Social Networking - Identity change

I was on you tube looking at videos for social networking but came across this one instead. It shows how easy it is to change your appearance for the likes of social networking sites and skype, etc. The girl starts out with a picture of herself and completely edits it so that she looks like a different person. It highlights the fact that you dont really know who you are talking to over the internet, and you can have a complete change of identity very easily.

Identity - too much information?

An article I found when i was researching a bit more into identity. I think that it sums up the two alternative views on Identity when it comes to how much or how little you share on social networking sites, and how that record is permanent.

http://www.ndsuspectrum.com/news/protecting-identity-on-social-networking-websites-1.2828090

"Millions of people have a Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or some other social media profile these days. People use these sites to keep in contact and stay up to date with their friends and family as well as keep others up to speed. Social networking can also cause drama, job loss and a personal breach of security."

Identity in Cyberculture

I know Wikipedia isnt the best place for finding information, but to define and explore identity in cyberculture, I think that this is a good place to start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberculture


"Cyberculture, like culture in general, relies on establishing identity and credibility. However, in the absence of direct physical interaction, it could be argued that the process for such establishment is more difficult.
How does cyberculture rely on and establish identity and credibility? This relationship is two way, with identity and credibility being both used to define community in cyberspace and to be created within and by online communities.
In some senses, online credibility is established in much the same way that it is established in the off line world, however, since there are two separate worlds, it is not surprising that there are both differences in the mechanisms found in each and interactions of the markers found in each.

Architectures of credibility

Following the model put forth by Lawrence Lessig in Code: Version 2.0, the architecture of a given online community may be the single most important factor regulating the establishment of credibility within online communities. Some factors may be:

• Anonymous versus Known
• Linked to Physical Identity versus Internet-based Identity Only
• Unrated Commentary System versus Rated Commentary System
• Positive Feedback-oriented versus Mixed Feedback (positive and negative) oriented"
• Moderated versus Unmoderated

Cyberspace and the world we live in

THE CYBERCULTURES reader

David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy

Cyberspace is, according to the guruesque William Gibson, a ‘consensual hallucination’. The contemporary debate on cyberspace and virtual reality is something of a consensual hallucination, too. There is a common vision of a future that will be different from the present, of a space or a reality that is more desirable than the mundane one that presently surrounds and contains us. It is a tunnel vision. It has turned a blind eye on the world we live in.

You might think of cyberspace as a utopian vision for postmodern times. Utopia is nowhere (outopia) and, at the same time, it is also somewhere good (eutopia). Cyberspace is projected at the same kind of ‘somewhere-nowhere’.

I think one of the main advantages of existing as part of a virtual reality is that it can give the user the chance ‘to play god’ and be in complete control. One particular piece of contemporary text that comes to mind is the computer game, ‘Second Life’.  

 http://secondlife.com/

In Second Life, the player is able to become part of a virtual reality that features realistic environments and humanistic values to that of the real world. The player is able to connect with other participants by completing mundane tasks, such as, walking, talking, shopping, etc. This begs the question...  

Why be part of a virtual reality so similar to the lives we already have?

It could be argued that Second Life gives the user a sense of satisfaction which they may not have in their real lives, or a way of feeling free and being in control of an alternative lifestyle. Theoretically, there is no damage that can be done by living in a virtual reality, as the player is simply sitting at their computer. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the user is interacting with real people and that a friendship/relationship accumulated with other players can potentially be broken in the same way.

At what point does being part of a large cyber culture, such as Second Life, go to far? Are people starting to forget about their first life?

Virtues and Intercultural dimensions

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=52005594&site=eds-live

Journal Abstract:
"This study focuses on the intercultural predispositions accompanying the new cultural formulas that are created or transmitted virtually through cyberspace. We believe that, beyond the explicit elements of openness and cultural polymorphism, there exists also an implicit dimension (which becomes manifest through language, iconography, symbolistics, or implicit technicality) that leads to the unification of cultural. The very manipulation of this virtual setting implies gesticulations and thinking, or common action paradigms. Such a tendency entails an questioning the significances of virtual space constructs, as well as their possibilities of unification or differentiation."

Virtues and Intercultural Dimensions
By Constantin Cucoş and Ciprian Ceobanu.

Introducing cyberculture

A few paragraphs to summarise the topic:
http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/introducing_cyberculture.html

Abstract:

"Cyberculture is broad. It exists within and extends throughout the Internet, the global, computer-based "network of networks" constructed in the 1960s by the United States Department of Defense.(1) Although cyberculture is made possible by the network's wires, cables, servers, and terminals, it thrives where users meet within the wires and upon the interfaces. These online social interactions, or what Allucquere Rosanne Stone calls "virtual systems," are as broad as they are diverse and take place within basic email, newsgroups, reflectors, and listservs, bulletin board systems (BBSs) and Usenet, MOOs and MUDs, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), electronic chat rooms, and interactive sites on the World Wide Web..." 

Cybercultures Video - Youtube

Cybercultures - What is it really? 

Video - This link leads to a you tube video on cyber cultures and shows examples of different films that fall into the category of cyber cultures.

Definition

Since the boundaries of cyberculture are difficult to define, the term is used flexibly. Cyberculture is the culture that has emerged and developed from the use of computer networks for communication, entertainment and business. It is also the study of social phenomena associated with the internet and new forms of communication, such as social networking sites, online gaming, forums, chat rooms etc. Cyberculture relies on establishing identity and credibility. However, in the absence of physical interaction, it could be argued that this establishment is more difficult. This relationship is two way, with identity and credibility used to define community in cyberspace and to be created within and by online communities.