“Should there be an ‘us’ in identity?”

“Should there be an ‘us’ in identity?”

Identity, in the traditional sense of the word, means ‘the fact of being who or what a person or thing is’ (Oxford University Press, 2013). In today’s virtual world, an individual can create two versions of themselves: a self where it is who and what they are in real life and another, where the self is edited, altered and published online. It is interesting to note that the Oxford Dictionary has added a definition for the concept of ‘identity crisis’ referring to it as ‘a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person’s sense of identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society’ (2013). This definition parallels McNeill’s line of thought in ‘There is no ‘I’ in Network’ where he argues that Facebook templates what characteristics of self are relevant to the network as a community (2012). This means that users, although projecting their identity, are directed towards altering their own narrative (public identity) to conform to the expectations of the site (Van Luyn, 2013). This revelation begs the question: are we entirely and solely responsible for the construction of our identity?

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As a social network, Facebook allows our constructed and conformed identity to be shared and viewed by others. McNeill also argues that because of this functionality of the site, online interactions shape how identities are perceived by the remainder of the network (2012). Evidently, the profiles we construct are dynamic and change according to commonalities with other participants (as directed by Facebook). This concept of community determining aspects of our selves is paralleled in an authentic sense in the reading ‘White Man Got No Dreaming’ (1979). Stanner explains that Indigenous Peoples sense of self is constructed through mythology that is attained through social interactions and consequently, shapes how each member belongs to the community (1979, p.30).

So it can be seen that the construction of identity has, perhaps, never been individually constructed. In both an authentic and virtual sense, group collectives, domineering forces and social interactions influence identities.

References:

Image 1 Retrieved From: http://triciabaugher.com/interactiveArt.html

McNeill, L. (2012). There is no ‘I’ in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto-biography. In Biography, 35(1), 101-118.

Oxford University Press, (2013). Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved From: www.oxforddictionaries.com

Stanner, W.E.H. (1979). The dreaming (1953), in White man got no dreaming: Essays 1938-1973 (pp. 23-30). Canberra, Australia: Australian National University Press.


Van Luyn, A. (2013) BA1002: Networked Narratives [Week 4 Lecture Slides]. Retrieved From: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp tab_tab_group_id=_312_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_42849_1%26url%3D