Hi Blue Blog, my name is Lauren Kramer and I’m a sophomore Communication major. I chose to take this class essentially because it sounded cool, but also because I’ve done research with Jeff and he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to this stuff. Though, thanks to our intelligent professor, I feel relatively well-versed in facebook deception and internet stalking, I’m definitely new to the so-called ‘blogosphere.’ I’m a little nervous but will give it my best shot.
So, here goes: my first real blog. I feel almost as awkward doing this as talking to myself out loud. I’m not sure why I feel so odd doing this; I express myself through instant message/e-mail/facebook at least 49 times each day. So what’s so weird about this? I think it’s that I’m trying to shape the way I come off to the interchangeable reader. If not a friend of mine already, what must he/she think of me? Of my personality? My sense of humor? The way I look? This very conundrum, in fact, is what leads me to the main point.
Ever notice the girls who stretch out their default facebook picture to make themselves look leaner? What about the ones who jut their elbows out while posing for pictures in order to ensure optimal muscle tonus? Not sure what I mean yet? How about the ‘picturewhores’ – you know, the ones who make a kissy face or peace sign in at least 50% of the night’s photographic evidence? Why do we do this? Who are we trying to please?
Back in middle school, we jazzed up our profile fonts and colors with cool codes and alternating capital letters to come off as interesting, crazy or fun. Once myspace got big, the competition was on for the emo-iest emo music and the craziest background photo. The key distinction here is who we are trying to appear to be, as opposed to who we are in real life.
The internet has this imperceptible way of skewing our perceptions. Ever receive a ‘rude’ e-mail as the product of someone trying to message you in a hurry? Though a tool of apparently infinite power and influence over our everyday lives, the Internet is almost limiting. We have to fight to create an internet identity. Because, otherwise, who am I besides lbk29@cornell.edu? We may crop pictures, we may use fancy fonts and effects, but the heart of the matter is this: the Internet forces us to invent a second identity.
Facebook, myspace, instant messenger and social-networking programs in general are dimensions of technology that the user him/herself must seek out. It is the duty of each user to create his ‘web’ self, and the boundaries are self-imposed. It is up to each individual to ‘friend,’ ‘IM,’ ‘message,’ and ‘poke,’ and each of these actions helps us to create our unique virtual personality. In the end, I guess, I’ve got only one thing to say: “Friend me!”
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Hi Lauren, I really enjoyed reading your entry not only because I could relate to it on a personal level, but also because I can totally think of an example of every type of person you mentioned. I too felt uncomfortable writing my first blog; I'm not a very confident writer and I always want to come off as funny or witty, which is hard to do when trying to express your opinion on a class topic. Alas, you read everyone else's blogs though and I always find humorous remarks and smart comments and wish/hope that my blogs can have this same entertaining tone. I thought it was really funny how you gave examples of how people stretch our their facebook pics, put their arms a certain way, and make kissy faces. While I never heard of anyone stretching their pic out (which I find reallllly strange, btw...), my sister is always trying to stand a certain way or hold her arm a certain way to make it appear leaner. Lately I've heard of my friends being concerned with their arms too (since when is everyone so selfconcious about their biceps!!).Although this comment is much longer than it needs to be, I just want to end it with a question back to you. You said that people use the internet to have a second personality to the one they already have. Perhaps it's not so much a formation of a new personality, but an ability to express ones true self. To an extent it may be fake, because a person may be shy in real life. But perhaps with their friends they are crazy and funny and only feel comfortable truly expressing it on the web. Perhaps blogs and webpages are where they feel safe to be themselves and not need to openly face criticism from those they do not know.
Hello!
In regards to "picture-whoring;" in this case, you can actually control what people see, whereas in real life, you can't. You can hide flabby arms or acne with the help of a few photo manipulation techniques in order to present yourself in the most ideal way possible. Myspace and Facebook are odd in the sense of the "virtual self;" there is a physical depiction of a person, but a markedly different impression can be given via that and text. In the case of asynchronous discussion forums, however, your online identity is almost entirely textual.
I often wonder whether people are trying to express the "ideal" self or the "real" self online. What drives a person to take on an entirely new persona to go with their altered pictures or, in some cases, assume a new identity entirely? Facebook is particularly strange, since there are a certain amount of people on your friend's list who know you in person (and have therefore seen your arms), so the need to hide this even from those close to you is truly perplexing. The change in behavior is even more odd - there are several people I know fairly well on my Facebook friend's list who are quiet, reserved, and genuinely caring individuals in real life but completely intolerable online.
Even more interesting is how this is a widely accepted phenomenon. What are we actually trying to show, and at the same time, what are we trying to hide?
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