Monday, 9 February 2009
lister et al pg 166
Assuming an online persona gives people more confidence to engage in things that previously might have not engaged in. online personas do not have to present the real self instead one can be whoever they want and express whatever they wish to a wider audience. This anonymity gives people a bigger boost of confidence, online personas can also be great when dealing with embarrassing illnesses, a multitude of help forums have appeared in the internet recently which enables people to seek help without the embarrassment of doing it face to face.
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But do you know many (any?) who masquerade online? Isn't time too short to engage in online acting?
ReplyDeleteI think that online masquerading is nowadays probably about as popular as amateur dramatics offline (and possibly engaged in by the same sorts of people?).
Turkle and the rest encouraged journalists and the first wave of researchers to treat Mudders & Mooers as typical of Inet use -but as I said in a couple of the lectures NETIZENS AREN'T NORMAL -early adopters do not usually prefigure what the 'masses' do.
Tape recorders were used in all manner of different and interesting ways until the Sony Walkman increased their use a thousandfold and made them into 'things you played music to yourself on' -something that probably a minority of users used to do with them.