Nick Morse Journal entry four
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, | |
And sorry I could not travel both | |
And be one traveler, long I stood | |
And looked down one as far as I could | |
To where it bent in the undergrowth; Robert Frost |
On one road stands the future for identities in cyberspace. It is founded by the relatively infantile past of the information super highway. It is a world built on anonymity one that utilizes coded screen names in order to hide a user’s real identity. Names like devilzcupcake or Ilovesnowydayz. Now this road is well walked and its path is predictable and it is ever widening. It has a bright future bursting with anonymity via avatars built into second life that allows the user to project an idealized image of oneself while remaining a recluse. This path is friendly and easier for a bevy of reasons ranging from personal dissatisfaction with ones real self or perhaps the desire to create an alter ego to live vicariously through or even something as simple as security. This road is easier and safer. There is no real world rejection or full disclosure needed on this path.
More recently, another road has emerged in the wilderness of cyberspace. A new path that involves shedding anonymity it beckons the walker of this path to embrace narcissism on its simplest and most complex levels. This is the road of face book and other social networking sites. This road will allow a person to shape their online identity meticulously. Strangers and friends alike will gaze with scrutiny and wonderment at every detailed facet of your actual human existence. (John Smith has a cold. John smith likes Bob’s picture, John smith is volunteering this weekend come help out.)This new road is hard to travel for some. However many extroverts may find ease and comfort in the satisfaction of public display of self.
Each road poses questions that may not be answerable right now. However, what is certain is the divide. The one between the introverts living vicariously through avatars in worlds such as second life, and the real life human being who is attempting personify perfection and project their ideal self as a digital replica online. The new breed are attempting to bypass the anonymous, with an avatar that mimics a mirrored reality one that is less flawed, in an attempt to unite cyber life with real life, thus creating a better you. Something that is more human than human, a portfolio of imagery and statements that can represent you better than you can yourself. Are we incredulous to our attempts at sharpening our digital image? Is the narcissism wrong? Andrew P. Morrison claims that, “ in adults, a reasonable amount of healthy narcissism allows the individual's perception of his needs to be balanced in relation to others.”[1] The “about me” section of facebook says a lot about a person in more than the literal sense. This is a place for people to attempt to sound smart, for them to brag, for them to show provocative photos of themselves or ones that exude pride in their children or even ones that display the perfection of their mate or their family. Most importantly, this gives the opportunity for everyone to have 15 minutes of cyber fame.
Each road offers advantages and disadvantages. When traveling on the more anonymous route, people can make friends with whomever they want and not worry about the consequences. No one will judge you in second life for being friends with Kool aid or an evil flying Tyrannosaurus Rex. However, on social networking sites J.B. Walther et al states, “we are known by the company we keep.”[2] Our persona we try so hard to give can be ruined by our own friends, since he goes on to state, “what complicates these sites from an impression formation perspective is that people other than the person about whom the site is focused also contribute information to the site.”[3] This makes it so our actual lives our really affected. Nevertheless, this sort of real actual presence has advantages in areas such as self-marketing. One small survey reported on by Jolie O’diel states that there are "significant positive correlations between narcissism and self-promotional content in the following areas: Main Photo, View Photos, Status Updates and Notes." [4] Therefore, while face book tends to bring out at least a small level of narcissism there is defiantly varying levels of narcissist who are using these sites and they will then determine the overall utilization of social networking sites as either mindless narcissism or perhaps a true tool to manage impressions. J.B. Walthers research states, “Being able to self-present in a positive manner has been tied to social (and even physical) survival.”[5]
The Best thing about cyber space is through it we can travel on roads, anonymity and narcissism if we really want. All while attempting to travel down the path our actually lives. Our essence can now be in more than a third space, but in as many spaces as our imaginations allow us to go.
[1] Morrison, Andrew P. (1997). Shame: The Underside of Narcissism. The Analytic Press. ISBN 0-88163-280-5
[2] "The Role of Friends’ Appearance and Behavior on Evaluations of Individuals on Facebook: Are We Known by the Company We Keep? - Walther - 2008 - Human Communication
[3] "The Role of Friends’ Appearance and Behavior on Evaluations of Individuals on Facebook: Are We Known by the Company We Keep? - Walther - 2008 - Human Communication
[4] O'Dell, By Jolie. "Facebook Feeds Narcissism, Survey Says - CNN." Featured Articles from CNN. 30 Aug. 2010. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. <http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-30/tech/facebook.narcissism.mashable_1_facebook-social-networking-status-updates?_s=PM:TECH>.
[5] Walther - 2008 - Human Communication
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