Essay Proposal

For my essay I want to explore identity in the digital domain, how we construct identities in the online world. Online identity VS real identity. I want to explore theories and examples of these online identities and the rise of this as an identity form with the rise of technology and the internet. People now have different perceptions of us online and offline. Is our online identity a mask? It enables us to constantly update ourselves, update our personalities, construct multiple versions of ourselves.

Essay Title;  

Discuss how we construct our identity in the digital domain, how does our digital identity differ from reality of our self in everyday life? Is the identity we construct online presenting a true version of self or an ideology?

Main points of the essay;

• Our online identity as an idealogical construction.
• Digital identities are a very recent form of identity, new culture of social networking.
• Social networks propell the construction of multiple identities.
• How much of our online self is true; online identity VS reality.
• Online identities enable us to 'update' ourselves.
• Is the way we act within our online selves the same as in reality?

Research sources (internet, books, journals);

• 'Identity' Zymunt Bauman
• 'Identity as Performance' Judith Butler - Need to find
• 'Identity Management' Erving Goffman - Need to find
• 'Identity and Difference' Katherine Woodward
• 'Media, Gender and Identity' David Gauntlett
• 'The Law of the virtual worlds and internet social networks' Andrew Sparrow
• 'Cyburbia' James Harkin