Masoudi,+Nader


 * Effects of the Cyberworld Persona on the Individual **

Who are we when we enter cyberspace? When I’m online, do I represent my self as the same Nader Masoudi in-person or a character that is a bit different? The internet presents a lot of interesting things. It opens up the door of opportunity to countless methods of communication among the surfers. Wiki websites, forums, message boards and multiplayer gaming are only a few examples of tools that people may use to commute with another. One of the interesting offerings of this medium is that people get to present themselves in a variety of different ways. This is very interesting because I can alter my cyber persona and style to something that is different from what I really am. These alterations range from ones interests, spare time activities, and their unique personality to indulge in wild tweaking of age, physical appearance, even their gender! The information and details someone might indicated about themselves, the usernames and alias’s people use in order to get identified, are all important aspects of how we manage our identity in cyberspace. Identity is a very complex characteristic of human nature. In this paper I will explain how some interlocking factors play a roll in how people manage who they are in cyberworld

If I were to go to an online romance chat room and pick someone to talk to, I would first look at the usernames that are online, then pick one, and start a chat. Now, me being a guy, when I see someone with the nickname ‘YumyMomy’, it attracts my attention right away than lets say if the name was ‘CCT205RULES’. For the sake of this example let’s say I initiate a conversation with ‘YumyMomy’ and we are both satisfied after a few minutes and finally accept the other ones persona. At some point I might ask myself who this fantasy character really is. After all, ‘her’ nickname was the force behind me starting a conversation. In this chat room nobody is expected to present their true self. They can freely pretend to be someone else. So how real is this when you can get away with faking to be someone different than who actually are? The answer is: No one will know, especially in none verbal environments. In fact I might have been tricked. Instead of a attractive female that I imagined in my head, ‘YumyMomy’ could actually be some middle aged man who is laughing at me behind his computer monitor. Here is a different way of looking at this. What if the person who was ‘CCT205RULES’, is actually a very attractive woman who is currently enrolled in a course called CCT205? She could be in the romance chartroom to find a partner who shares the same interests. In this case she is targeting men who are likely more intelligent and the ‘YumyMomy’ guy is also doing what he probably fantasised of doing in real life, but couldn’t, so he applied it to his cyberworld persona.

The tricky phenomenological issue with this is: What can be considered one’s true identity? People discover new things about themselves all the time that they never realized before. Some of us have hidden fantasies or desires. Doesn’t this mean that we have hidden aspects that we wish to be? Now if some of us bring those hidden persona’s and freely express them into the cyberworld, shouldn’t that be in some ways more real than our usual persona’s? A person’s identity and character consists of all the experiences they had through the course of their life. Therefore it represents multiplicity. My personality contains many sectors and they each played roles in my life such as being a son, student, employee and etc. Having a Cyber persona allows for a niche in each of these different roles that I’ve experienced in my life. We can disassemble ourselves online. Thanks to the many available online groups we are able to choose to show only a specific characteristic of our identity. For example, someone who has a stuttering problem when they try to speak, might try and avoid talking to people. This issue can play a major role in the person’s social life. Thanks to Cyberspace, this same person can enter a chat room and realize the freedom and delight of opening up without being made fun of. None of the people that chat with this person need to know about the speech problem hidden behind this persona.

Creating an identity in cyber space could be beneficial, but could also prove to be a devastating choice for some people. Some believe that being too associated with cyberworld could create problems. There have been many debates about protecting kids when they are using the internet. Most parents want their young kids to have real friends, play sports, and socialize with other kids their own age. Cyberworld could become a bad addiction for these kids. Most of the online contents are not rated and kids are not much aware of the level of fantasy and reality (James). Some people who represent themselves with avatars or an imaginary character say that they take on a ‘life of their own’ (cydeweys.com). These people also report that they surrender their normal identity to their cyberspace persona, however most become aware and understand the meaning of this transformation. In order to gain from the cyberworld and become a ‘better’ person, a bit of conscious awareness is necessary. Some people can make the choice for themselves on who they want to be in cyberworld, some are semi aware of the choice they have made and through experience become more alert. Then there are those that resist self awareness and think that they are in control of themselves and end up substituting the importance of their real-lives with that of a cyber life (Angel).


 * __Citations__:**
 * James, Bill. "KIDS AND THE INTERNET: Renewing your cyberworld protection." __KIDS AND THE INTERNET: Renewing your cyberworld protection__. April & may 2007. 05 Feb. 2009 .


 * "The dangers of WoW addiction (Word of Warcraft) | Cyde Weys Musings." 12 Feb. 2007. 05 Feb. 2009 .


 * Angel. "HAS THE CYBER WORLD GONE TO FAR ...MURDER." __SodaHead.com - Create and vote on public opinion polls, share knowledge and express opinions in a dynamic social community.__ 04 Feb. 2009 .


 * Suler, John. "Psychology of Avatars." Jan. 2007. 04 Feb. 2009 <[|http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/psyav.html]>.