The internet is cozy

The online world of social networking, chat rooms, blogs, and various other ways of communication via the internet allows the user, above all, comfort ability. For a lot of people, it is a way to participate in social interaction without anxiety from uncontrollable outside sources. Communicating online is a way for the user to choose what people see, because more tools are available to them to shape the way in which they are perceived by others. These tools allow different masks for the user, which for many, relieves stress.

When visiting Plurk, I read this. It made me wonder if he knew who I was in class, because my profile picture does not look much like me anymore. Concealing or twisting my online identity wasn't intentional, but the year old picture doesn't accurately depict my appearance. But is that all a profile picture does? What is it meant to do? For many, the internet is used to communicate with complete strangers. A profile picture is not only the first visual impression for a person's appearance, but also their personality. It allows the user to conceal and show what they choose. Sites like Facebook and Myspace permits whole photo albums to shape identity, as well as "About Me" sections to share favorite movies, books, music and other personality shaping categories.

The power to control your identity through a medium is not an idea new to the internet. Older forms of communication allow for some level of manipulation as well. When speaking on a telephone the users can manipulate their voices to construct their character, much like penmanship in a handwritten letter can be revealing. While it is debatable how much handwriting truly reveals about a person (if anything at all), it can certainly be used to establish a sense of self.

What makes online so appealing, is the amount of tools a person is given. One can express themselves and construct their self with an intoxicating amount of power. On Plurk alone, one can shed their name, change their location/age/sex, and choose the thoughts shared with others. Plurk seems basic in it's tools to create self when compared with other social networking sites, but for many, concealing is more powerful than expressing.Socializing with somebody face to face is exposing. But behind the computer screen, it can be empowering. This empowerment leads to a comfortable way to communicate with others.

These comfortable interactions through ones computer can be very different from the interactions had with others in everyday life.
You've Got Mail!
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail," exemplify this type of relationship. In their lives, they cannot stand each other. But online, behind their aol screen names, they are able to connect. The internet allows for them to create a separate identity that they are in complete control of. If one wanted to cut off their internet "relationship," it's as simple as not returning an email. No awkward silences, no having to worry about what you look like, and one can be so much more witty and charming when writing an email.

Parasitic relationships can be seen in the relationship of "real" identity and "internet identity," which for many people can becoming addicting. The ability to live as a different person can be more appealing than "real life."