English 474

After reading through all the blogs, one of the threads that came up the most was the question of whether one’s Facebook profile is just an illusion of their actual self (a term that Callie Hitchcock uses in her blog), and the moral implications of consciously creating an identity. Although there were a lot of posts dedicated to the discussion of this topic, the ideas people had about the government of ethics for one’s online identity varied completely.

Overall, the most common response was skepticism to the format that Facebook provides for one to create their online persona. As someone brought up in class, many were concerned about the strict, positive dimension that Facebook “likes” give to the story of their lives and the seeming validation we as posters receive about these events from other users. Kira Nordhoj brought up a great point in her blog about validation of our online selves with the term “Facebook Official”, referring to how some view their romantic relationships only official when they’ve posted them to Facebook.

Some were more accepting of this form of personal narrative. Kendall Blenkarn, in her post, accepted the idea that “authenticity of online narratives may not be so different than questions of authenticity of more historical narratives/diaries”.

Others felt personally responsible for the way that they portray themselves to others on social media. In a post entitled “Lie Feed”, Quincy Arthur admits that his online identity “by no means reflects my inner self, or outer one for that matter” and has worried in the past about Facebook’s capability to “expose me as the fraud I am to all my ‘friends’”.

In her article “Be who you want to be: The philosophy of Facebook and the construction of identity”, Katie Ellis describes her actions on Facebook as a “performance of gender and social identity”, one she participates in to build an “online identity based on how, and as whom [she] want[s] to be perceived in both the online and offline world. She’s frank that there is a distinction between both worlds, but the online persona and the real world one are both linked.

I tend to sway the way of acceptance that my online persona is consciously constructed. I tend not to share too much information about my identity on Facebook, such as my work history or relationships, but I still enjoy being able to broadcast whatever I want on the form. And of course, while I’m not explicitly giving much information about my real world situation online, I am implicitly creating an identity by putting my best foot forward in my posts. Ultimately, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with engaging in the performance of your online persona.

Work Cited:

Arthur, Quincy. “Lie Feed.” Memoirography: A Blog about Life (Narratives). UBC Blogs, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.

Blenkarn, Kendall. “Post #1: Online Profiles and Created Narratives and Identities.” Contemporary Lit 474. UBC Blogs, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.

Ellis, Katie. “Be Who You Want to Be: The Philosophy of Facebook and the Construction of Identity.” Screen Education Winter 2010.58: 36. Web.

Hitchcock, Callie. “Facebook and the Cult of the Individual.” Callie Anya. UBC Blogs, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.

Nordhoj, Kira. “Facebook as Self-Validation.” English 474. UBC Blogs, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.