CI 2312 — Week 4 Reflection
As young people begin using the internet, they can find themselves joining social media sites where they do not have to disclose their full identity, because of this it encourages them to identify ways in which new skills, beliefs, and principles can be experimented with. Wängqvist & Frisén wrote, “individuals could reconstruct their online identities in anonymous contexts both in order to escape old social networks and to access new ones. Thus, anonymous contexts may offer other opportunities for identity development than the more common everyday contexts, such as Facebook.
Platforms such as Reddit or Tumblr allow individuals to remain anonymous if they choose to do so and for younger people they may use these platforms in a way that enables them to explore their sexuality or other aspects of their identity in a way that may be safer for them than on SNSs like Facebook or Twitter where there is less anonymity. Young people are also able to find communities online over a shared interest or skill and this may help to further ingrain these interests of skills as part of their identity. The internet also enables young people to have more control over their lives as they have more privacy. They can experiment without risk, especially if they are not revealing their true identity on the platform that are utilizing.
While online contexts are important setting for young people to develop their identities, this I think is less true for adults. Most adults tend to already have a more coherent sense of identity; thus, their online identities may reflect who they already are, and they may not need anonymous spaces to further develop their identities. Although there are adults who may have a more incoherent sense of identity and use online platforms where they can explore different sides of their identity. Identities are also fairly fluid, and people change, and adults may find themselves exploring different communities online which could further develop and define their identities.
As young people begin to explore the internet, I believe it is imperative that we educate them about internet safety. Digital literacy is not something that we are already equipped with so we must help young people to develop these skills so they can be safe as they become more immersed with the internet. With the independence that the internet brings to young people they must decide what parts of their identity they want to share before they begin accidentally sharing private information that they don’t actually want to be attached to in their lives on the internet as well as outside of the internet.
