Carl Sagan once said that “we are, each of us, a multitude” (Oyster and Sagan, 1980) and while he may have been referring to the biological make-up of our bodies, it is every bit as accurate an observation when applied to the way we approach social interaction. While the majority of us haven’t been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, we are all guilty of presenting a different ‘self’ around different groups of people. Our language, verbal and body, as well as what ideas we admit to having are heavily dependent on what is considered socially appropriate for the group we are around. 0It has been argued in the past that there is an ‘ideal’ self which we all long to be but are unable to achieve due to the pressure of those directly around us. What happens, then, when we are physically alone in our homes and turn on our computers to communicate online, which is considered to be different, “composed of information rather than matter” (Donath, 1999, 1) and therefore free of bodily thoughts. Are we more true to our ‘ideal’ selves or do we still fall under the sway of social pressures?
