Tag: identity

Facebook: Social network site or privacy-invading, surveillance-enabling data harvester?

Adam Meyer
Abstract: Facebook has become an apparatus for a performative and competitive collection of ‘friends’, a tool that facilitates both state and corporate surveillance, and interpersonal surveillance between friends, (ex) romantic partners and (potential) employers whilst users simultaneously watch and are watched. Given currently unfolding events embroiling Facebook, this paper will provide ample evidence that Facebook should be treated with extreme caution if one cannot completely avoid it.   Keywords: Facebook, Read more [...]

The Transient Nature of Identity Online

Myra Lowe4 Comments
An identity formed online is more transient due to its application within an online community and the adaptable nature of a Web 2.0 environment. Virtual communities undermine the original definition of a community; the virtual environment has also undermined the original definition of an identity. According to Donath (1996), the norm is: one body, one identity. Though the self may be complex and mutable over time and circumstance, the body provides a stabilizing anchor” (Donath, 1996). This paper Read more [...]

Online Gaming Avatars Offer Individuals the Ability to Alter Self-Presentation and Identity within Virtual Environments and Communities

Nathan Barnes12 Comments
Abstract The following paper discusses the usage of online gaming avatars within virtual environments and communities and the ability for individuals to alter self-presentation through avatars in an online gaming context. The articles utilised describe online gaming, communities and virtual environments through massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) such as World of Warcraft (WoW) and Second Life as a “third place” (Hendershott & Oldenburg, 1991) for sociability and computer-mediated Read more [...]

#community: Hashtags generate a sense of belonging

Murray Summerville11 Comments
Download: Hashtags generate a sense of belonging Abstract This paper explores how hashtags are used on social media as a kind of textual signpost signifying aspects of our identity. Through these signposts users alert others to their emotions, thoughts and affiliations, all of which help generate a sense of belonging to something online. From its beginnings as a searchable piece of metadata, hashtags help others find others beyond their own circle of friends to discover a collective of similar Read more [...]

Seizing the Memes of Production: The Dictatorship of the Proletariat and Facebook

Eloise Macdonald-Meyer6 Comments
Abstract Facebook is one of the biggest social networks and is pervasive throughout much of the word with billions of users. The Dictatorship of the Proletariat is a state of government proposed, in much communist literature, as a transitional state from revolution to communism. What do these have in common and why compare a political theory with a social network? These are the questions this paper aims to answer and discuss. By examining the structures of Facebook set out for managing community Read more [...]

The anti-social network: Facebook has negative implications on the friendships of young adults

Joel Derham13 Comments
Abstract           This essay explores the negative impact that Facebook has had on the relationships that young adults share with friends and colleagues. Examining such scholarly resources as Kaliarna (2016) to classify online relationships, Young (2013) to study adult friendships in the Facebook era and Bevan, Pfyl and Barclay (2012) to highlight the ramifications of Facebook friend deletion, I will highlight the characteristics of friendship and how they compare when applied to online and Read more [...]

Friendships Formed and Strengthened in Online Gaming Environments

Amy Bastin14 Comments
Abstract This paper explores the potential for individuals to form and strengthen friendships in online gaming environments by consulting 14 previous studies surrounding the topic. There are multiple online gaming types that facilitate communication between gamers such as massive multiplayer online game (MMOG), massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and virtual reality games. In some of these games, there is also the opportunity for gamers to create an avatar that does not have to Read more [...]

The Negative Effects of Anonymity and Excessive Participation in Online Gaming Communities

Elise Grazotis10 Comments
Elise Grazotis Curtin University   PDF Version: The Negative Effects of Anonymity and Excessive Participation in Online Gaming Communities Abstract This paper explores characteristics of the online gaming community and the associated negative consequences to users. Participation in these communities is generally anonymous due to the nature of the games that usually require avatars or characters that fit into the alternate world, rather than personal, offline identities. While Read more [...]

Virtual Communities: Empowering People with Disabilities to Wear Multiple Digital Hats

Barbara Jara6 Comments
Abstract This paper examines how people with disabilities construct their identity in virtual communities. The changing disability discourse resulted in communities of practice that lend themselves to a collective identity, however virtual worlds such as Second Life (www.secondlife.com), allow users to experience multiple identities through the creation of avatars. The purpose of this discussion is to consider the benefits of exploring multiple identities in virtual worlds and argues that creating Read more [...]

Social Networking Dating Apps Such as Tinder Have Changed the Way Millennials Present Their Online Identity

Alexandra Berger7 Comments
Abstract App culture has erupted in recent times particularly in the landscape of finding love and relationships. Due to the development of Web 2.0, millennials have moved out of their excluded and private space of the bedroom and onto Apps (Hodkinson, 2015, p. 1). This conference paper explores the many research papers written by academics about social media networks and how they assist in finding love for young people in the new millennium which I will use to support my argument. Keywords: Read more [...]