You have to be careful about what you say online. There are things that online community offer that the actual community cannot offer. An Internet create identity affects our actual identity. The individual should prioritize his real life family instead of his fantasy life-living in a virtual world can create a sense of equality, free from prejudice and physical limitations.
The online community can offer you a new life that you wanted, while as the actual community cannot offer. "Creating screen personae is thus an opportunity for self-expression, leading to her feeling more like her true self when decked out in an array of virtual masks." (Turkle, 147). The online community can bring out the real you, express yourself in ways, you never wanted to in real life. You can construct your identity in an online community. "While MUDs are not only "places" on the Internet in which to play with identity, they provide an unparalleled opportunity for such play. On a MUD one actually gets to build character and environment and then to live within the toy situation. A MUD can become a context for discovering who one is and wishes to be. In this way, the games are laboratories for the construction of identity." (Turkle, 153). The online community can offer new experiences for people. The online community can also offer virtual gender-swapping, but is not simple to maintain being the opposite gender. "One one level, virtual gender-swapping is easier than doing it in real life. For a man to present himself as female in a chat room, on an IRC channel, or in a MUD, only requires writing a description. For a man to play a woman on the streets of an American city, he would have to shave various parts of his body, wear makeup, perhaps a wig, a dress, and high heels; perhaps change his voice, walk, and mannerisms. He would have some anxiety about passing, and there might be even more anxiety about not passing, which would pose a risk of violence and possibly arrest." (Turkle, 155). The online community can help you be who you want easier than in the actual community.
An Internet-created identity affects our actual identity. "The psychological effects of life on the screen can be complicated; a safe place is not all that is headed for personal change. Stewart came to MUDing with serious problems, and for Stewart, playing on MUDs led to a drop in self-esteem. MUDs did help Stewart talk about his troubles while they were still emotionally relevant; nevertheless, he is emphatic that MUDing has ultimately made him feel worse about himself." (Turkle, 154). The online created identity can change your real identity for worse. "From Stewart's point of view, MUDs have stripped away some of his defenses but had given nothing in return. In fact, MUDs make Stewart feel vulnerable in a new way. Although he has hoped that MUDs would cure him, it is MUDs that now make him feel sick." (Turkle, 154). When you try to be someone who you are not on an online community cannot help your actual identity in an actual community.
An individual should prioritize his real family and community over his fantasy life because his fantasy life is not real. His real family and community is who he really is. An individual should draw a fine line between his real life and his fantasy life. "People can get lost in virtual worlds." (Turkle, 159). Some people don't like the idea of an virtual world. "Janet, 23, a secretary at New York law firm, is very upset by her husband Tim's sex life in cyberspace. After Tim's first online affair, he confessed his virtual infidelity." (Turkle, 158). In the fantasy life you could feel emotions but they are not real ones. Involving in engagement with his or her family and experiencing emotions are the real emotions. If you don't prioritize your real family and community, you may lose them and can never get them back. In the fantasy community you can leave but it will still be there for you and you can get it back, but you cannot get your real family and real community back.
Living in a virtual world creates a sense of equality, free from prejudice and physical limitations. In an online community you can create a mask and that can help you fit in the online community thus free from prejudice. "A MUD can become a context for discovering who one
is and wishes to be.” (Turkle, 153). Living in a virtual world can create a
sense of equality because everyone wants to be different but they all have the
same mind set. “The anonymity of MUDs gives people the chance to express
multiple and often unexplored aspects of the self, to play with their identity
and to try out new ones. MUDs make possible the creation of an identity so
fluid and multiple that it strains the limits of the notion. Identity, after
all, refers to the saneness between two qualities, in this case between a
person and his or her persona. But in MUDs, one can be many.” (Turkle, 152). In
the real community there is not equality and you’re not free from prejudice and
physical limitations.
What you say online can affect you. Saying things
or posting things online can affect you, your life, and who you are. “As more
and more students turn to websites such as Facebook and MySpace to chronicle
their lives and socialize with friends, they also are learning that their words
and pictures are reaching beyond the peers for whom they were intended. And
some, like Guinn, are paying a price. In the past few months, college, high
school and even middle school students across the USA have been suspended or
expelled, thrown off athletic teams, passed over for jobs, and even arrested
based on their online postings.” (Kornblum and Marklein, 163). Posting person
stuff can put you at risk. “To teens and young adults, social websites are
private spaces where they can interact in the open, multimedia style of the
online world in which they grew up. But to adults, these sites are places where
kids are naively putting their reputations and futures – not to mention
personal safety – at risk.” (Kornblum and Marklein, 163). There should be a
limit to what you could say and you could post.
There are things an online community can offer. The
online community can also affect you in different ways. Saying certain things
or posting certain things can get you into trouble.
