iGeneration

I found Merchants section on ‘Discourse of Identity Threat’ interesting and how an unwritten book has been formulated because of them. The emotion that I’ve come to realize is the most effective is fear, in regards to ones safety. In the 90’s with the rise of networking with chat rooms people could create alter ego’s, and in turn attain information that was previously unavailable. Furthermore the dependence of technology paralleled notions of ‘criminals to steal your identity’, or the paranoia of ‘big brother’ with complete surveillance. There was a demand for personal responsibilities in regards to the Internet and ways to protect oneself. All it took was to hear that somebody was actually murdered because of an online social networking site, for me to keep my address hidden. Many people were (and still are) reluctant to buy things online with a credit card due to these fears. We hear horror stories of people being violated socially, financially, sexually even from the near infinite Internet. These stories as horrible as they are, serve as a reminder to people’s online identities and upholds Merchants ideals of fear and trust.
Furthermore I found the idea of performing identity online to be captivating. There is a constant ‘narrative’ with online networking sites that are streaming online which are both affected by real life and virtual consciousness. Just like altering one’s self in face-to-face in social situations, ones ‘virtual identity’ can be altered online. Instant messaging and texting are phenomenal conveniences; yet the most simple of miscommunications can occur due to context, word selection, tone, etc.
There are certain characteristics that people cannot alter about themselves that ground them, for example race, gender, and location even. The other traits are behavioral induced by pop culture, ideologies, trends, etc. These behaviors alter through maturation; with technology becoming more of an everyday commodity, are ever increasing. A personal example I can distinctly remember is when my mom set up my grandparents their first desktop. As you can imagine they had some difficulty adjusting to the operating system, functions, and its capabilities; yet in time they adapted their own virtual identity. In the ever-growing digital age we live in, I think its smart to have a grasp of ones virtual identity in correlation with the real self.