Com 125 Assignment #6: Identity

Nothing is sacred on the internet. Although it is a wonderfully convenient technology that I could not really imagine living without (I have panic attacks when the Verizon network loses its connection) it is also one of the most dangerous places that everyone has access to. Assuming an identity is commonplace on the internet. I have assumed identities on sites like Facebook, Myspace, Instant Messenger, etc. although I like to believe that they are honest representations of who I am in person. The problem arises when these virtual identities are corrupted for any number of reasons or situations.

People can look on my Facebook page and get a good idea of who I am. Like just about everyone I know I list my favorite music, movies, books, and other interests. I allow pictures of me to be posted by my friends, although I try to scan through them as soon as they're uploaded, just in case. My friends, family, and absolute strangers who happen to be in my network can look at this information that I supply and get a good understanding of who I am. This really doesn't bother or phase me.

But, I recently found out that one of my friends who I used to go to school with at Geneseo had created a false Facebook based on a kid that he simply made up. Assuming this identity, he added me and many more of my friends that go to Geneseo as friends. Apparently he took pictures from some random kid from Canada's page, and posted them on his own. So of course I accepted the friend request and thought nothing of it, for I have a terrible memory for people and faces, and I figured that I had just met him at a party or in passing. So this was about a month ago, and I just found out last weekend that it was actually my friend behind this madness. Totally not cool. As it turns out, the innocent dude that had his pictures stolen somehow found out about this identity theft and contacted my friend, obviously very irate and probably scared shitless.

This is one example of identity theft that my (ridiculously oblivious) friend thought was harmless and apparently funny. However, I could not imagine being the Canadian boy who found my pictures strewn around Facebook under someone else's name. However, as more and more adolescents, and even kids now, put ourselves out on the internet in a freer manner, this is the type of things that could possibly affect us personally. In her article, "Identity and Deception in the Virtual World", Judith S. Donath discusses how people create identities on the web and the possible problems that could arise from the deception that could be enacted. When discussing how to stop people from being deceptive on the web, she writes,

" The spread of deception can be limited. In particular, imposing a cost to being caught deceiving - that is, punishing deception - is a deterrent...By imposing high costs on deception a social system can make conventional signals more reliable," (Donath 1996).

This almost obvious statement refers to how the government has dealt with this growing problem on the internet. And she wrote this in 1996! What insight! Honestly though, when we are talking to people on the internet, or looking at someone's Facebook or Myspace, unless we really know them, we really have no idea who is on the other end of the connection. This is not to say that I'm going to ask my friend a question only he would know before I start a conversation every time I IM him. That's a bit rash. But, I would like to think that I and everyone else should be careful and more aware of what we are doing, posting, and talking about online. Just in case.

Sources
1) Donath, Judith S. "Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community." MIT Media Lab. 1996.