In her article “Identity Work and the Authentic Cyborg Self”, author Jenny Davis discusses identity construction online and offline. For Davis, social actors must engage in identity work, that is to say they must work hard at constructing their identity. This construction must appear natural and organic, and must thus take place behind closed doors. Thus, having an “authentic” identity is difficult, and made all the more difficult when the self is constructed both online and offline. For Davis, social networking sites such as Facebook reveal the construction inherent in identity formation as “the architecture of social media asks us to present ourselves in explicit ways”.
At this point in her piece, I can go all Adorno and state that the architecture of social LIFE asks us to present ourselves in explicit ways. Buying a certain outfit, shade of makeup or playing a certain sport is a choice we make according to the menu, much in the same way that posting a particular photo, “liking” something or posting on a wall is a choice we make according to the Facebook menu. Identity construction is identity construction whether online or offline, we are simply using the different building blocks offered in each.
However, Davis does raise an interesting point regarding the tension between online and offline selves. She states that we shape our offline selves in order so that they meet our online ideal. For Davis this attempt to live up to our online identities is a quest for authenticity. Online selves are an ideal but we try to make this ideal a reality by tailoring offline behaviour.
What do you think, are social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter dictating how we act in real life? Do we go about our day, or our travels, thinking of how we can “tweet” about something, or thinking of what photos would be best for our online albums, which comments and pictures our friends would most enjoy? Are we more image conscious than ever? Who is influencing who: offline to online, or online to offline?
For my research on Facebook, I argue that users have changed their offline behaviour in order to, as Davis would say, live up to their ideal online personas. Before Facebook, would you have gone to that costume party, would you have brought your camera, would you be doing what you’re doing if there weren’t a possibility it would end up online?
The question returns to hybrid humans. Is our identity composed of our online and offline selves, or does one dictate the other?
Sometimes I think we do things in real life thinking about how we will present them online. I know when things happen to me sometimes I think about how I can say them in 140 characters, to micro blog it on Twitter. While I think we do use social networking sites to create, maintain and present ourselves online, I think I agree with you that at some level there is a need for authenticity. We want people to know who we are.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention it can be hard enough to perform one identity, let alone construct and maintain a completely different one online.
You bring up some very interesting points, Taryn. I believe there is no determinism involved here, and none of the identities dictates how the other is constructed. Certainly, the online identity created by social networking contributed to the propagation of the desire to capture the moment, rather than live it, but this is not new. Offline identities were often shaped and affected by the acknowledgement of the individuality of a person by other members of the society, community or group. What the creation of an online community does, is permit for an extension of the same process, leading thus, to a nonstop need for acknowledgement, approval and appreciation by the others to the self. Both online and offline identities exist, but I agree with Amanda's statement on the difficulty of maintaining two completely distinct identities: the offline is merely extended online, the two coexist.
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