Online Conference on Networks and Communities

Deception and Authenticity.

How false and misleading profiles are impacting online dating.
By Murray Watts

The deception and authenticity of Web2.0 users in relation to online dating is an area of increasing concern. The stream of Identity in Community and Networks provides a ground for debating this topic. Computer mediated social interaction differs in important ways from face-to-face communication and online dating is no exception. Online communities are growing rapidly, and are enabling people to connect despite the physical distances between them (Ellison, 2006).

Abstract: From the advent of the internet, scholars and the wider media have been enthralled by the potential that the internet’s anonymity provides for the creation of new identities that forgo the traditional boundaries of race, gender, and religion, while others have been critical of the potential for harmful identity deception. It is my aim, however, to prove that these perceptions are flawed and that identity online is closely tied with identity offline in a way that limits the creation of entirely new online identities. This paper will draw evidence from various sources, including studies of identity online and trends in social network use, to demonstrate that aspects of one’s ‘real life’ identity are always present in one’s ‘online’ identity.