Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Misrepresentation or misinterpretation?
I feel like one of the biggest issues in participation by (especially younger) teens, is the idea of the on-line self versus their real self. All three of the articles talk about how users have the ability to create a profile, excluding and adding any parts of their life that they think will represent them. But in representing one's self online (just as in person) it's a two way street. Is there a bigger issue with online social sites with people misrepresenting themselves, or is there a greater change of misinterpretation? Is that even an issue at all? In real life there's plenty of room for both misrepresentation and misinterpretation, but I feel like online site are far more susceptible to inaccurate representations and interpretations?
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3 comments:
I completely agree with kotoole. Especially from a psychological perspective, when teens express themselves as media creators, their identity is often masked or recreated entirely. Misrepresentation of oneself, though misleading, often serves as an outlet for teens. I do not feel that misrepresentation of the individual is as big of an issue when compared to the misrepresentation of a public or publics.
I think that the concept of the online-self largely hinges on the idea of misrepresentation. Instead of viewing ourselves as the imperfect creatures we are, the online forum gives us the opportunity to create an ideal version of ourselves. The difficulties inherent in existing in such a forum are very real and insurmountable. How is it possible to publish your "self" when you are essentially denying the flaws that make you who you are?
It is a very touchy area when dealing with youth. If you want to attack this from a science perspective, teens have an undeveloped frontal lobe. It is not fully developed until you are in your twenties. So what does this mean? It means that teens will take risks others wont! And it shows. Think about your life. Most dangerous and stupid risks were taken in your teens and early twenties. But now not only does society have to worry about these risks being limited to just one setting in which the teen interacts but now we have to worry about the teens actions as they pertain to the "connected" world. These risks including mainly predators that now not only prey on the streets but now on the net in a much larger scope. And trust me, it is easier then you think to find out a lot about a person from just a little information. Like everything in life. The net brings us great advantages but with these advantages come great dangers
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