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Name:Chan Man Ka, Misa Student no:1093200
Online identities and communities
Who am I? Is this real? What does it all mean? These not just a questions that a philosophy professor might use to challenge their students. They're also the problem everyone faces in the cyberspace.

Should you use your real identity in your online discussion groups, blogs, or instant messages? Or should you manufacture a false ID?In Cyberspace, there is no face-to-face contact; it has opened up previously unimagined possibilies for communication between individuals and “communities”. Such communication had an impact upon how we view ourselves and others, and has forced a re-evaluation of what “communication”, “community” and “identity” mean. There are different kinds of online context, such as blog, Internet forum, massively multi player online games.

In face-to-face interaction an individual’s physical characteristic from skin color to vocal pattern, help convey racial identity. Lacking such physical cues on computer network, one might predict that discrimination on the basic of race, age, gender, sexuality, class status and group membership would disappear. Indeed, some participants use the lack of physical cues to claim any identity they want. In online interactions, participants are reduced to textual resources. It is difficult to recognize people’s identity, so people usually pick more elements such as cultural resources to construct their identity and to pull off discourse. In this essay, I would like to talk about how people construct their self- identities through their personal blog.

I took personal blog as an example, while blogs have become more and more popular. Nowadays these online blog allow people to create their online identity. All people can free to sign in and create a blog on a certain website, such as Livejournal, Xanga, and Blogger. Users are free to post whatever they would like after they have created an account for themselves. Creating an online identity is very easy. Through the internet, people can become whoever he likes to be. Some people will like to use their real name so other people can easy to recognize who they are and if they are reading their blog. But many people are likely to choose to use a fake name to protect their personal information. However, it is easy for people to post a lot of personal facts while blogging. An individual can be as open about information as they wish, but some may hide behind their blogs as strangers will not know the difference. Pseudonym allows users to hide their identities online, but it still lets them to build up their reputation with their username. Users can hide behind their computers saying whatever it is they want to say with little consequences. These days it is easy to maintain blogs and by doing so one is creating an online identity for themselves whether intentional or no.

In these essays, 8 Xanga weblogs are chosen for presenting the analysis. I would focus on different elements in their weblogs for the analysis to show that how people constructing their identities, and pull off Discourse. I will divided into 4 groups, such as University graduates, PolyU Dance Society members,
Secondary students and others.

First, let talk about the university graduates. They try to build up their online identities by showing their personal information. Such as their Profile, by decorating their weblogs, such as the Photos, by showing their interests in the weblogs, such as the Content and Blogrings joined and by using their “language”, such as Professional terms and Foul language.


1. Name: Archie
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Education: Computer Engineering (CUHK fresh graduate)
http://www.xanga.com/SolitArchie

In Archie Xanga, he said that he go to a company to had an interview, the staff ask him, “You are from a securities company, so what did u do? Security guard? It's totally different from System Specialists.” He criticizes the staff and said in his blog, “Her intonation shows that she acutually thought so...” “That’s Bitch, how come she cannot distinguish the securities Limited and security. Shit!!!!!!!!””

2. Name: Ming Lai
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Education: Psychology (CUHK fresh graduate)
http://www.xanga.com/minicheers

She said that in her blog “ I have a master interview in CUHK, this interview is too easy for me and I can give fluent replies, so I can receive the first round offer within one week. “
“I have receive the Japanese language examination result, the result is ８５＋６５＋１７１＝３２１／４００, the examination is difficult, but I still can get over 300 marks, over 80%!!!!!” by Ming Lai.

These two universities graduates, they are playing a particular identity card, and through their language and words, they wish others to see them as more superior, they are highly educated. Their photo also show that they are university graduates.
E.g. Archie is stereotyping the graduates from Youth Pre-employment training program by said that “during the group discussion part, my group member is come from Youth Pre-employment training program; he employed the admin assistant, office boy. I don’t know why they will arrange a From.5 student in the same group with me? Shit! This guy English…..Shit!!! He even cannot speak a complete sentence. Waste my time!!!!!!”

Archie and Ming lai are made a powerful new territory by using foul language,
They are try to repudiate the common impressions of the some people towards the university students/graduates, people will think that a university students , they all are highly educated , they should not use foul language. They try to challenge this norm and create new identities and culture change. Different identities can be contradictory and seemingly impossible. It is ironic that Archie wishes others to recognize him as a highly educated person, at the same time, he shows a “rebel” identity.
Discourse
Through the Cultural resources they drawn in constructing their identities and pull off a discourse: Language + Profile + Photos + Content + Blogrings joined + Comments leave by others (identities and behaviours are recognized) = Discourse. It show that Archie and Ming Lai is in power. In opposite, people who are not belong to their group or those who possess lower educational level are being marginalized.

Secondly, I would like to talk about another group, the PolyU Dance Society members. They try to construct their online identities by decorating their weblogs, such as Icons and Pictures, Color and Background. By showing their interests in the weblogs, such as Photos and Blogrings joined By using their own words. Such as use particular “language” to communicate with their groups.
1. Name: Roberta
Gender: Female
Age: 21
Education: PolyU
http://www.xanga.com/robertashum




2. Name: Rinkee
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Education: Texiles and Clothing (PolyU)
http://www.xanga.com/rinkybao


Poly U Dance society members using their own words, such as Mark dance, flat out, Front back, these words only they understand, while other people don’t understand. Also, they post a lot of their team photo and use some fast-beat dance song as background music. All these things can show their team spirit. They want to demonstrate their membership of a particular group; they are member s of Dance society. They used the cultural recourses to exclude outsiders.

Discourse
Through Cultural resources PolyU dance society drawn in constructing their identities and pull off a discourse: Language( Mark dance, flat out) + Profile + Photos (female) + Content + Team spirit + Blogrings joined + Comments leave by their friends (identities and behaviours are recognized)= Discourse

In this case, dance society members are in power, they are using the particular language to communicate with their members. All of the “non-dance society member” are marginalized. People not in the group may not know what happen or not understand through reading their diaries.

Thirdly, let us talk about the secondary students, they would like to construct their online identities, by decorating their weblogs, such as Icons and pictures, using vivid color and colorful background. By showing their interests in the weblogs, such as the Brand name and the cartoons they like. And by using their own words, they will use the particular “language” to communicate with their groups. Such as they like to use the double words (pig pig, dog dog, SOR AR = sorry,)

1. Name: Ling
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Education: F.3
http://www.xanga.com/Xxluv_lingxX

2.Name: Man
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Education: F.3
http://www.xanga.com/dreamwin
3. Name: Brian
Gender: Male
Age: 14
Education: F.2
http://www.xanga.com/abc_1874


Discourse
Language + Icon/Pictures + Color + Background + Content + Comments leave by their friends (identities and behaviours are recognized) = Discourse

From the view of secondary school students, the students (Ling’s and Man’s friend) are in power, people who are not belong to the group are being marginalized, They are doing the culture (use particular “language”) in order to communicate (they are trendy in the group they belong to) with the people around them and playing the Identity Card. But from the view of “us”, we are in power, and Ling’s and Man’s friend are being marginalized, we may think they are immature and tease them.

Identity challenges do not occur often. However, when participants dispute an author’s perspective they often challenge the author’s identity. Though disagreements come in various forms, one recurrent practice for disputing an author’s arguments involves challenges to an author’s identity…respondents’ challenges to an author’s identity dispute the social position from which the author make his/her claim.

Name: Kumi
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
http://www.xanga.com/richladies


People challenged the identity constructed by the author (how she wishes others to see her). Participants can be free when establishing an online identity, because there are no physical characteristic available.

Kumi said in her blog, “ Many people said that they would like to be my boyfriend.” “ Many people jealous that I am rich!!!!!” “I don’t know why I am so pretty?” “Pretty bring a lot of trouble to me!!!”

But many viewers challenge the identity constructed by Kumi,the pretty girl, through the comment on her blog, by said that, “ Shit, what a ugly gir??” ,”Are you crazy? I don’t think you are pretty!!!” ‘

“A born beauty!!’ by Kumi

Even people challenge the author identity, does this author exist or not? Is this a trick? We can see that in the comments part of this Xanga, some viewers said that “Is this Xanga fake? I think this girl may fool by someone!” “This girl is so poor; I don’t think these dairies are writing by this girl!’

We all know that we are difficult to recognize people’s identity through internet, so we should take an non-essentialist view, it can help us to recognize people more comprehensive. Sometimes, people may marginalize other people in the process of building up their own identities; even it is not their intentions. When people build up their own identities, they always positioned themselves as in power, and otherize other people.


Limitation
There also have some limitation when I doing this research paper. All individuals may contain different identities. I just pick up some of their common elements, such as their language, decoration on their blog, their interests etc, to analyze how they construct their identities. The limited information is provided through their blog, it may easy reduce them to less than what they really are.

References
1 Archie’s Xanga
 http://www.xanga.com/SolitArchie
2 Ming Lai’s Xanga
 http://www.xanga.com/minicheers
3 Chris’s Xanga
 http://www.xanga.com/chris728
4 Roberta’s Xanga
 http://www.xanga.com/robertashum
5 Rinkee’s Xanga
 http://www.xanga.com/rinkybao
6 Anna’s Xanga
 http://www.xanga.com/loving_anna
7 Ling’s Xanga
 http://www.xanga.com/Xxluv_lingxX
8 Man’s Xanga
 http://www.xanga.com/dreamwin
9 Brian’s Xanga
 http://www.xanga.com/abc_1874
10 Rich Ladies’s Xanga
 http://www.xanga.com/richladies


Annotated Bibliography

1.Chandler, Daniel (1998), “Personal Home Pages and the Construction of Identities on the Web.”2.Cherny, L. and Weise, E. R., eds. Wired Women: Gender and New Realities in Cyberspace. Seattle: Seal Press, 1996.3.Filiciak, M. “Hyperidentities: Postmodern identity practices in massively multiplayer online role-playing games.” In The Video Game Theory Reader, ed. J.M.P. Wolf and B. Perron, 87-102. New York: Routledge, 2004.4.Jones, Steven G. (Ed.) Virtual Culture: Identity and Communication in Cybersociety. London: Sage, 1997.5.Murphy, S. “‘Live in your world, play in ours’: the Spaces of Video Game Identity.” The Journal of Visual Culture 3 no. 2 (2004): 223 – 238.6.Simpson, B. (2005). “Identity Manipulation in Cyberspace as a Leisure Option: Play and the Exploration of Self.” Information & Communications Technology Law, 14(2): 115 - 131.7.Schau, H.J. & Gilly, M. (2003). “We Are What We Post? Self-Presentation in Personal Web Space.” Journal of Consumer Research. 30 (December)8.Suler, J.R. (2002). Identity Management in Cyberspace. Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 4, 455-460.9.Turkle, Sherry. (1999, November). “Cyberspace and Identity.” Contemporary Sociology. 28(6): 643-648.10.Grodin, Debra & Thomas R Lindlof (Eds.) (1996): Constructing the Self in a Mediated World. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage11.Turkle, Sherry (1996a): Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson12.Turkle, Sherry (1996c): ‘Parallel Lives: Working on Identity in Virtual Space’. In Grodin & Lindlof (Eds.), op. cit., pp. 156-175