Cyberspace and Identity
Introduction
Cyberspace can also be called as the virtual lands. It includes the virtual lives as well as virtual societies, but the said lives as well as societies do not exist with the same physical reality that the real society do. With the materialization and coming out of the cyberspace, the virtual becomes counter-posed to the real. The physical survive in cyberspace but it can be considered as reinvented. Virtuality is the general term that can be used in order to characterized and define the said reinvention of the recognizable physical space in the cyberspace (Jordan, 1999, p. 1).
Nowadays, cyberspace is considered as one of the most important aspects that touch and affects the lives of people in the world. For some, it has become as important as the telephone as well as the letter, while for other, it still remain as a fearful whisper of the promises of the technology. When cables as well as phones are allied to the computers, it will create a parallel world that is called the cyberspace. It can also be called as the virtual world. The primary reason why it is called that way is that it does not exist in the tangible or physical reality but in the light as well as electronics, with the help of different communication technologies. Another thing is that the people in the virtual world are all living in their virtual lives, along with their real or physical lives, that can be as important as their marriage as well as unimportant as the process of checking a certain television guide (Jordan, 1999, p. 1).
Cyberspace does not affect only those who are interested with the said subject, as a matter of fact; it can affect greatly those people who are not interested in the said world innocently. For example, an automated bank teller will give the user the money due to the fact that it communication is done in the cyberspace, and it has an authorized to do it. After inputting all of the necessary information that are asked by the ATM, the said machine will use a phone line in order to call a computer that will decide if the request is considered as genuine (Jordan, 1999, p.1)
According to Bill Gates, the information highway or the virtual world can be considered as one of the most important tool that is used by individual (as cited in Jordan, 1999, p. 59). The notion of identity as fluid is the primary step that can be done in order to understand the role of the individual in cyberspace. There are few modes of identity formation as well as identity switching in the cyberspace (Nayar, 2004, p. 165). Avatar is a term that was coined by the novelist Neal Stephenson in the Snow Crash in order to describe the identities that are created in the cyberspace. It include different personal information such as the email address, the identity name or the username or account name, which can be a real or false name of the user (Nayar, 2004, p. 165). The existence of an avatar means someone has used some of the resources of the cyberspace in ways; the result is that it can create a stable personality in the virtual world (Jordan, 1999, p. 59).
Cyberspace and Identity
Cyberspace has become a stage where in everyone as well as anyone can play roles. It has become a space where in anyone can fulfill his or her fantasy to be their desired figure that can be a mythic figure or even historical hero, as well as Hollywood star and animal (Nayar, 1999, p. 166). The cyberspace can be considered as the expansion of the people’s age-old capability as well as need to inhabit in fiction as well as to inhabit in authorized or free-thinking personality on other (as cited in Nayar 2004, p. 166).
The enhancement or the increase in the number of participants that are joining in the discussions is feasible in the cyberspace. Enormous or huge numbers of participants cannot actually be involved in a real-time discussion due to a variety of physical limitations. The said limitations are absent in the cyberspace. In addition to that, knowledge and proficiency is not essential and needed in order to contribute or join in an online decision-making discussion. Another important thing is that the difficulty in cleaning up information in the cyberspace makes it a relatively freer atmosphere for different discussions as well as information exchanges (Nayar, 2004, p. 166).
Multiplicity of Identity
Each and every individual has their multiple identities. It means that each person possesses many sectors within his or her personality and plays numerous roles in their life such as a child, parent, student, employee, neighbor as well as friend (Suler, 2002, p. 455). All of those characters or personalities are residing inside the system of a person. Cyberspace is offering a place or position for each of the said aspects or roles of a person in terms of his or her identity. In addition to that, online societies also enables the people to deconstruct their selves online due to the fact that they don’t have to present their selves as a whole such as how do they look, move, talk as well as details about the family background and history, thoughts, feelings as well as personality. In various environments, users can also divide as well as show their characteristics in packets of different sizes and content (Suler, 2002, p. 455).
The said multiplicity of identity has been supported by the help of different online groups that are devoted to different or distinctive identity categories such as professional, vocational as well as personal topic that can be expressed, emphasized or drew attention to as well as develop precise and detailed interest as well as life experiences while leaving behind other things (Suler, 2002, p. 455).
Combination of Positive and Negative Identity
Negative aspects or identity of a person can be acted out or worked through. On the other hand, the positive side can be expressed as well as developed. There are different components that will help us to categorize about positive and negative. There are some universal criteria that could help the people to distinguish the difference between the two. More often than not, people will criticize a person that is doing something to hurt other people while applaud those who are showing compassion towards other people (Suler, 2002, p. 455).
The said theory is somewhat different from the cyberspace. An individual can feel embarrassment, remorse, terror, nervousness, or disgust about some aspect of their identity, at the same time as believing and valuing other aspects. People also struggle to achieve fresh, romanticized ways of identity. On the other hand, other users might use cyberspace as a chance to work out their positive characteristics or to increase new ones in a course of self-actualization (Suler, 2002, p. 455).
Level of Fantasy and Reality
There are different online groups as well as association in the Internet that brings out the real identity of a person such as professional email lists. Those said groups are those virtual societies that are composed of different members who are into specific interest such as Information Technology or IT. On the other hand, there are some groups that are driving the users to do the other way around. Those groups enable the user to create and assume their imaginary identity such as the MUDs or Multi-User Dungeon/Domain/Dimension and the MOOs or the MUD Object Oriented (Suler, 2002, p. 455).
In addition to that, there are also some environment that is between the reality and the fantasy. It enables the user to pretend to be someone that is very different from whom he or she really is. In addition to that, the users can just change some of their characteristics or features such as their name, occupation as well as their physical appearance, and maintaining his or her true character. No one will know about the real characteristics of a certain individual, and the numbers of those people who are changing their identities is also immeasurable (Suler, 2002, p. 455). Chat rooms and other related Internet forums and rooms can be considered as sample of the said situation.
The altering of one self is related to separation of the positive and negative side of a person. The different hidden positive and negative aspects of a person may seek its expressions and representation in an imaginary character that comes to life online (Suler, 2002, p. 455).
Consciousness Awareness and Control
Deciding on the way or presenting identities in the cyberspace is not always a matter of conscious choice. Most of the factors of the identity are out of sight below the exterior part. Different secret wishes as well as fondness seep out in about or disguised ways without even knowing it. People are not always conscious about of how we separate or disconnect different parts of their individuality or even of the emotional differentiation that have been attached to them (Suler, 2002).
For example, a person may choose a certain username or avatar because he or she likes it or even out of his or her whim. He or she will no longer appreciate or recognize the full and deep connotation of the said selection. In addition to that, he or she might connect to an online group, due to the fact that it had made him or her interested, without understanding the true purposes that are hidden in the said decision. The obscurity, fancy, and many ranges of online environments give a sufficient chance for this expression of unconscious needs as well as emotions. One good example is the transference (Suler, 2002).
Sexual Aspects: Gender Swapping
One of the advantages, and can also be seen as disadvantages of the Internet is that it offers the opportunity for the people to change or experiment with their identity. One of that is to transform or to change from one gender to another in order to see how the other half exists and survives. In a text-only chat room, the primary task that must be done is to alter the online name, while on the visual place such as the Palace, there is an added dares to generate an opposite sex avatar or support in order to visually stand for or demonstrate the identity of one person (Suler 2004).
Gender swapping is considered as one of the most used activities in the cyberspace in order to create an identity. Everyone who is into the cyberspace has heard and even experiences the said activity. There are more males than females who are practicing the gender switching activity. According to the study of Suler (2004), the primary reasons of male in gender switching are: first is due to the effect or pressure of the cultural stereotypes. The said reason made those men to have an obscurity to discover their internal feminine characteristics. As a result, it had made them to rely on the secrecy of the cyberspace in order to articulate their female side that makes them believe that it must be hidden; it can also be said that gender switching is also a way to draw more attention to them. This is due to the fact that getting perceived as well as responded to the environments of the cyberspace is difficult. As the visual chat habitats, using a female name, with the aid of female avatar, more specifically, the sexy one will instantaneously draw reactions and attentions from other users. In addition to that, those gender-switched male may even like the feeling of power or authority as well as control over other males that goes along with their switching; another reason might be the urge of the males to adapt to a womanly identity in order for them to study about the relationship as well as differences between the two sexes. It will eventually serves as a testing procedure, where in they interact with the males for them to learn more fact about woman, therefore they will use the information that they have found out in order to enhance and improve their relationships with the females; In some online games such as MUDs and MOOs that have been mentioned in the first part of the paper, being female can be an advantage and beneficial, due to the fact that males are more likely to lend a hand females. The said reason helped them to progress in faster manner (Suler 2004).
The two of the most personal and intimate reasons of gender switching are: first is that most of them are looking for intimate, romantic relationship from other male that may be acting upon aware or even unconscious homosexual thoughts, such as cybersex; another is, the case of the transsexuals or those people who think and believe in physiological manner, that they are the opposite sex relatively than their particular birth gender; and even those transvestites or the cross dressers, who are doing it for the sake of classification with the females, as well as their sexual arousal. In some cases, the process of gender switching can be considered as an indication of gender confusion like the psychological disturbance where in the distinctiveness of a person as a male or female has not yet fully developed (Suler 2004).
Cyberspace and Reality
Although, the cyberspace can be considered as a free place where in an individual can be anyone that he or she wishes to become, it has a serious effect in the real world. Primarily, there have been many corporations as well as individuals who already suffered different damages to their interest from the abuse of the freedom in the cyberspace, more primarily the anonymity. For example, 1996, a mail-bombing attack has been done by one antisocial person who called himself as Johnny [x]chaotic. It had victimized many users in the cyberspace by receiving about 20,000 email message everyday from the list that deals with the personalized subject that are not included in their interest (as cited in Kabay, 1998).
The same event had occurred in 1997, when a woman from the Maryland was mail bombed after warning other writers about the extortionate fees from her agency. In return, her name and other personal information has been posted in the alt sex groups in the USENET that had caused her to received flood of offensive calls (as cited in Kabay, 1998).
In addition to that, there are also some cases where in it can cause damage to the sexuality issue of the user. A woman from Atlanta was horrified when someone had posted a picture of unknown woman with her name and contact information in it. As a result, someone had called her and told her that the announcement had claimed that she is offering free sex. In addition to that, a male student and a male teacher had been victimized by cyberspace. Their picture had been edited in order to show the public that they are having an affair. The said event had damage the reputation of the student as well as the teacher (as cited in Kabay, 1998).
Further more, in terms of the corporations, in 1997, the self-named Reverend White that is dedicated in making the America straighter and whiter, had launched their campaign of denial-of-service or DOS, together with the harassment attack in opposition to the famous Internet Relay Chat or IRC channels that was called the Undernet. White, together with his allies had emitted fake racist as well as homophobic hate emails that had overloaded the said channels. The group also issued different threats against the user of the channels (Kabay, 1998).
All of the said cases had showed the cyberspace has a negative impact to the real world or the physical world that could affect or target the true identity of a person. In addition to that, it also shows that the anonymity can also helped damage the reputation of an individual as well as one corporation.
Conclusion
Online identities can be considered as multiple, fluid as well as manipulated as well as may have a little thing to do with the real selves of the person who is behind it (as cited in Macfadyen, Roche, Doff, Reeder & Chase, 2005, p. ). In the current situation, there is no generic system that can be used in order to identify various characters as well as entities in the cyberspace. The digital world or the virtual societies had enabled to inherent the differences between the real spaces that have caused the discrepancy (Covell, Gordon, Hochberger, Kovacs, Krikorian & Schneck, 1999).
The cyberspace has a huge impact to the identity of those members of the virtual societies. Primarily, the cyberspace can be considered as the release place or the place where in those people can showcase their hidden feeling, emotion as well as characteristics. Another thing is that it can also make the online users to feel that they are belonged or that they are important to a given group. This is connected to the theory of deindividuation that tackles to the personal sense of identity of person that can be overpowered by the sense of belonging to a group (as cited in Kabay, 1998). In addition to that, anonymity, diffusion of the responsibilities as well as the arousal of the online users are contributed to the deindividuation and the antisociality. Furthermore, those people who are practicing the different activities in the cyberspace can display their reduced inhibitions, reduce reliance on internal standards that are normally qualified his or her behavior as well as self-awareness (as cited in Kabay, 1998).
The cyberspace has a great impact to the personality or identity of a person. Another thing is that it is hard to distinguish whether an online user is showing his or her identity as a whole, or it is just a part of his or her desired self.
In addition to that, cyberspace can also affect the real world; this is due to the fact that the cyberspace offers a freedom that is beyond to the physical limit. That is why there are many people who are using the cyberspace in order to damage the image of other people.
References
Covell, P., Gordon, S., Hochberger, A., Kovacs, J., Krikorian, R., & Schneck, M. (1998, December 10). Digital Identity in Cyberspace, MIT, Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/6095/student-papers/fall98-pa pers/identity/white-paper.html
Jordan, T. (1999). Cyberpower: The Culture and Politics of Cyberspace and the Internet. London: Routledge
Kabay, M. E. (1998, March 16). Anonymity and Pseudonymity in Cyberspace: Deindividualization, Incivility and Lawlessness Versus Freedom and Privacy, Annual Conference of the European Institute for Computer Anti-virus Research (EICAR), Munich, Germany 16-8 March 19998, Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http://www2.norwich.edu/mkabay/overviews/anonpse udo.htm
Macfadyen, L., Roche, J., Doff, S., Reeder, K. & Chase, M. (2005), Communicating Across Cultures in Cyberspace: A Bibliography Review, LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster.
Nayar, R. (2004). Virtual Worlds: Culture and Politics in the Age of Cybertechnology. SAGE
Suler, J.R. (2002). Identity Management in Cyberspace. Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 4, 455-460, Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/identitymanage.html
Suler, J.R. (2004). Do boys and girls just wanna have fun? In Gender Communication In A. Kunkel (Ed.). Kendall/Hunt Publishing, Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/genderswap .html
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