
s, users can represent themselves visually by choosing an avatar
Avatar (computing)
In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...
, an icon-sized graphic image. Avatars are how users express their online identity As other users interact with an established online identity, it acquires a reputation
Reputation
Reputation of a social entity is an opinion about that entity, typically a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria...
, which enables them to decide whether the identity is worthy of trust
Trust (sociology)
In a social context, trust has several connotations. Definitions of trust typically refer to a situation characterised by the following aspects: One party is willing to rely on the actions of another party ; the situation is directed to the future. In addition, the trustor abandons control over...
Some websites also use the user's IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
to track their online identities using methods such as tracking cookies.
The concept of the personal self
Self (psychology)
The psychology of self is the study of either the cognitive and affective representation of one's identity or the subject of experience. The earliest formulation of the self in modern psychology derived from the distinction between the self as I, the subjective knower, and the self as Me, the...
, and how this is influenced by emerging technologies, are a subject of research in fields such as psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
. The online disinhibition effect
Online disinhibition effect
In psychology, the online disinhibition effect, also known in popular culture as John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory , refers to the way people behave on the Internet with less restraint than in real-world situations...
is a notable example, referring to a concept of unwise and uninhibited behavior on the internet, arising as a result of anonymity and audience gratification.
Identity expression and identity exposure
The social webSocial Web
The social Web is a set of social relations that link people through the World Wide Web. The Social web encompasses how websites and software are designed and developed in order to support and foster social interaction. These online social interactions form the basis of much online activity...
, i.e. the usage of the web to support the social process, represents a space in which people have the possibility to express
Online identity management
Online identity management also known as online image management or online personal branding or personal reputation management is a set of methods for generating a distinguished Web presence of a person on the Internet...
and expose their identity in a social context.
For instance people define explicitly their identity by creating user profile
User profile
A user profile is a collection of personal data associated to a specific user. A profile refers therefore to the explicit digital representation of a person's identity...
s in social network services such as Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
or LinkedIn
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. , LinkedIn reports more than 120 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. The site is available in English, French,...
or in online dating service
Online dating service
Online dating or Internet dating is a dating system which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship...
s . By using blogs and expressing opinions, they define more tacit identities
Identity (social science)
Identity is a term used to describe a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations . The term is used more specifically in psychology and sociology, and is given a great deal of attention in social psychology...
.
The disclosure of a person's identity may present a certain number of issues related to privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
and the undesired disclosure of personal information. However many people adopt strategies allowing them to control the level of disclosure of their personal information online .
Reliability of online identities
The identities that people define in the social web are not necessarily reliable. For example studies have shown that people lie in online dating serviceOnline dating service
Online dating or Internet dating is a dating system which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship...
s. .
In the case of social network service
Social network service
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
s such as Facebook, companies are even proposing to sell 'friends' as a way to increase a user's visibility, calling into question even more the reliability of a person's 'social identity'.
Online identity and the concept of the mask
Dorian Wiszniewski and Richard CoyneRichard Coyne
Richard Coyne is Professor of Architectural Computing at the University of Edinburgh where he is Head of the School of Arts, Culture and Environment, which covers the disciplines of architecture, history of art and music...
in their contribution to the book Building Virtual Communities explore online identity, with emphasis on the concept of "masking" identity. They point out that whenever an individual interacts in a social sphere they portray a mask of their identity. This is no different online and in fact becomes even more pronounced due to the decisions an online contributor must make concerning his or her online profile. He or she must answer specific questions about age
Ageing
Ageing or aging is the accumulation of changes in a person over time. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change. Some dimensions of ageing grow and expand over time, while others decline...
, gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
, address
Address (geography)
An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used for describing the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or...
, username and so forth. Furthermore, as a person publishes to the web he or she adds more and more to his or her mask in the style of writing, vocabulary and topics. Though the chapter is very philosophical in nature, it spurs the thinking that online identity is a complex business and still in the process of being understood.
The kind of mask one chooses reveals at least something of the subject behind the mask. One might call this the "metaphor" of the mask. The online mask does not reveal the actual identity of a person. It, however, does reveal an example of what lies behind the mask. For instance, if a person chooses to act like a rock star on line, this metaphor reveals an interest in rock music. Even if a person chooses to hide behind a totally false identity, this says something about the fear and lack of self-esteem behind the false mask.
Because of many emotional and psychological dynamics, people can be reluctant to interact online. By evoking a mask of identity a person can create a safety net. One of the great fears of online identity is having one's identity stolen or abused. This fear keeps people from sharing who they are. Some are so fearful of identity theft or abuse that they will not even reveal information already known about them in public listings. By making the mask available, people can interact with some degree of confidence without fear.
Wiszniewski and Coyne state "Education can be seen as the change process by which identity is realized, how one finds one's place. Education implicates the transformation of identity. Education, among other things, is a process of building up a sense of identity, generalized as a process of edification." Students interacting in an online community must reveal something about themselves and have others respond to this contribution. In this manner, the mask is constantly being formulated in dialogue with others and thereby students will gain a richer and deeper sense of who they are. There will be a process of edification that will help students come to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
Blended identity
In some contexts (such as in the case of online dating serviceOnline dating service
Online dating or Internet dating is a dating system which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
fans
Fan (person)
A Fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person with a liking and enthusiasm for something, such as a band or a sports team. Fans of a particular thing or person constitute its fanbase or fandom...
, etc.) the authors may also meet off-line, and lead to the concept of blended identity.
Sexuality and online identity
A widely discussed topic regarding online identity is that of gender and sexual identity. Despite growing tolerance for and acceptance of different sexualities in society, sexual prejudicePrejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
is still very present in real life. In the online world, users have the opportunity to enter popular MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) as typified by games such as Final Fantasy 11, World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
or Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
where there is abundant opportunity to redefine sexual and gender identity, and where a large portion of interaction is dedicated to the building of relationships. However, online spaces are not disconnected from offline ideas of gender and sexuality. While these online arenas offers some space for redefiniton of gender and sexuality users are at the same time constrained by their offline social context as well as norms formed in the online community
Benefits of virtual communities
A commonly discussed positive aspect of virtual communities is that people can now present themselves without fear of persecution, whether it is personality traits, behaviors that they are curious about, or the announcement of a real world identity component that has never before been announced.This freedom results in new opportunities for society as a whole, especially the ability for people to explore the roles of gender and sexuality in a manner that can be harmless, yet interesting and helpful to those undertaking the change. Online identity has given people the opportunity to feel comfortable in wide-ranging roles, some of which may be underlying aspects of the user's life that the user is unable to portray in the real world.
A prime example of these opportunities is the establishment of many communities welcoming gay and lesbian teens who are dealing with their sexuality. These communities allow teens to share their experiences with one another and older gay and lesbian people, and may they provide a community that is both non-threatening and non-judgmental. In a review of such a community, Silberman (in Holeton, 1998, p. 118) quotes an information technology worker, Tom Reilly, as stating "The wonderful thing about online services is that they are an intrinsically decentralized resource. Kids can challenge what adults have to say and make the news." If teen organizers are successful anywhere, news of it is readily available. The internet is arguably the most powerful tool that young people with alternative sexualities have ever had.
The online world provides users with a choice to determine which sex, sexuality preference and sexual characteristics they would like to embody. In each online encounter, a user essentially has the opportunity to interchange which identity they would like to portray. As McRae argues in Surkan (2000), "The lack of physical presence and the infinite malleability of bodies complicates sexual interaction in a singular way: because the choice of gender is an option rather than a strictly defined social construct, the entire concept of gender as a primary marker of identity becomes partially subverted."
Disembodiment and implications
This issue of gender and sexual reassignment raises the notion of disembodiment and its associated implications. "Disembodiment" is the idea that once the user is online, the need for the body is no longer required, and the user can participate separately from it. This ultimately relates to a sense of detachment from the identity defined by the physical body. In cyberspace, many aspects of sexual identity become blurred and are only defined by the user. Questions of truth will therefore be raised, particularly in reference to online dating and virtual sexVirtual sex
Virtual sex is a sexual act where two or more people gather together via some form of communications equipment to arouse each other by transmitting sexually explicit messages...
. As McRae (1997, p. 75) states, "Virtual sex allows for a certain freedom of expression, of physical presentation and of experimentation beyond one's own real-life limits." At its best, it not only complicates but drastically unsettles the division between mind, body and self in a manner only possible though the construction of an online identity.
Relation to real-world social constraints
Ultimately, online identity cannot be completely free from the social constraints that are imposed in the real world. As Westfall (2000, p. 160) discusses, "the idea of truly departing from social hierarchy and restriction does not occur on the Internet (as perhaps suggested by earlier research into the possibilities presented by the Internet) with identity construction still shaped by others. Westfall raises the important, yet rarely discussed, issue of the effects of literacy and communication skills of the online user." Indeed, these skills or the lack thereof have the capacity to shape one's online perception as they shape one's perception through a physical body in the "real world."Relation to real-world physical and sensory constraints
Online identity can offer potential social benefits to those with physical and sensory disabilities. This would largely be within the confines of a textual medium devoid of visible identity markers. Disembodiment affords the opportunity to operate outside the constraints of a socially stigmatizedSocial stigma
Social stigma is the severe disapproval of or discontent with a person on the grounds of characteristics that distinguish them from other members of a society.Almost all stigma is based on a person differing from social or cultural norms...
disabled identity. The beneficial effect for people with disabilities is in terms of providing a level playing field where they can be treated on their merits as a person, rather than as a disabled person (Bowker & Tuffin, 2002).
Concerns
Primarily, concerns regarding virtual identity revolve around the areas of misrepresentation and the contrasting effects of on and offline existence. Sexuality and sexual behavior online provide some of the most controversial debate with many concerned about the predatory nature of some users. This is particularly in reference to concerns about child pornographyChild pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
and the ability of pedophiles
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
to obscure their identity.
Finally, the concerns regarding the connection between on and offline lives are challenging the notions of what constitutes real experience. In reference to gender, sexuality and sexual behavior, the ability to play with these ideas has resulted in a questioning of how virtual experience may affect one's offline emotions. As McRae (in Porter, 1997, p. 75) states,
At its best, virtual sex
Virtual sex
Virtual sex is a sexual act where two or more people gather together via some form of communications equipment to arouse each other by transmitting sexually explicit messages...
not only complicates but drastically unsettles the division between mind, body, and self that has become a comfortable truism in Western metaphysics. When projected into virtuality, mind, body and self all become consciously-manufactured constructs through which individuals interact with each other.
Reputation management
Given the malleability of online identities, economists have expressed surprise that flourishing trading sites (such as eBay) have developed on the Internet. When two pseudonymous identities propose to enter into an online transaction, they are faced with the Prisoner's dilemmaPrisoner's dilemma
The prisoner’s dilemma is a canonical example of a game, analyzed in game theory that shows why two individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interest to do so. It was originally framed by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher working at RAND in 1950. Albert W...
: the deal can succeed only if the parties are willing to trust each other, but they have no rational basis for doing so. But successful Internet trading sites have developed reputation management systems, such as eBay's feedback
Feedback
Feedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
system, which record transactions and provide the technical means by which users can rate each others' trustworthiness. However, users with malicious intent can still cause serious problems on such websites.
Online identity and user's rights
The future of online anonymityAnonymity
Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...
depends on how an identity management infrastructure is developed. Law enforcement officials often express their opposition to online anonymity and pseudonymity
Pseudonymity
Pseudonymity is a word derived from pseudonym, meaning 'false name', and anonymity, meaning unknown or undeclared source, describing a state of disguised identity. The pseudonym identifies a holder, that is, one or more human beings who possess but do not disclose their true names...
, which they view as an open invitation to criminals who wish to disguise their identities. Therefore, they call for an identity management infrastructure that would irrevocably tie online identity to a person's legal identity
Natural person
Variously, in jurisprudence, a natural person is a human being, as opposed to an artificial, legal or juristic person, i.e., an organization that the law treats for some purposes as if it were a person distinct from its members or owner...
]; in most such proposals, the system would be developed in tandem with a secure national identity document
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, has stated that the Google+
Google+
Google+ is a social networking and identity service, operated by Google Inc.The service was launched on June 28, 2011, in an invite-only "field testing" phase. The following day, existing users were allowed to invite friends who were over 18 years of age to the service to create their own accounts....
social network is intended to be exactly such an identity system; the controversy resulting from Google+'s policy of requiring users to sign in using legal names has been dubbed the "nymwars
Nymwars
Nymwars is the name given to the conflicts over policies mandating that users of internet service identify using real names. They began in July 2011 when the social networking site Google+ began enforcing its real name only policy by suspending the accounts of users it felt were not following the...
".
Online civil rights advocates, in contrast, argue that there is no need for a privacy-invasive system because technological solutions, such as reputation management systems, are already sufficient and are expected to grow in their sophistication and utility.
Online predators
An online predator is an Internet user who exploits other users' vulnerability, often for sexual or financial purposes. It is relatively easy to create an online identity which is attractive to people that would not normally become involved with the predator, but fortunately there are a few means by which you can make sure that a person whom you haven't met is actually who they say they are. Many people will trust things such as the style in which someone writes, or the photographs someone has on their web page as a way to identify that person, but these can easily be forged. Long-term Internet relationships may sometimes be difficult to sufficiently understand knowing what someone's identity is actually like.The most vulnerable age group to online predators is often considered to be young teenagers or older children. "Over time — perhaps weeks or even months — the stranger, having obtained as much personal information as possible, grooms the child, gaining his or her trust through compliments, positive statements, and other forms of flattery to build an emotional bond." The victims often do not suspect anything until it is too late, as the other party usually misleads them to believe that they are of similar age.
The show Dateline
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
has, overall, conducted three investigations on online predators. They had adults, posing online as teenage juveniles, engage in sexually explicit conversations with other adults (the predators) and arrange to meet them in person. But instead of meeting a teenager, the unsuspecting adult was confronted by Chris Hansen
Chris Hansen
Christopher Edward "Chris" Hansen is an American television infotainment personality. He is known for his work on Dateline NBC, in particular the former segment known as To Catch a Predator, which revolved around catching potential Internet sex predators using a sting operation.-Career:Hansen...
, an NBC News correspondent, arrested, and shown on nationwide television. Dateline held investigations in five different locations apprehending a total of 129 men in all.
Federal laws have been passed in the U.S. to assist the government when trying to catch online predators. Some of these include wiretapping, so online offenders can be caught in advance, before a child becomes a victim. In California, where one Dateline investigation took place, it is a misdemeanor for someone to have sexually-tinged conversations with a child online. The men who came to the house were charged with a felony because their intent was obvious.
Online identities and the market
An online identity that has acquired an excellent reputation is valuable for two reasons: first, one or more persons invested a great deal of time and effort to build the identity's reputation; and second, other users look to the identity's reputation as they try to decide whether it is sufficiently trustworthy. It is therefore unsurprising that online identities have been put up for sale at online auction sites. However, conflicts arise over the ownership of online identities. Recently, a user of a massively multiplayer online game called EverquestEverQuest
EverQuest, often shortened to EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released on the 16th of March, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost...
, which is owned by Sony Online Entertainment, Inc.
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, attempted to sell his Everquest identity on eBay. Sony objected, asserting that the character is Sony's intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, and demanded the removal of the auction; under the terms of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization . It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to...
(DMCA), eBay could have become a party to a copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
lawsuit if it failed to comply. Left unresolved is a fundamental question: Who owns an online identity created at a commercial Web site? Does an online identity belong to the person who created it, or to the company that owns the software used to create the identity?
Online identity and identity management infrastructures
A problem facing anyone who hopes to build a positive online reputation is that reputations are site-specific; for example, one's reputation on eBayEBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
cannot be transferred to Slashdot
Slashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...
.
Multiple proposals have been made to build an identity management
Identity management
Identity management is a broad administrative area that deals with identifying individuals in a system and controlling access to the resources in that system by placing restrictions on the established identities of the individuals.Identity management is multidisciplinary and covers many...
infrastructure into the Web protocols
Communications protocol
A communications protocol is a system of digital message formats and rules for exchanging those messages in or between computing systems and in telecommunications...
. All of them require an effective public key infrastructure
Public key infrastructure
Public Key Infrastructure is a set of hardware, software, people, policies, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates. In cryptography, a PKI is an arrangement that binds public keys with respective user identities by means of a certificate...
so that the identity of two separate manifestations of an online identity (say, one on Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
and another on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
) are probably one and the same.
OpenID
OpenID
OpenID is an open standard that describes how users can be authenticated in a decentralized manner, eliminating the need for services to provide their own ad hoc systems and allowing users to consolidate their digital identities...
, an open, decentralized standard for authenticating users is used for access control, allowing users to log on to different services with the same digital identity. These services must allow and implement OpenID.
Blogging
As blogs allow an individual to express his or her views in individual essays or as part of a wider discussion, it creates a public forum for expressing ideas. Bloggers often choose to use pseudonyms, whether in platforms such as WordpressWordPress
WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and publishing platform powered by PHP and MySQL. It is often customized into a content management system . It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1...
or in interest-centered sites like Blogster
Blogster
Blogster is a blogging community that features specific-interest blogs. Blogster maintains an online community of users who publish content, images, video and more. Blogster members can network and collaborate by creating a blog, building a personalized profile, creating friend lists, commenting...
, to protect personal information and allow them more editorial freedom to express ideas that might be unpopular with their family, employers, etc. Use of a pseudonym (and a judicious approach to revealing personal information) can allow a person to protect their "real" identities, but still build a reputation online using the assumed name.
The creation of online social networks like MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, allows people to maintain an online identity within an overlapping online and real world context. These are often identities created to reflect a specific aspect or best possible version of themselves. Representations include pictures, communications with other 'friends' and membership in network groups. Privacy controls, especially limited to specific networks on Facebook, are also part of social networking identity.
Communication
Online identity in classrooms forces people to reevaluate their concepts of classroom environments. With the invention of online classes, classrooms have changed and no longer have the traditional face-to-face communications. These communications have been replaced by computer screen. Students are no longer defined by visual characteristics unless they make them known. There are pros and cons to each side. In a traditional classroom, students are able to visually connect with a teacher who was standing in the same room. During the class, if questions arise, clarification can be provided immediately. Students can create face-to-face connections with other students, and these connections can easily be extended beyond the classroom. For timid or socially awkward students, this ability to form and extend relationships through personal contact may hold little appeal. For these students, the appeal may reside in online courses, where computer communications allow them a greater degree of separation and anonymity.With the prevalence of remote internet communications, students do not form preconceptions of their classmates based on the classmate's appearance or speech characteristics. Rather, impressions are formed based only on the information presented by the classmate. Some students are more comfortable with this paradigm as it avoids the discomfort of public speaking. Students who do not feel comfortable stating their ideas in class can take time to sit down and think through exactly what they wish to say.
Communication via written media may lead students to take more time to think through their ideas since their words are in a more permanent setting (online) than most conversations carried on during class (Smith).
Perception of Professor
Online learning situations also cause a shift in perception of the professor. Whereas anonymity may help some students achieve a greater level of comfort, professors must maintain an active identity with which students may interact. The students should feel that their professor is ready to help whenever they may need it. Although students and professors may not be able to meet in person, emails and correspondence between them should occur in a timely manner. Without this students tend to drop online classes since it seems that they are wandering through a course without anyone to guide them.See also
- Digital identityDigital identityDigital identity is the aspect of digital technology that is concerned with the mediation of people's experience of their own identity and the identity of other people and things...
- E-AuthenticationE-AuthenticationE-authentication is a shorthand for electronic authentication. Authentication is a process closely related to identification. In online environments, the username identifies the user, while the password authenticates that the user is whom he claim to be....
- Impression managementImpression managementIn sociology and social psychology, impression management is a goal-directed conscious or unconscious process in which people attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event; they do so by regulating and controlling information in social interaction...
- Online Identity ManagementOnline identity managementOnline identity management also known as online image management or online personal branding or personal reputation management is a set of methods for generating a distinguished Web presence of a person on the Internet...
- Online identity theft
- Online and offline
- Proteus effectProteus effectThe Proteus effect is an effect that appears when the behavior of an individual conforms to their digital self-representation.The Proteus effect holds that one's identity presentation changes based on their online avatar...
- Reputation managementReputation managementReputation management , also known as directory management, is the process of tracking an entity's actions and other entities' opinions about those actions; reporting on those actions and opinions; and reacting to that report creating a feedback loop. All entities involved are generally people, but...
- Sherry TurkleSherry TurkleSherry Turkle is Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a sociologist...
- Shibboleth (Internet2)Shibboleth (Internet2)Shibboleth is an Internet2 project that has created an architecture and open-source implementation for federated identity-based authentication and authorization infrastructure based on Security Assertion Markup Language . Federated identity allows for information about users in one security domain...
- Social webSocial WebThe social Web is a set of social relations that link people through the World Wide Web. The Social web encompasses how websites and software are designed and developed in order to support and foster social interaction. These online social interactions form the basis of much online activity...
- Online reputation
- Online diaryOnline diaryAn online diary is a personal diary or journal that is published on the World Wide Web on a personal website or a diary-hosting website.-Overview:...
- On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dogOn the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" is an adage which began as the caption of a cartoon by Peter Steiner published by The New Yorker on July 5, 1993. The cartoon features two dogs: one sitting on a chair in front of a computer, speaking the caption to a second dog sitting on the floor...
- User profileUser profileA user profile is a collection of personal data associated to a specific user. A profile refers therefore to the explicit digital representation of a person's identity...
- Münchausen by InternetMunchausen by InternetMünchausen by Internet is a pattern of behavior in which Internet users seek attention by feigning illnesses in online venues such as chat rooms, message boards, and Internet Relay Chat . It has been described in medical literature as a manifestation of factitious disorder or factitious disorder by...
External links
- M/Cyclopedia of New Media: http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Sexual_Identity_Online
- European Centre for Reputation Studies