Talk:Digital Media & Culture: Collaborative Essay Collection 2018/Online Identity/Research Question 1: To what extent does online identity, created through social media interactions, represent real life identity?

Discussion
Hi team Fact or Fiction!

This is the discussion page for collaborative essay. Use this pages to edit in discussions, decision making, project planning, and information sharing. Invite other groups to add to the discussion, and contribute to others. Ask for advice from others and share your knowledge. This builds contribs considerably.

You can leave notifications for other users by using the reply to template (as I've used in this notice). You can also use your own and each other's discussion pages, as well as the main discussion page on the general theme page. All of this adds to contribs, which are essential to getting a pass mark for this assessment. Don't be tempted to use social media group chat or other platforms to do this. It won't be marked and really misses the entire point of the wiki.

Don't forget to use the four tildes (~) to sign and date your contribution. Every edit you make whilst signed in is still traceable, but a signature makes it much easier to track and respond, and much less likely that the edit will be mis-recognised as spam or vandalism. However: don't sign your edits on the essay page - it looks messy and is unnecessary.

Good Luck!
 * GregXenon01 (discuss • contribs) 11:26, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Thanks Greg, look forward to it. MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 13:18, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Okay , I just want to be straight up here and say I am struggling with this. I know this isn't the place but hoping to get some last minute tips from you guys. I have done the main piece of research in looking at university students and have written notes but don't know how to fit this in with the essay notes. I am finding it very difficult to organise my thoughts coherently so just want some support. Feel like I am letting this group down. I am working on my section fully all day tomorrow and will get it in for the deadline. --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 21:25, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

You have all our support, I hope you take my advise from the Facebook messages. As I said on that, just put yours in on the first draft and I will link it to the previous one tomorrow. Just think, in less that two days you will be finished. We are a team, so we will all work together! MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 21:45, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Okay so added a section to the draft version but definitely think I can incorporate more sources to back up my conclusions which I will do tomorrow morning. I feel like there is a fair bit of possibly irrelevant information so if you feel like there is anything I could cut or change or do further research in to make my argument stronger, please let me know. Thank you for the support!! --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 00:17, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Also, I tried to link a bit of my findings to Cairn's section on narcissism and Scholz et al. Thought is would help build the argument and interlink different parts of the essay. Hope this is okay!!! --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 00:20, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Hi again guys! Sorry for the constant posting early in the morning. Had a browse of other collaborative essays and I recommend looking at Team Never Off. I think by tomorrow noon we should have the first draft pretty much edited a tweaked and then transfer it over to the book page. Team Never Off's essay included Wiki reference system (not sure how to do this much it does look organised with references listed and numbered) as well as have some photos throughout the essay to make it more user friendly to those reading it. If we have time I think it would be a nice touch to add? We'd have to make sure they weren't copyright if we did. Just thoughts at 2am. --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 01:03, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey team. Sophie, I think linking the paragraphs is vital so well done for that. I agree it would be good to make it a more user-friendly essay, and maybe multimedia would be a nice touch. I think the priority, though, is to make sure we have a final draft we are ALL proud of, so long as we all individually contribute and finalise it together in the end I think all will go swimmingly. I am going to attempt to link my paragraphs just now. Cheers, have a good week! CairnLouden (discuss • contribs) 10:36, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey Team, glad we are meeting up next week to get everything finalised. Also, glad we are now all coming together to comment and discuss on the page. MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 16:43, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

So is it Tuesday we are meeting up? What exactly will we cover? Assuming the layout of the essay, anything we need to add and those types of things? Really glad things are coming together, thanks for being so supportive through the process, it makes a big difference. --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 22:21, 29 March 2018 (UTC)

Hi guys. I might try and find a bit of research arguing against the notion that people change their identity on line, thought this would make the essay stronger but might be difficult to find academia on this??? Thoughts?--Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 11:12, 30 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey Cairn. Since you look into Digital Narcissism, have you looked at the Mendelson and Paracharissi reading for that week? It's on the resource list and references college age students and digital narcissism so thought it would be a good extra to link our points together even though it is a required reading. Just wondered if you think it's a useful idea using this? --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 10:25, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Hi guys just adding my finalized content today, I'll make sure there is flow between the paragraphs so the essay is cognitive.

@CairnLouden: @MTxPrincipessa18: @Lis00059 Hey guys. I think we need to address a few things for the finalised essay: 1. could we all check our sections for grammar and spelling errors. 2. can we try and make each section flow and reference one another a bit more. 3. support with conclusion: summarise your main findings. 4. Check word count (need suggestions what information is irrelevant). We need to pull together for this final push. I'm trying to edit this all but do need some help. Thank you --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 16:15, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

@Stirsb00027: @CairnLouden: @MTxPrincipessa18: almost finished guys, everyone's work on the essay is brilliant. We just need to double check our word count is correct for the assignment guide lines and make sure everyone is happy that their points have been reiterated in the conclusion. Good job on adding the photo's Sophie. Lis00059 (discuss • contribs) 06:32, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Okay everyone, I cut down my part for the book as much as I could MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 10:34, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Oh, and good luck, we managed to pull through at the end!MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 10:35, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Collaborative Essay Instructions from Handbook
Thought this would make it easier for us to know what we are doing and focus on the task.

1.   It is written collaboratively, rather than individually.Although the vast majority of your work submitted for this module is assessed individually, you will be writing an essay collaboratively. That is, you will be making collective decisions on what to include, what to leave out, how to build the argument, and how the essay will be structured. However, as with any essay, it should introduce and contextualise the subject, build an argument through discussion of ideas, and form a conclusion. It should be informed from a variety of sources, and should be fully referenced, citing all sources used using wiki citation conventions.

2.   It is written on a “living” platform, rather than as a “frozen” text. This means that as well as being text-based, your essay can use copyright-free images (for example, from WikiCommons) to help illustrate your points. It is also a chance to engage in discussion on a publicly-viewable platform, around the decisions you make, the justifications for those decisions, and gives you the flexibility and opportunity during the life of the project to change things around and improve the work incrementally.

 Collaborative Essay – 3000 words (excluding references and image captions) 

This is the content produced by your group on the Book Page. It is the only component that carries a group mark.This component carries a weight of 12% for the module as a whole. The following aspects provide a rough sketch for how you might want to go about structuring a Wikibook essay:Title: the essay question that your group come up with --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 18:23, 19 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Introduction: a brief overview of the subject you’re writing about and the discussion themesDiscussion: concepts associated with your subject, and where these concepts come from (i.e. critical definitions, who came up with what concepts, and what they have to say about them – what do YOU have to say about them?)
 * References: the primary and secondary sources you found about your chosen subjectThe criteria for this component follow the general criteria for essay writing in the CMC division:
 * Quality of research: evidence of critical engagement with set course materials; evidence of independent reading of appropriate academic material.
 * Originality of thought: well-articulated and well-supported argument; evidence of critical thinking (through taking a position in relation to key ideas from the course, and supporting this position); evidence of relational thinking (through making connections between key ideas from the course and wider literature; support these connections); evidence of independent critical ability.
 * Clarity of expression: appropriate writing style; clear and coherent structure; consistency and accuracy in referencing (Wikipedia convention).

Discussion
Hey everyone, just to let you (and your group) know, I put a tiny bit of information on my discussion page for the annotated bibliography! MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 19:45, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

...Okay guys so we have 10 days to pull this together. We definitely need to put our research notes on this page so we can structure the essay and see what area each person is covering and how we can build up an argument together. Gonna create a research section so we can put each part of research we have done and a summary of their argument so we can get an idea what research areas might fit and collaborate together. Also need to figure out the intro and conclusion sections and how to handle that. Any ideas on this can go in this discussion section. --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 18:14, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey, as you all know, our essay has to be completed by the 29th. So, I think it would definitely be in our best interest if we all done at least three forms of research (each) by Tuesday. Also, we will need to meet to do the essay! MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 19:15, 25 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey, everyone there is an excellent collaborative essay example, have a look: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/An Interet of Everything%3F/Public and Private Spheres in the Digital Age MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 17:13, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey, just so we are all on the same page @Stirsb00027: @CairnLouden: @Lis00059: We should do our first draft by tonight, Cairn I see you have already posted so, I have linked my part to your previous paragraph. Therefore, I think it would be best for the rest of us, to do the same.

Also, tomorrow, we will upload the final draft onto the part where it says 'book', it is next on the left of the button which says 'discussion' on the top left of this page.

I think we have worked well over the past few days, and I think if we all continue to do this, our collaborative essay book should be fab.

Okay, pep talk over, good luck. MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 19:14, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey everyone, okay just been told we have a seven day extension request, let's add to what we've already done. I think we definitely need to meet up too! MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 10:01, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Topic and Essay Question
To what extent does online identity, created through social media interactions, represent real life identity? MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 21:01, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Introduction
In this collaborative essay, we will be researching the way people identify their online self. As people try to create a better version of themselves, it can sometimes lead to extremes; meaning some may not be recognised by their own profile. As a group, we have tried to identify what platforms this issue is prominent on, and why? As this issue has continued to grow, due to technology, many academics have researched this. The research has been able to highlight that due to self-esteem, people from all ages have created an online identity to self better themselves. MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 17:22, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

Research

 * 1) Thomas, L., Briggs, P., Hart, A., Kerrigan, F. (2017). Understanding social media and identity work In young people transitioning to university. Computers in Human Behaviour, 76, 541-553. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.08.021

Teenagers often utilize social media websites to help maintain and create relationships. Adolescents going university or some other transitional stage therefore can use social media to help them adjust to their new environment and new people. However, there is little research about how students balance their on and offline time and character. Also, whether or not there are disadvantages to the use of social media during times of change also has not been researched much. The process of creating new communities when first introduced to university is another area of study neglected in the past. The article and research conducted therefore helps answer these research questions and aims.

The authors set out to conduct a study that would monitor the social media activities of new university students aged 18-22. The anxiety caused by social expectation to present ourselves in a positive way online to new people would also be explored during this study. In addition, the study would observe social media use before, during and after the first transitional stages of moving to university to highlight any changes in self-presentation or behaviour online.

Methods

The researchers took 25 students going into first year from 2 UK Universities, of which, 6 were male and 19 were female. (This may be problematic as the disproportionate representation of women may effect the results; gender may also have a part to play which is not explored particularly in this study.) The participants where asked to log their social media activity on Pinterest, creating 6 pinboards; 1st covering the week before uni, 2nd during freshers week, 3rd during first week of lectures, 4th, 5th and 6th through the following weeks of lectures. After logging their activity, the participants were then interviewed about their use of social media and their changes in behaviour for added further context to the logged social media activity. --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 19:02, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

Findings ... (TBC) --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 19:02, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

I find it interesting that both the articles we have researched lack evidence for male participants, due to their lacking in male paricipants. Maybe we need to find more gender balanced studies... ! CairnLouden (discuss • contribs) 19:25, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

2. Social Behavior & Personality: an international journal 2013, Vol. 41 Issue 3, p517 12p.

The research by Özgüven and Mucan uses the participation of students aged between 18-25yo from the faculty of Economics and Administrative sciences at Dokuz Eylul Univeristy, Turkey. In total 580 questionnaires were distributed and 503 valid questionnaires were returned. Therefore, 87% return rate. Moreover, Özgüven's research was to find out what influence social media have on people's personality traits.

By referencing (Goldberg, 1981) Özgüven and Mucan found "The factors that define personality are as follows...Neuroticism is defined as an individual's tendency to experience unpleasant emotions and expect bad hings to happen to them. Extraversion is defined as an individual's tendency to express himself/herself socially in an outgoing manner. Openness to experience is defined as the appreciation of alternative perspectives, intellectual curiosity, and the desire of artistic pleasure.Agreeableness is defined as a tendency to be reliable, sympathetic, and cooperative. Conscientiousness is defined as a tendency to plan ahead and be diligent and fair (Ross et al., 2009). The Big-Five had been in common us in exploratory research across diverse setting and cultures for almost a decade now (McCrae & Costa, 2004)."

Thus, to get the best results, Özgüven and Mucan wanted to get a broad aspect of the study, so asked students about their gender; income; and what stage of their degree they were at. From the 503 valid questionnaires, found 54% were female, and 46% were- therefore male.

To add to this, the most frequently visited website was Facebook (444/503), and Google coming second (396/503). Also finding the most common reason for usage of social media was passing time (363/503) and communication second (207/503).

The research found that there was "a positive but weak correlation between neuroticism" and the rest of the behavioural traits.

Likewise found that there was "a positive but weak correlation between life satisfaction and openness to experience" as well as life satisfaction and social media use.

In conclusion, results gained in this study revel that "personality traits play a vital role in determining the level of social media use. Conscientiousness, openness to experience and life satisfaction were found to be significant predictions of the amount of social media us, as were levels of income and education."

MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 18:41, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

3. ‘Tweens negotiating identity online- Swedish girls’ and boys’ reflections on online experiences’. This study by Kristina Abiala and Patrik Hernwall took place in Sweden, 2013. The study involved children aged 10-14 years old, to examine the way they used online identity.

In this article Abiala and Hernwall show how the intertwine of identity markers; such as gender and age can be expressed and negotiated. Thus, the research was conducted of a total 94 children. 45 girls, 48 boys, and one who’s gender was not disclosed. 21 in total the age of ten, 22 aged 12, and 51 aged 14. Abiala and Hernwall handed each of them a ‘pre-prepared paper roundel’ to write a short story. Then, they were analysed using a method influenced by ‘grounded theory’. The results were presented and discussed in terms of gender, sexuality, peer culture and folklore online. Which shows what the construction of the term ‘body-self’.

With reference to ‘Life on The Screen. Identity in the Age of the Internet’ Turkle (1995), Abiala and Hernwall were able to enhance their understanding of the short stories. Moreover, Net identity-intersectionally theory is used to further this understanding of the interacting subjects ‘use of power differentials and identity markers. “A main factor determining how these phenomena are understood and used is age, and important here, clearly, is cultural rather than biological age (Alanen 1992)”.

In addidtion, the research found, one of the min online activities is to log in to and spend time at online communities, a pastime that increases with age but is more frequent among girls than boys (Medieradet 2010). Online communities are of different character and trends and peer culture define what is hot and what s not. Many of the informants pay most attention to Facebook, whereas before they would have spent most of their time on “popular communities” such as Playahead or Lunastorm, which were now considered ‘childish’ and ‘outdated’.

Therefore, through this content Abiala and Hernwall states there are three main themes of online identity.

1. Gender and sexuality- “Both girls and boys chat online, but girls more often create blogs while boys more often play games. Gender was increasingly emphasised with age; but whereas boys aged 14 described themselves as sexually active and even users of pornography, girls of the same age described themselves as shocked and repelled by pornography and fearful of sexual threats.”

2. Peer culture and recognition- “The obvious reason for being online is that your friends are there…How these friends are experienced and appreciated change with age. Here age is an interlacing with biological and cultural aspects, as the growing freedom and autonomy of the subjects is a reflection both on an increasing readiness to take care of themselves and to seek new friends and relationships on their own, and of cultural expectations to do so.”

3. Online folklore- “One dimension of the Internet being appropriated in peer culture is the flourishing of technology-related folklore. The shared experiences of young people tend to build a certain pattern that has value or the group and also helps its members to form a common identity, building upon such elements as age, gender, sexuality and ethnicity.”

Moreover, in their conclusion Abiala and Hernwall say that the three themes mentioned, culminate to ones body-self.

MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 19:06, 26 March 2018 (UTC)


 * Hi everyone, I felt I should include my annotated bibliography here as it approaches online identity from a somewhat original standpoint.

Harrell, D. F. & Chong-U, L. 2017. Reimagining The Avatar Dream: Modeling Social Identity in Digital Media. Communications of the ACM, 60 (7). Pp. 50-61. DOI: 10.1145/3098342.

Harrell & Chong-U (2017) investigate the means by which users self-represent themselves via online avatars in gaming and other platforms such as social media networks. The research intends to pinpoint ‘box-effects’—ie stereotypes, social biases, discrimination…—in both the preset categories in games allowing for avatar customisation, such as race, height and strength, as well as our own underlying box-effects that we use to represent our online identity. The methodology used combines the authors’ AIRvatar system with real-life participants to study individual choices in personalised attributes. As well as this, using Chimeria, the authors firstly built users’ social media personalities by using their musical preferences, and thusly affiliating the user with others with similar tastes. Secondly, they crafted an AI-system in which users had to ‘pretend to be something I’m not’ in order to convince a guard that they are worthy of entering a castle. This in-depth study of the potential of online identification covers a wide range of platforms and fits well with my groups chosen topic of ‘online identity’. The research is however limited in lack of prior, valid studies in the same field. The study also withholds some information on male users, suggesting inadequacy in results, considering the full disclosure of the female participants’ results. Harrell and Chong-U conclude by recommending further research on relationships between virtual identities and sociocultural identity phenomenon. I will be using this article in my collaborative essay as I feel it furthers my existing knowledge on online identities and digital media studies as a whole.

CairnLouden (discuss • contribs) 19:21, 26 March 2018 (UTC)


 * I have also found some work concerning the sharing habits of those on social media. A study found that people share information based on neurological processes which I will discuss in a moment.

An interesting quote from the article: "the promotion of a positive self-image is an important goal in social interactions, and information that allows potential sharers to appear in a more positive light is more likely to go viral, perhaps because it increases the perceived value of information sharing."

I think this raises a lot of questions concerning whether our online self is our true self: if we share to make ourselves look good rather than to promote the information in the article, we don't present our true beliefs, our true selves. Social media is a platform which enables its users to present themselves in any fashion they so desire, and I think it's very interesting that something like sharing articles is directly linked to ideas about online identity and our perceived 'self' online.

The Independent cover the study in a news story online, you should have a look: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/share-stories-articles-facebook-twitter-social-media-make-look-good-online-study-university-a7613451.html

The study highlights that we share for: 1) self-enhancement and 2) social promotion. Therefore this hints that sharing content can be largely narcissistic, eg trying to boost public image by pretending to be something you're not etc...

Hopefully you agree that this article could be useful. We can discuss it when we meet up through the week.

CairnLouden (discuss • contribs) 20:09, 26 March 2018 (UTC)


 * Here are some quotes from: Suler, J. (2005). The online disinhibition effect. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 2(2), 184-188. Doi: 10.1002/aps.42.

"When people have the opportunity to detach their actions online from their in-person lifestyle and identity, they feel less vulnerable about self-disclosing or acting out. They don’t have to own their behavior by acknowledging it within the full context of an integrated online or offline identity. The online self becomes a compartmentalized self, a dissociated self. In the case of expressed hostilities or other deviant acts, the person can evade responsibility, almost as if superego restrictions have been temporarily suspended from the online psyche. In fact, people might even convince themselves that those online behaviors “aren’t me at all.”" (pp.185)

"Under the influence of anonymity, the person may attempt an invisible non-identity, resulting in a reduced or compacted expression of self. In dissociative imagination, the expressed but split-off self may evolve into a complex structure." (pp.187)

Marwick, A. (2013). “Online Identity.” In Hartley, J., Burgess, J. & Bruns, A. (eds), Companion to New Media Dynamics. Blackwell Companions to Cultural Studies. Malden, MA: Blackwell, pp. 355-364.

In this article Marwick identifies and examines the basic theories of identity and apply them to new media to examine the problems that are faced with only identity. Moreover, the developments of media are researched to show how people’s online identities have altered based on the technology available. From anonymous and faceless chatroom's to detailed profiles which include personal information. Marwick’s builds her research from the stance that online identity is an active part of someone’s offline identity as there are conscious decisions made on what to share as well as structural oppression applying to people’s online experience which are their demographic face offline (discrimination). The article is useful as it identifies clear problematic social issues created through online identity such as context collapse where you cannot interact with groups of people differently as you would in different social settings offline. Limitations in this article is that there is no field research of statistical sources to back up the arguments made. This article would act as a good basis in my research on online identities as the article centers around online usage of new media providing analyses of critical issues. However, I would have to consult with other sources to strengthen my research findings. Lis00059 (discuss • contribs) 22:17, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Kennedy, H. (2006). Beyond anonymity, or future directions for internet identity research. In S. Thornham, C. Bassett & P. Marris (Eds.), Media studies: A reader (3rd ed., pp. 839). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Kennedy argues that there is a difference between feeling and being anonymous and to understand people’s identities online, their identities offline must be examined through cultural studies. To some extent in the Her@ research represents their real-life identity as the woman were able to discuss social and cultural issues and aspects of their life such as their gender, ethnicity and economic background. However, it is seen that the woman expressed various levels of being and feeling anonymous that had some influence in how they interacted with the web pages. Lis00059 (discuss • contribs) 06:12, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Qian, H., & Scott R. Craig. (2007). Anonymity and self-disclosure on weblogs. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1428.

2nd reading, 70% of all blogs are personal journals, article examines how anonymity changes how people. In the survey conducted by questioning bloggers most them have either pseudonyms or only partially their real name with only 12.6% of the bloggers disclosing their real name. Showing they would rather post their online content with a level of anonymity, creating a divide between their offline and online identity.Lis00059 (discuss • contribs) 06:13, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Academics we have used
1.Rettberg, J.W. 2014. ‘Seeing Ourselves Through Technology: How We Use Selfies, Blogs and Wearable Devices to See and Shape Ourselves.’ Palgrave Macmillan, London (Pag 20-31) MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 21:01, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

2. Thomas, L., Briggs, P., Hart, A., Kerrigan, F. (2017). Understanding social media and identity work In young people transitioning to university. Computers in Human Behaviour, 76, 541-553. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.08.021  --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 18:27, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

3.ÖZGÜVEN, N., Mucan, B, "Behavior & Personality: an international journal 2013, Vol. 41 Issue 3, p517 12p  MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 18:37, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

4.Betts, L.R,. ‘Cyberbullying: Approaches, Consequences and Interventions’, 2016. Palgrave MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 21:45, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

5. Harrell, D. F. & Chong-U, L. 2017. Reimagining The Avatar Dream: Modeling Social Identity in Digital Media. Communications of the ACM, 60 (7). Pp. 50-61. DOI: 10.1145/3098342. CairnLouden (discuss • contribs) 19:21, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

6. Scholz, C., Baek, E. C., O’Donnell, M. B., Kim, H. S., Cappella, J. N. & Falk, E.B. 2017. Neuroscience, valuation and virality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1615259114

7. Suler, J. (2005). The online disinhibition effect. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 2(2), 184-188. Doi: 10.1002/aps.42.

8. Lingel, J., Naaman, M., Boyd, D. (2014). City, Self, Network: Transnational Migrants and Online Identity Work. CSCQ ’14 Proceedings of the 17th ACM conference on computer supported cooperative work and social computing. 1502-1510. DOI: 10.1145/2531602.2531693 --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 22:50, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

9. Deumert, A. (2014). The performance of the ludic self on social network(ing) sites. In: P. Seargeant and C. Tagg, ed., The Language of Social Media: Identity and Community on the Internet. London: Palgrave Macmillian, pp.23-45. --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 13:49, 30 March 2018 (UTC)

10. Mendelson, A., & Papacharissi, Z. (2011). Look At Us: Collective Narcissism in College Student Facebook Photo Galleries. In Z. Papacharissi, A Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites (1st ed., pp. 251-274). New York: Routledge. --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 10:42, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

11. Marwick, A. (2013). “Online Identity.” In Hartley, J., Burgess, J. & Bruns, A. (eds), Companion to New Media Dynamics. Blackwell Companions to Cultural Studies. Malden, MA: Blackwell, pp. 355-364. Lis00059 (discuss • contribs) 04:53, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

12. Kennedy, H. (2006). Beyond anonymity, or future directions for internet identity research. In S. Thornham, C. Bassett & P. Marris (Eds.), Media studies: A reader (3rd ed., pp. 839). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

13. Qian, H., & Scott R. Craig. (2007). Anonymity and self-disclosure on weblogs. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1428. Lis00059 (discuss • contribs) 06:14, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

First Draft
Include all, essay-styled notes here and we can compile them into a proper essay format after.
 * I have moved the paragraphs around because I feel they better flow this way. Please don't think I'm doing this without you, if you are unhappy with these changes we can discuss this! Please let me know :) CairnLouden (discuss • contribs) 10:48, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

I'm pretty happy with the changes made! --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 12:33, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Identity in New Environments

Often in new situations where there are few individuals we know, people feel the pressure to represent themselves differently online than they are in person. Often, online behaviour on social media can be different to how it was back in familiar ‘home’ environments with familiar people. Social media websites can be used to maintain as well as build new relationships, especially during transitional times such as moving to a new area. Often, there is an anxiety caused by the social expectation to present ourselves in a positive way online to new people, especially in important times of change. There is limited research into how individuals change their identity and self-perception on social media as identified by Thomas et al (2017).

Studying University transitioning through social media.

In response to limited research, Thomas et al conducted a study specifically observing new university students and their use of social media to create new social groupings. Also, the researchers aimed to identify negative aspects of social media on the students themselves and the changes of their self-identity online. The study monitored the social media activities of new university students aged 18-22. In addition, the study observed social media use before, during and after the first transitional stages of moving to university to highlight any changes in self-presentation or behaviour online.

The researchers took 25 students going into first year from two British universities, of which, six were male and nineteen were female. The participants were asked to log their social media activity on Pinterest, creating 6 pinboards; the first covering the week before university, second during freshers week, third during the first week of lectures and the fourth, fifth and sixth through the following weeks of lectures. After logging their activity, the participants were then interviewed about their use of social media and their changes in behaviour for added further context to the flogged social media activity.

Findings

The stage before moving to university, participants of the study used social media to ‘affirm’ their home relationships and identity. This was identified as a ‘celebratory’ time for individuals including meeting up with established friends and spending time with family. Even once the students had settled into university, contact with friends at home and family was still an important part to play in maintaining their ‘home’ identity (Thomas et al., 2017). Identity therefore was partly still tied to a place and with family, as touched on by Lingel et al. who conducted research on identity ties with people who had moved to New York. They found that Facebook was essential for most participants to uphold relationships with family and friends abroad and maintain cultural identity, similar to how Thomas et al. highlight how social media was used by new university students to maintain ‘home’ relationships. Social media was also useful for individuals to identity and familiarize themselves with flatmates and those on the same academic course, growing their student identity and finding social groups. Facebook pages were set up for flat buildings which encouraged the participants to speak and converge with others. However, the study’s findings also highlighted how access to other new students acted as a form of social ‘surveillance’, with individuals studying and comparing themselves to others and their experiences, often perpetuating a pressure to be socially acceptable. Even the seemingly simple status change to university student on Facebook helped participants felt more grounded in there official new identity role as a student.

In terms of findings that specifically answer the research question that this essay is discussing, Thomas et al. found that participants did edit their social media accounts and the way they presented themselves to new individuals online differently to how they were in person. For example, a participant named Nicole recalled, "I remember I spent a day when I just came to university where I deleted all the photos that I'm not pretty in. I'm pretty conscious about what I post on social media, because I do care how I come across, especially new people at uni.” In addition, another participant referred to as Patience had deleted an ‘ugly’ photo of herself before moving to university, explaining how “you can soon feel exposed and vulnerable…They might make a judgment of you before they even get a chance to meet you.”

Therefore, there is empirical evidence highlighting how individuals change and edit the way they represent themselves online differently to how they are offline. Often, this is so they come across more positively to other people, often those they do not know well and want to impress or make a first good impression, even before they meet face to face. It is also notable that participants were aware that social media was not a true representation of an individual, highlighting how online identity does different to our off-line selves. A participant have to phrase things differently to make sure she was not putting information across the wrong way and to sum up this section, Yolanda, a participant highlighted, "I don't really post loads of stuff, but when I do I want people to know that I have a social life, and I don't stay in my room all the time, even though I do … We want to paint this perfect picture of our life online, because it's not so perfect in the real world. So we feel the need to show-off online to cover up the not so perfect life away from social media."

In conclusion, in transitional times, individuals often represented themselves differently online to portray a filtered and positive version of themselves. Deumert (2014) discusses the theory of Paul Ricoeur (1992) and how we construct ourselves through how we speak, act, what things we are interested in and other elements of our identity (p.24). We portray a positive 'persona' that can make us feel good about ourselves (Ricoeur, 1992). Through the research that Thomas et al conducted, we can see how Ricoeur's theory applies to social media and online identity. Participants censored the way they spoke to seem more favourable as well as filtered what others saw, very much constructing their online self. This also relates to the issues of narcissism and the research of Scholz et al (2017) who highlighted “positive self-image is an important goal in social interactions, which will be discussed in depth later. Digital narcissism is common with higher education students due to the pressure to come across in a positive light with new people online (Mendelson & Paracharissi, 2011). Often, we judge and feel judged by others online and so want to portray our identity and our lives as busy and always fun, when in reality this is very unrealistic. The social pressure, especially when encountering new individuals for the first time online, to be noticeable can often lead to negative mental anxiety as also touched on by Thomas et al (2017). This also links to Abiala and Herwall's second theme of online identity: peer culture and recognition (2013). The culture of fresher's week for university students was a key time for students to get a sense of what it is to be a student and establish new friendships and recognize each other's shared new experience. This concept will also be expanded later in this essay.

--Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 13:55, 30 March 2018 (UTC) --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 13:47, 30 March 2018 (UTC) --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 00:14, 28 March 2018 (UTC) --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 10:34, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Online Narcissism

An individual’s portrayed online identity is built by many potentially ‘narcissistic’ decisions, according to Scholz et al (2017). This study focused on the sharing habits of those on social media, by investigating neurological connections made by the participants, some of which are narcissistic, which I will explain further in a moment. To conduct the study, the investigators gave each participant a series of New York Times articles and asked whether they were likely to share these articles online. Using a previously established framework, they logged the decisions and studied them. Their findings discovered that the articles that had already gone ‘viral’ were more likely to be shared, and from this they draw some interesting conclusions. Scholz et al raise the question of whether our online self is our true self: “the promotion of a positive self-image is an important goal in social interactions, and information that allows potential sharers to appear in a more positive light is more likely to go viral, perhaps because it increases the perceived value of information sharing.” This suggests that people don’t necessarily share articles because they feel strongly about the issue raised, for example, but potentially because it makes them look better in the eyes of their ‘friends’ on social media. Social media is a platform which can allow users to present themselves in a fashion they so desire, and sharing articles boosts this ‘self-enhancement’ and ‘self-promotion'.

What Lies Behind the Avatar?

As well as ‘self-promotion’ on platforms such as social media (Scholz et al, 2005), Harrell & Chong-U (2017) argue that avatars in gaming and online provide further space for online (mis)identification, and this is backed by Sujer’s (2005) study of ‘dissociating’ ourselves online from real-life. In their article, Harrell & Chong-U provide in-depth discussion of pre-set categories for avatar customisation in games, such as the character’s race, height and strength levels. They noted that in games such as ‘The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’ (2013) that customisation was often gendered, i.e. some female characteristics were lower than male characteristics when different character prototypes were chosen. Interestingly, Harrell & Chong-U draw connections to ‘box-effects’, which according to the article include stereotypes, social biases and discrimination, from both our own individual characterisation of our avatar but also of the pre-set conditions. To better integrate subcultures online, the researchers studied social media fandom by associating participants with others with a similar musical taste, as chosen by their preferences on a virtual platform created by the researchers. Moreover, they also studied users’ choices when faced with tasks which allow for loss of self: for example, in an AI-system, the researchers crafted a system which meant that the participants had to ‘pretend to be something [they’re] not’ in order to be accepted into a castle.

When contextualised by ‘The online disinhibition effect’ (Sujer, 2005), these findings provide further interest in terms of self-representation online, and how far from reality it may actually be. ‘When people have the opportunity to detach their actions online from their in-person lifestyle and identity, they feel less vulnerable about self-disclosing or acting out. They don’t have to own their behavior by acknowledging it within the full context of an integrated online or offline identity. The online self becomes a compartmentalized self, a dissociated self. In the case of expressed hostilities or other deviant acts, the person can evade responsibility, almost as if superego restrictions have been temporarily suspended from the online psyche. In fact, people might even convince themselves that those online behaviors “aren’t me at all.”’ This raises questions as to whether our avatar creation is a projection of our potential ‘ideal’ self; the avatar may have features we wish we had, and so on. This also highlights our online identity on social media platforms. Although we are named on social media, Sujer argues that we act under ‘the influence of anonymity’, in that we project a self that often we would not be comfortable projecting in the real world: ‘the person may attempt an invisible non-identity, resulting in a reduced or compacted expression of self. In dissociative imagination, the expressed but split-off self may evolve into a complex structure.’ This indicated that our online representation, regardless of how flawed it may be, can become an extension of ourselves where we are free to express what we like whilst also being somewhat anonymous.

CairnLouden (discuss • contribs) 13:38, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

This idea of anonymity links in with the notable part ‘folklore’, spoke of during Kristina Abiala and Patrik Hernwall (2013). Which took place in Sweden; involved children aged 10-14 years old, to examine the way they used online identity. The part about ‘folklore’, highlights the older boys, who were involved in the study used anonymous names to keep their online identity private; especially for pornography. Abiala and Herwall (2013), use this example to help echo that gender differences are increased by age.The research was conducted of a total 94 children. 45 girls, 48 boys, and one who’s gender was not disclosed. 21 in total the age of ten, 22 aged 12, and 51 aged 14. Who had to write a short story, which were analysed using a method influenced by ‘grounded theory’. The results were presented and discussed in terms of gender, sexuality, peer culture and folklore online, culminating in ones ‘body-self’. In addidtion, the research found, one of the main online activities is to log in to and spend time at online communities, a pastime that increases with age but is more frequent among girls than boys (Medieradet 2010). Online communities are of different character and trends and peer culture defines what is hot and what’s not. Many of the informants pay most attention to Facebook, whereas before they would have spent most of their time on “popular communities” such as Playahead or Lunastorm, which were now considered ‘childish’ and ‘outdated’. Therefore, Abiala and Herwall (2013) highlight three main themes of online identity. 1. Gender and sexuality- “Both girls and boys chat online, but girls more often create blogs while boys more often play games. Gender was increasingly emphasised with age; but whereas boys aged 14 described themselves as sexually active and even users of pornography, girls of the same age described themselves as shocked and repelled by pornography and fearful of sexual threats.” 2. Peer culture and recognition- “The obvious reason for being online is that your friends are there…How these friends are experienced and appreciated change with age. Here age is an interlacing with biological and cultural aspects, as the growing freedom and autonomy of the subjects is a reflection both on an increasing readiness to take care of themselves and to seek new friends and relationships on their own, and of cultural expectations to do so.” 3. Online folklore- “One dimension of the Internet being appropriated in peer culture is the flourishing of technology-related folklore. The shared experiences of young people tend to build a certain pattern that has value or the group and also helps its members to form a common identity, building upon such elements as age, gender, sexuality and ethnicity.” Thus, Abiala and Herwall’s (2013) understanding of online identity has only three main themes; which is more apparent with age. However, though this may be the case for ‘tweens’ aged 10-14, the gap of differences tends to close in the lateral teenage years.

Which is shown by the research of Özgüven and Mucan who uses the participation of students aged between 18-25yo from the faculty of Economics and Administrative sciences at Dokuz Eylul Univeristy, Turkey. 580 questionnaires were distributed, and 503 valid questionnaires were returned. Therefore, 87% return rate. Moreover, their research concentrates on personality traits, rather than the themes that Abiala and Herwall (2013) concentrated on. By referencing (Goldberg, 1981) Özgüven and Mucan found "The factors that define personality are as follows...Neuroticism is defined as an individual's tendency to experience unpleasant emotions and expect bad hings to happen to them. Extraversion is defined as an individual's tendency to express himself/herself socially in an outgoing manner. Openness to experience is defined as the appreciation of alternative perspectives, intellectual curiosity, and the desire of artistic pleasure. Agreeableness which is defined as a tendency to be reliable, sympathetic, and cooperative. Conscientiousness is defined as a tendency to plan ahead and be diligent and fair (Ross et al., 2009). The Big-Five had been in common us in exploratory research across diverse setting and cultures for almost a decade now (McCrae & Costa, 2004)." Their conclusion found: "personality traits play a vital role in determining the level of social media use. Conscientiousness, openness to experience and life satisfaction were found to be significant predictions of the amount of social media us, as were levels of income and education.

Therefore, through Abiala and Hernwall’s (2013) study we see the main themes that is used to identify 10-14 year olds ‘body-self’, which is compared to the personality traits used by Özgüven and Mucan. Thus, through different research methods; we are able to determine that there will always be different factors used to determine people’s online identities.

MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 19:03, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Multimedia ideas
Template:



--Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 01:50, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Visitor Comments
Hi

I have seen that your essay is about online identity and social media. My group and I are looking at always-on culture, which closely relates to online identity. I am currently researching disconnectivity and was reading up on the Disinhibition Effect, as suggested by Suler. Have you considered how the online environment, with aspects such as anonymity and solipsistic introjection, might affect people’s behaviour on the internet?

Here is the full citation and a link to Suler’s article: Suler, J. (2005). The online disinhibition effect. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 2(2), 184-188. Doi: 10.1002/aps.42

We would be delighted if you would visit and contribute to our discussion page too. Accessible at Always-on Culture: Research Question 2: Discussion.

MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 09:20, 10 March 2018 (UTC)


 * This is a great start. Keep it going guys - we need to see lots of discussion recorded here for you to amass "contribs" which are used to evaluate engagement. GregXenon01 (discuss • contribs) 13:25, 16 March 2018 (UTC)


 * Hi, sorry about the wait on this reply. Getting to grips with WikiBooks has been a nightmare!


 * Anyway, I just wanted to thank you or sharing this article with my group, I'm in the process of reading it just now but am finding lots of interesting stuff there. If I find anything I think may be of use to you I will send it over to you, however have a look at our page in the mean time.
 * CairnLouden (discuss • contribs) 20:20, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey team , I find your research super interesting! I had never thought before that gender could possibly play a role in online identity. Clearly it relates to the real life pressures that both males and females face in real life migrating into the online world- even intensifying it. Do you feel as if social media in relation to online identity has made pressure on society to conform worse? Do they bounce off eachother? Your research definitely reflects your interest in this subject and will be interested to read more. Good luck and pop over to our Tarantrio page if you have a chance! KaYuI (discuss • contribs) 19:50, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

Thank I will definitely pop over to your page. I found it interesting that gender would be an important factor, as it didn't occur to me either. However, I feel like there will always be a difference in what is male/female orientated, even though I shouldn't (sexist). On the other hand,though Abiala and Hernwall (2013) state that the differences increase as the age does; I don't believe this is a correct statement. I believe it is for the 10-14 years old, as boys tend to be sexual earlier, but I feel this gap closes later in life. Thus, the gender may be indicated in the growing age of 'tweens', but it surpasses later in life. Also, Abiala and Hernwall (2013) speak of what is 'in' and 'trendy'. Thus, the answer is yes, I do strongly believe that pressure is put on both genders from a young age. One example, being sex: i.e pornography, for boys which is linked to the 'folklore' in the research. MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 11:33, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Thank you for the comment! I looked at your collaborative essay page and found it really interesting! --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 01:07, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

I really enjoyed the images you guys chose. Great job!

Celine Hunt (discuss • contribs) 18:12, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Thank you for your feedback and encouragement! Glad you enjoyed our topic! --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 19:46, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Thank-you very much for commenting, it is lovely to hear some encouragement!MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 10:46, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Seriously, I can tell you guys put in the hard work and it shows. You should all be proud of yourselves. Celine Hunt (discuss • contribs) 17:10, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

Hi team Fact or Fiction! I have just had a quick read of your discussion page and I am really intrigued by the route that you are all going down for your research. Like you have been discussing with other users above in the visitor's comment section, I am also fascinated with the idea of gender roles being prominent in online identity as I never really took this into consideration when we learnt about online identity. I know it might be a bit late to say this, but have you guys considered taking into account the LGBTQ+ community? And how some of their online personas differ from their characterisation in real life? Also the ways in which some use the internet to learn about their sexuality without the confrontational factor of speaking to parents and such like? This could link into your findings in some way where you mention about pornography and the different ways in which people explore their sexuality through the Internet? I have came across this article that might help you if you want to consider the idea here. This is just a suggestion incase you were looking for something extra to add in! I wish you guys the best of luck with your essay and be sure to visit my group's page Digital Dancers and leave a comment! Amm00137 (discuss • contribs) 21:36, 31 March 2018 (UTC)

Hey, thanks for commenting; just trying to get everything precisely the way we want it now. Thanks for the article, I will definitely have a read through it; maybe a little too late for this part, but I will use this for the next Wikipedia assignment. Thanks again, it means a lot to know you founf it interesting.MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 10:42, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello Team Fact or Fiction, , , !

Congratulations on your essay! It is really well written and structured, especially with the multi-media breaking up the text a little bit. I know the deadline is nearly upon us but I have noticed a few little things that you might be able to amend quickly before the time runs out. It is nothing major but would those small tweaks will make your collaborative work even better, I believe.

Firstly, making it easier for the marker, I would maybe put your wordcount at the end. Simply copy and paste your text into Word and check its length.

Before I start with the second point: congratulations on mastering the tricky Wiki MarkUp referencing system. Your references look really good already. However, to be completely in line with the Wiki MarkUp for referencing you not only reference a source once but every time you use it. That creates those small ‘abc’s (etc.) hyperlinks in the reference list itself. It is really easy to do: you just format your initial reference a bit differently. Instead of just putting the ref between < and >, then the source and then /ref between < and > to end the reference you put ‘ref name=AuthorsurnameYear’ between < and >. Using this has two advantages. Firstly, when you use a source the second (or third, etc.) time you only have to put ‘< ref name = AuthornameYear / ref >’ to put in the source. And secondly, the small abc function will appear. I also put up a few tips on our discussion page here or go to the Wikipedia page Referencing for Beginners for a more detailed guide.

Lastly, I would also reference where you got the pictures from and who created them. Although, I assume that they are free to use ones, as using others would be against Wiki*edia rules (I think), referencing all of your sources, including multi-media, shows that you are completely hope and transparent about your work and where you got your ideas from. If you want to see what that could look like, have a look at our reference list here. I would also maybe include a small picture description, to let people know what the picture is showing. This, additionally, breaks up the text a tiny bit more too, making it that bit easier to read.

Congratulations on your brilliant essay again! Good luck for all of your other assignments! MaryCastoridae56 (discuss • contribs) 08:20, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Hi there! Thank you for your feedback! Still a bit lost of how to do that with the referencing system and not too sure how to caption the photos. However, if you click on them, they do give you information from their source which is WikiCommons. Currently working on cutting down the word count so will update that as soon as it's finalized soon. Thank you for the encouragement and feedback! It'll definitely help us in the final push to improve our essay! --Stirsb00027 (discuss • contribs) 09:32, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Hey, thanks for being such a great help. We can all see how much you know about this platform, and it is wonderful that you have been able to share it with us. I don't know when we will be finished (if someone has there final touches), but I will try to make sure there is a word count at the end. Thanks again, for everything!MTxPrincipessa18 (discuss • contribs) 10:42, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK
General Feedback
 * Essays of this standard attain the following grade descriptor for the collaborative essay. Whereas not all of the elements here will be directly relevant to your particular response to the brief, this will give you a clearer idea of how the grade you have been given relates to the standards and quality expected of work at this level:
 * Excellent. Among other things, this work will probably demonstrate a complex, critical understanding of the themes of the module. It will communicate very effectively, making excellent and creative use of the possibilities of the form (including links, as well as perhaps copyright-free videos and images, linked to from Wiki Commons), and may be written with some skill and flair. It will make insightful connections between original examples and relevant concepts. It will be informed by serious reading and reflection, is likely to demonstrate originality of thought, and will probably be rewarding and informative for the reader. The wiki markup formatting will be impeccable.

Specific Feedback:


 * You have submitted an excellent response to the brief. Here you outline a number of arguments that specifically address the theme of Online Identity, and your discussion of the research evidences a                         detailed working knowledge of a wide range of scholarship on your chosen topic. The research question that you have chosen to discuss your theme is well chosen because it gets right to the heart of the historical and current debates in media studies relating to representation and identity in online and web-based media forms. This was both a brave choice because of the circumstances under which you were writing, but also, it should be said, has paid off for you as a team – you had to draw from independent study and research on the topic (which everyone was encouraged to do in any case) and this led to some really interesting critique of the subject matter. I enjoyed reading this.


 * The essay is written in a fluid, mature, and accessible style, and your argument is exceptionally well structured. Generally, this work is critically engaged, and you have demonstrated awareness of the contradictions inherent in the theme itself. Excellent work, well done.


 * N.B.:Feedback for your Discussion, engagement and contribs elements for the assessment will be given on your individual User Discussion Pages. Grades for all work will communicated confidentially via Canvas.’’’

GregXenon01 (discuss • contribs) 11:50, 23 April 2018 (UTC)