Privacy, deception or just outright lies

 Privacy, deception or just outright lies

When I think about identity or more specifically, my own identity, my mind instantly and automatically thinks of birth certificates and driver licences.  When asked today in BA1002 lecture class to define the word ‘identity’ in one word to make an alien understand the meaning (Kuttainen, 2019), I realised there’s more to identity than just the typical details such as name and date of birth, usually found on official documents.  Everyone has their own idea on what identity means to them.  As previously mentioned, I am socially illiterate and possibly ignorant when it comes to online social networking as I have very little experience, and this is only the second time I have ever posted or blogged about anything.  

So, is this true or is this merely what I want you to think?  

Identity is an amazing thing, we all have it, yet, it means different things to different people.  A person’s identity defines who they are, however, Identity is never final and continues to develop through the lifespan (Heshmat, 2014).  A person’s identity can have the ability to shape peoples or the community’s views on a particular subject.  Identity online in social networking circles can also have big impacts or serious consequences as they influence followers to adapt their ideas and behaviours.  A fine example of identity misconduct is Belle Gibson, who identified as a cancer survivor on Facebook.  Belles claims to cure cancer was significantly dangerous as she influenced followers to adopt her healing methods that were not scientifically proven.

Image 1. Controlling your online identity (Independent Fashion Bloggers, n.d.)

It is common practice among social networking to sculpt or portray themselves in a certain way “but because you're also creating something for others' consumption, you find yourself imagining and playing to your audience more and more.  So those moments in which you're suppose to be showing your true self become a performance" (Orenstein, July 2010).  A form of manipulation of information to allow a particular perception according to how you want people to see you.  Revealing only specific information, in some respects, has a degree of deception.  “Social media can be a positive tool for creating and affirming the self. We can and do use social media as a tool in the ‘art of life’, the practice of constructing the self” (Rayner, July 4, 2012). 

Have you ever read about someone through social networking sites, living it up, on a holiday, at expensive hotels, happily married and all the photos that prove a wonderful life only to find out months later that their life is very different to the photos or happy posts portrayed on Facebook?  Finding out that they are constantly in and out of rehab or lost their business due to excessive living was never mentioned among the happy holiday snaps that in reality was a holiday to restore an otherwise failing marriage.  This may seem like an extreme case however this is really happening but at what point does your privacy or your choice to retain or filter personal information to the rest of the world, become a deception.  

Is it not your prerogative to pick and choose what others know about you in the real world and in the virtual world?

  

References

Heshmat, S. (2014). Basics of Identity. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/science-choice/201412/basics-identity

Identity. (2019). Merriam Webster. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/identity

Independent Fashion Bloggers. (n.d.). Controlling your online identity [Image]. Retrieved from https://heartifb.com/pros-cons-online-identity/

Kuttainen, V. (2019). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place, lecture week 4: Self Community Identity. [PowerPoint file]. Retrieved from http://learn.jcu.edu.au

Orenstein, P. (2010). The way we live now: I tweet, therefore I am. The New York Times Magazine (July 30), 1. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/magazine/01wwln-lede-t.html

Rayner, T. (2012). Foucault and social media: I tweet, therefore I become. Retrieved from https://philosophyforchange.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/foucault-and-social-media-i-tweet-therefore-i-become/