Throughout the years, since internet (TCP/IP version) was invented back in 1983, countless people had used and are still using it to socialize. There are various platform for socializing such as Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, gTalk, Friendster, Facebook, Twitter, Tagged, Bebo or even through blogs. I believe most of us, at a point, thought that the people we are chatting with on those interactive sites are their real selves. But what if they're not?
In fact, more than 70% of the identities used on the internet are deceptive or to put it simply, fake. You might think you are chatting with a charming man or woman. But in reality, they might be looking like this...
Creepy? Yes, it is.From my experiences of interacting with people in the virtual community, I have gained lots of friends. Only a handful of them are people whom I really know in person though. And even they are quite different from how they portray themselves in the virtual world. They can be very out-spoken in chats but they are actually very meek and quiet in real life. Take one of my real life friend for example. She is a soft-spoken young lady, intelligent, quiet, and a bit indifferent. But when you interact with her on the internet, you'll never believe you are actually 'talking' to the same person.
Like many others, I have used different kinds of persona on the internet myself. It all depends on my mood, really. Sometimes I 'play' as a bubbly-bordering-on hyper character...sometimes as an ice queen. But most of the time, it's just me as in the real me. When I am using one of the online personas I have created, those characters are not mine yet not entirely fake. Whether I do it consciously or not, I also disclose the real me when I'm interacting with people on the internet behind the facade of the 'created persona'. So, it's fair to say that deception and self revelation coexist in the virtual world. After all, even in the real world people put on various masks in their interaction. So, how about you? Which portrays the real you, virtual persona or real life persona?
Putting on different kinds of persona might be a channel of expressing one's self. But not everyone use those identities to express themselves. In some worse cases, people create personas in order to deceive. Some are just attention seekers but mostly they try to cheat you off your money. These people are the so-called scammers. One of the famous scammers that ever existed is Kaycee Nicole Swenson. She's an online impostor who attracted many friends online by pretending to be a young girl dying of cancer. The truth was revealed when 'Kaycee' was announced dead of a brain aneurysm on May 15, 2001. Kaycee never exist actually. She was just a product of scamming by a forty-year-old woman from Kansas, Debbie Swenson. (read full article on Kaycee scam at http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Kaycee_Nicole_Swenson/ )
Do you think that internet can be a dangerous place now? I've been wondering how I can avoid falling prey into such scams since I heard about all those impostors and fraud cases. I came across an interesting article on how to verify online personas a few days ago. I think it's quite useful for us, the loyal net-users. Take a tip or two from this article written by a law student in Texas, Stephanie Dube. You can find the article here --> http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jan2009/db20090112_238713.htm.
Although communicating in the virtual world can be dangerous because of the different personas people adopt, you can't deny that it plays a big part in our lives. To be frank, I don't think I can live without my beloved laptop and internet connection. I suppose the only thing we can do is to be really careful. Be wary of what you disclose on the internet. You never know when a psychopath or a criminal is lurking behind the friendly face they put on...
8 comments:
O.O! Freaky picture of the face there!
I think the anonymity of the internet has both its pros and cons. People can freely express themselves online because there won't be people who will judge them harshly. And I agree with your point about online personas. I can never have proper conversations online with them, but we can talk for hours face to face. Maybe there has to be a certain setting or mood to it?
The downside of the internet, as you said, are that online scams are rampant these days. People should excercise caution when they have online transcations. Afterall, everyone can't do without the internet, and these culprits are hard to capture. So its down to us to protect ourselves from these scams.
Hi,,
I should say that virtual and real persona express the real me, I'm not that different. I may be more expressive in the real life (of course as I can show non-verbal coms,,, :D).. I still prefer to talk face-to-face.......
The story of Kaycee is so scary, but she is smart,, hahaha..... :D
I feel the same thing as you, I cannot live without internet connection as it is one of the efficient way to communicate with other people......
Have a nice day.... :D
i cannot live without my laptop and internet connection too. haha..
i have the same thought as yours that virtual world can be considered as a dangerous area believing that most of us encounter the people there without knowing their true color, or should i say we can't identify them.
anyway, being careful is the best way of thinking we have to possess nowadays in encountering the virtual world..
Virtual world or not, personas can manifest itself in all mediums.
But its waaay easier to be ourselves rather than persona-ing (if theres such a term). Both the virtual and real world are dangerous but by now, we should know what is right and what is wrong?
gak bisa begitu?
I cannot live with the internet either. It has brought me so much information and allowed me to speak with people from other countries whom I may otherwise not be able to encounter here.
Those who know me would probably say that my online persona does not really resemble me in real life, since it can be more dramatic or expressive. Yet it all really depends on my mood . . . perhaps I'm just happier and more relaxed while chatting at home instead of in school or outside, hence the difference in attitude.
With regards to scams, I've taken to deleting messages whose senders I don't know, sometimes even without reading the message. Is that too extreme ? haha. I'm also reluctant to trust someone implicitly, so I tend to shoot lots of questions when I meet people online.
*deep bows*
Everyone, thousands thanks for the comments. I promise I'll give you guys sweets when I see you..lol..
@ Ollie
Yeah, it IS freaky...Got the shock of my life when I saw that picture! I agree. Sometimes, 'talking' with friends on the internet is not as animate or as fluent as when I talk to them directly. Like how it is with us, Ollie? :p
@ Carla
Hey, sweetheart~
I see, so you're the type who reveals more in real life?? After all, in face-to-face comm, as you've said, we can use other than verbal cues to communicate. :)
@ Willy
Buddy! Thanks for the comment!
Yupe, I agree. It's all because of the anonymity and that's what I'm trying to get across... ehehe...
Thanks again for taking the time to actually leave a comment. I owe you one!!
@ Farhan
Looking from another point of view, yes, 'persona' can also be seen in real life. Of course, real life is as dangerous as virtual world. But, the main difference is in the level of difficulty in tracking the culprit down.
@ Benjamin
Somehow, I can relate to what you're saying. Because some people I know in real life(well, most of them anyway..)also said that I am more expressive when communicating through the internet. But I say, it depends on my mood. When I'm having mood swing, you won't be finding my oh-so-cheerful persona but instead you'll encounter the one-word-icy cold persona...
As for deleting unknown messages without even reading them, no worries! I assure you, you're not paranoid because I do that all the time! haha... (Or maybe, we're both paranoid..yikes~ Oh, well..*shrugs*)
I agree totally...
I even don't have the courage to be friends with those 'strangers'! =P
(that means my chance to get cheated is equal to zero*happy*)
I can't live without my precious laptop and networking because there are my friends in it.
And about the real persona or internet persona, i can directly imply that mine is totally different in both ways.
Of course it's not because of I have split-personality, I'm absolutely fine. =P
It is because, fundamentally, networking and real-life themselves are two different cases.
The ways we communicate are also different.
We can see, in our real life, we communicate with speaking and body language.
While onlining, we 'talk' to one another by typing. (except skype-ing of course)
Take me for instance. In a real person, I'm poor at expressing part of my minds verbally. I'm too shy I think(is it?), and lack of confidence.
But when it comes to "express yourself with writing"(typing involves as one), it becomes so smoothly. I don't care what others will see me as.
In conclusion, I think that the one exposes herself through writing is the so called real me!!!
Hmm ... In the virtual and the real world, i try to keep true to who I am. However, at times in the virtual world, i usually "play" a more confident me. Not sure why. I'm sure it's because I don't see the people I'm talking to ... besides their pictures. Even so, I'm not talking or seeing them in "real" life. I'm not saying I'm shy, because everyone who knows me knows I'm not; but I am saying that in the virtual world, you can be anyone you want to be. (:
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