Professor Sherry Turkle came up with the idea that on the internet people can ‘create’ identities online and play about with ways of presenting themselves than in real life. So, although not posting your full name on a website isn’t the same as pretending to be something you’re not, it still is a form of changing/altering your identity.
On the blogs users could include their name (as some did, but some just had their first name or a nickname, some just chose ‘anonymous’) and/or their location. The majority had their first name and city beside their name.
In the forum it seemed most people had their first name, or their first name slightly altered to appear as a screen name, such as ‘Elizabeth52’.
I reckon if I was involved in the blog or forum I would just have my first name, or if there were other Alyson's, I may copy 'Elizabeth52' and add some numbers to the end. I wouldn't post my full name. What would you call yourself?
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2 comments:
Alyson,
I'm glad to see that you're applying Turkle to your website analysis. I think as a general rule, unless you actually know the people you're communicating with on-line, in real-life, it's probably always sensible not to give out your full name details....they're not needed anyhow, and it just ensures safety.
All the best
Emma
Yes I agree it is not a necessity and therefore those who do it just openly put themselves to risk of stalkers, etc.
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