The Digital Self Flashcards
Self and identity in the cyberspace
DIGITAL SELF
Why do we have a Digital Self?
- To meet the expectation of others
- To boost our self-esteem
- To feel a sense of belonging
- Bigger sense of freedom
- Striving to be our ideal selves
New field within applied psychology
Cyberpsychology
Branch of psychology
Cyberpsychology
Mainly focused in the world wide web specifically Social Media
Cyberpsychology
development of one’s self-concept, including one’s thoughts and feelings about oneself.
Identity
Gives people the chance to present any of the three selves (actual, ought & ideal self)
ONLINE ANONYMITY
Permits individuals to better present aspect of their true selves than they would feel capable of doing in a face-to-face interaction.
ONLINE ANONYMITY
Environments affecting the online behavior:
Identifiable Offline world & Anonymous Online World
Any deviance from established social norms may be punished or ridiculed.
Identifiable Offline world
A person’s true self is often inhibited
Identifiable Offline world
The masks people wear offline are often discarded and their ‘true’ selves allowed to emerge.
Anonymous Online World
E.g. negative rants in Twitter, Facebook freedom walls
Anonymous Online World
People may tend express their “hoped-for possible selves” (socially pleasing identities)
Identifiable Online World
E.g. edited and filtered photos in Facebook, posting of achievements
Identifiable Online World
selectivity-self presenting or editing messages to reveal socially desirable attitudes and dimensions of the self
Impression management
This role of anonymity in impression management refers to the amount of contact that someone has with others.
Positive effect in the role of privacy