What is an online identity? It is a “social identity that network users establish in online communities” (Online Identity, 2007). For example, in IRC, instant messaging, forums and even online gaming, users have to own an account name to create an identity for others to acknowledge who you are. Usually under such circumstance, a nickname would be used instead of the birth name one is given. Now why would anyone want to do that? Well, sometimes, people like to have a new identity just so that they feel like they can behave differently with that new identity - a start of a new life. That is the advantage of the online community. No one can see who you are, they would not know if the picture you have up is really you or not. All they can do is imagine who you are according to the information you disclose to them and how you behave online.
This is where reputation comes into play. Everyone wants to own a good reputation. It would be crazy for anyone to want a bad reputation. In an online community, once information is provided to those that want to see it, reputation will be increased. This is because you gave the reader what they wanted. Everyone involved builds an opinion based on the interaction of how the other person is like. “Reputation is enhanced by contributing remarks of the type admired by the group” (Donath, 1996).
Currently, the online identity I can relate to most for this entry would be my class blog. The first entry assigned was to describe who you are, your interests and include a picture of yourself. Some may have written a lot about themselves, while some may have written the minimal requirements. Nevertheless, information is still disclosed. This is where readers of the blog can know more about me.
However, with such disclosure of personal information, there are risks involved. Identity theft is one of the major issues of online communities though many do not know that there are such problems. Identity theft is, “the misuse of the identity (such as the name, date of birth, current address or previous addresses) of another person without their knowledge or consent” (Security Report: Online Identity Theft, 2006). There are many versions of identity theft such as:
(1) Bin raiding
(2) Phishing
(3) Skimming
(4) Moving house
How identity theft works for my situation would be that a reader of my blog decides to copy the picture posted on my blog, create an exact replica of my blog and most importantly, because the reader has an advantage due to my earlier entry on self-disclosure. The reader could simply use that information provided to “act” as me. Given such direct information, it is easy for anyone to copy exactly who you are and what you are online because no one really knows the real you online. Here, my reputation could be ruined because I have no control over the information that reader could be providing to others. Wrong information could be provided and thus, my reputation I established earlier on would be destroyed.
In the near future, it is important to make sure that your personal information is kept safely and that no one can steal it so easily.
REFERENCES
Donath, J.S. (1996) “Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community” Retrieved February 16, 2007 from http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html
Online identity. (2007, February 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved
February 22, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Online_identity&oldid=108207999
Security Report: Online Identity Theft. (2006, February). BT Group, Retrieved February 22, 2007, from http://www.btplc.com/onlineidtheft/onlineidtheft.pdf
1 comment:
It would be interesting to study how users can protect their reputations online. Part of it involves vigilance, and there are web services that you can use to keep track of how your name is mentioned on the web.
Good post, full grades to you. :)
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