Social Networking Language: Identity and Culture on the Internet

INTRODUCTION

When it comes to creating an online identity, everyone shares their own piece of choice and creativity in building one. A person’s identity - usually a name, is something by which they can be identified or want to be identified. In the real world, one has to go through a lot in order to change their identity or in fact to do anything to it; whereas in the online world, due to the advancement in technology, changing your identity or completely replacing yourself on the internet is a piece of cake.

In this paper, we will come across how identity has played a role in social media, communities, and other online platforms and how it has encouraged the act of identity building. We will cover some topics such as our identities online and offline, understanding the online world for identity development, how identities affect communities, the culture of having an identity and its impact on mental health, how social media shapes your online and offline identity and your character build-up.

As we go through each topic, we will understand how the trend of building an online identity has an advantage and a disadvantage according to how one identifies himself or herself on the net. Towards the end, we will conclude on our set argument with examples provided throughout the paper.

ONLINE AND OFFLINE

Due to the introduction of web 2.0, the techniques of online interaction has been simplified, networking and collaboration and changed our views and perspectives on things that were difficult to do at some point. Identity is one of the most fluid aspects of everyday communication, and there are a variety of ways to comprehend the relationship between media, technology, online environments and subjectivity (Cover & Doak, 2015). Although people tend to be more focused on their identity online, their own real offline identity still persists based on actions, thoughts and desires with a tendency to be more fixed and innate.

Identity is given to a person to make sense of who they are through various aspects like cultural, political and linguistic developments and also the facets of identity like gender, race, ethnicity, nationality along with further identity features like occupation, class, career, etc. There are some aspects of identity that are not considered part of a person’s identity but falls in the category. Aspects such as taste and choice in fashion, networks built between friends, acquaintances, relationships, distant family, etc. (Cover & Doak, 2015). Due to the digital technologies adapted for communication, there have been changes in the way people identify themselves based on how they decide to make themselves identifiable. Nevertheless, this is not to say that the processes by which identity is performed have fully changed modern communication technologies and online worlds; rather, there is a clear distinction between offline mediated and mortal forms of communication and online digital technologies and their developments in relation to identity.

IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT

In the previous section, we saw how the identity of a person differs between online and offline. This identity development usually starts building in the adolescent stage where the child is understanding and learning new things. In this generation, young people have a greater understanding of their identity online than offline. In terms of developing an online identity, the context is very important in order to build a strong identity along with offline contexts like school and home (Wängqvist & Frisén, 2016). Although little to nothing is known about online contexts actually being present in adolescents and their identity formation, while online contexts are generally considered to be very significant in the development of the identity of adolescents in both research and social discourses.

According to Wängqvist & Frisén (2016), “An important characteristic of online contexts in terms of identity development is that participation in online contexts is less dependent on geographical proximity and time compared to offline contexts, which may make more contexts available for identity exploration and experimentations.’’ For young people who find it difficult to communicate features of their identity in offline communities or groups like youth group and young individuals who find face-to-face interactions challenging, the freedom of time and distance play an important role. This is one important aspect in this whole process of identity development of a person as at this stage, the bigger the exposure, the bigger the impact.

INTERNET AS A MEDIUM

Before we head into the identity aspect, the internet so far has been a great source of benefits and individual potentialities as well as the cause the social problems and misunderstanding. Internet is majorly viewed as an information-sharing and voicing platform ranging from local household problems to a kind of public voice for communities or representation (Kirmayer et al., 2013). Since it has a possibility of being untrustworthy in some parts, it is still relied upon making people feel vulnerable to various forms of surveillance they have no idea about. The internet has a profound impact on human behaviour, individuality and personality. It introduces new ways of expressing and positioning oneself professionally, new speech media, and new ways of narrating one’s own narrative. (Kirmayer et al., 2013).

The internet as a whole may seem good and reliable from the outside but it has its dark impact as well on a person’s mind and body. Most people have stated that along with the internet being an easy and unfailing mode of communication and interaction, it has a slow but steady and permanent impact on the memory, thought process, experiences, etc. These developments in the mind promise an unprecedented increase in human potential for some, while the usage of the internet causes the erosion of some of our most fundamental human attributes, beliefs and skills for others. Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus introduced 4 basic concerns of the internet on identity building (Kirmayer et al., 2013).

a) Hyperlink drawbacks as a way to coordinate meaningful information and data.

b) Constraints of distance learning

c) Lack of presence

d) Anonymity issues

“Much of what we attribute to the Internet reflects its role as a platform for new media, which have their own effects on flows of information, organization of memory, and expressions of identity.” (Kirmayer et al., 2013, p. 168)

SOCIAL MEDIA AND IDENTITY

Speaking from the basics, identity has both asynchronous, i.e., a stable or complete state as well as a diachronic, i.e., an incomplete and under construction state. As we’ve seen, identity differs from person to person and the growth of life activities tend to form a unique identity for everyone. In the construction of the identity of a person, this cognitive viewpoint enables one to understand the dialectic between permanence and transition over time, along with analyzing the practices of identity building and the role of digital traces in the particular context of social media interactions (Baldauf et al., 2017). As explained in the previous section, we see Baldauf et al., speaking about how one’s identity is constructed and maintained at first; then shaped to recognize nationality, gender, etc. and other local categories; and then it can be interpreted only in comparison to other identities.

There are other aspects of social media where an identity lasts longer than a person. Social media has no limit or timer clocking its end. It is an endless chronology of the time and the online life of millions of people. Once an identity is created on the internet, it stays forever unless taken down by the creator of the database. So for example, if a person dies, their online identity can act as a spot of memory for friends and online communities. Also, if a person does not yet have the ability or no longer has the ability to maintain an online identity, their online profiles stay for as long as forever.

On another aspect, social media helps create a virtual identity of a person. Virtual identity is displaying a virtual version of yourself using electronic environments. Digital identity generates an image that can critique, has an understanding of ethical consequences of projects undertaken in interactive settings, can build an ethical interaction, and when using electronic interaction tools and environments do not misuse computer technology, virtual world and social media (Gündüz, 2017). Having a digital identity also prevents other individuals from stealing or replicating the identity as it becomes one’s own personal identity card. An identity card is a kind of digital footprint that one uses to introduce themselves online.

Social media plays a big role in terms of shaping one’s identity. In today’s world, social networks gain more and more prominence with an increase in media and cultural influence. Social media platforms allow expressions, experimentation and discovery of identity. The internet cultures are influenced by real-life agencies, and the links they develop within themselves provide a source of names for different industries (Gündüz, 2017). Online networking provides many ways of communicating with others; people being able to choose if they want to use their real name and opening as many accounts as they want. Also, we come across the fact that people feel the need to create a virtual identity for themselves with the ability of it being able to reach the outside world. In order words, people portraying themselves in real as they portray themselves online.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND CHARACTER

Over the last decade, social media platforms like Facebook has gained popularity majorly among students. Technological progress is faster than understanding the psychological variables behind this development. In comparison to the traditional forms of media like television, print and radio, new media has created a bigger impact on human online behaviour. If we were to compare online behaviour and offline behaviour, there wouldn’t be much of a difference but it wouldn’t be the complete same either. For example, there might be a difference in vocabulary, in attitude and character. There are instances where people tend to change their personality online just for the fun of it which makes them seem like two different people when compared. Once online, there are some traits that people tend to develop slowly for the long term. Traits such as narcissism, loneliness, shyness, etc. tend to be common among young adults spending time on the internet. These traits tend to develop after long periods of online time where people start to combine online and offline realities.

A study conducted by Vieth & Kommers (2014), where instead of the Big Five personality traits, they focused on traits such as shyness, loneliness and narcissism developments among university students through the Facebook platform. The research also examined Facebook usage between local university students and students studying abroad. The research specifically shows that students overseas use Facebook more rather than students studying in their country of origin. Overseas students have more time to use Facebook because they see it as a way to make new friends and stay in contact with old ones at home (Vieth & Kommers, 2014). The findings from the research revealed that higher Facebook usage is triggered by a high score on narcissism and one’s exceptionality and entitlement is more important. Hence, we see the results on loneliness and shyness revealed that loneliness had a negative impact on Facebook use, while shyness had no effect.

CONCLUSION

To conclude this paper, we have come a long way from how we structured identity to be and how it is now. Previously, the identity of a person was fixed and was easily identified by, but now people have the ability to change their identities, shape them, manipulate others, etc. In this paper, we covered a wide range of topics from offline and online identity to how social media affects reality. Social media is a massive platform where anything and everything can take place. Building an online identity has its perks but also has its downfall as it has the capability of being misused. Due to technological developments, building an identity is an easy task and one may have many identities of themselves with no actual proof of existing. Therefore, we see that the emerging online culture and fast-moving trends have stimulated almost everyone to create an identity for themselves thus taking part in the virtual world.

REFERENCES

Cover, R., & Doak, S. (2015). Identity Offline and Online. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 547–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-097086-8.95078-5

Wängqvist, M., & Frisén, A. (2016). Who am I Online? Understanding the Meaning of Online Contexts for Identity Development. Adolescent Research Review, 1(2), 139–151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-016-0025-0

Kirmayer, L. J., Raikhel, E., & Rahimi, S. (2013). Cultures of the Internet: Identity, community and mental health. Transcultural Psychiatry, 50(2), 165–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461513490626

Seargeant, P., & Tagg, C. (2016). The language of social media: identity and community on the Internet. Palgrave Macmillan.

Gündüz, U. (2017). The Effect of Social Media on Identity Construction. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 8(5), 85–92. https://doi.org/10.1515/mjss-2017-0026

Vieth, M. N., & Kommers, P. (2014). Social networking: a matter of character? International Journal of Web-Based Communities, 10(1), 115. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijwbc.2014.058389

Baldauf, H., Develotte, C., & Ollagnier-Beldame, M. (2017). The Effects of Social Media on the Dynamics of Identity: Discourse, Interaction and Digital Traces. Alsic, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.4000/alsic.3004