Online identity is the aggregate of one’s attributes and interactions. the attributes include birthplace, birthday and so on, while interactions refer to different representations of an individual in different websites. For instance, Amazon establishes a partial identity for an individual depending on the merchandises he/she buys (internet society,2011). Having a clearer depiction of the term ‘online identity’, I am of the view that an individual should not have more multiple online identities, but rather one online identity which represents his ‘true identity.’
One good example of those who require multiple identities would be the whistleblowers. Whistleblowers refer to those who acquire and disclose the insider knowledge of unlawful activities happening in an organization. With the ability to create additional online identity, the whistleblowers are able to stay anonymous. Nevertheless, recognising that whitleblowers are required to be present on the court and testify against the culprits, their identities would inevitably be exposed. As such, ‘creating additional online identity’ is dispensable.
(Credits: Nordic Edge Movies)
In line with the video producer, I also would like to question, “is all our personal information safe in the digital world?” not mentioning that we may be using the same password for our Facebook account, bank accounts, company secrets and so on. This illustrates that having multiple identities increase the risk of individuals’ personal information being stolen, resulting in a huge loss for the individuals. Furthermore, given that online identity theft is on the rise, in which the Federal Trade Commission announced that 9.9 million Americans suffered from identity theft in 2008, and stipulated that “ID theft costs consumers about $50 billion yearly” (Hedayati,2012) , revealing too much information on the websites escalate the susceptibility of the individuals towards identity theft. Therefore, I discourage individuals from having more than one online identity.
(Credits: TED) (you may skip to 6:35-11:00)
In this video, Julian Baggini argues about the significance of creating our true self. This resonates with my view. Before making our ‘true identities’, knowing ourself clearly, I would say, is much more important. Subsequently, we would be able to identify our desired ‘true identities’. When the purpose is clear, we can focus on aligning our online identities towards our desired ‘true identities’ instead of creating confusion for others regarding our identities.
In summary, I disagree of having multiple identities, but rather having one online identity, representing our ‘true identity’. Although we may not have achieved our desired ‘true identity’, we should continue to shape ourselves unceasingly. And i believe that ‘people turn out according to how they are made.’ (438 words)
Jim 