As the amount of social networking sites have increased, individuals have more platforms to interact with each other over. Costa and Torres however, claim that this has provided users with the ability to reconstruct their personas or even develop multiple personas online.[1] Nevertheless, is this ability to create and possess multiple online identities necessarily a good thing?
Positives
With job recruiters increasingly checking the social media profiles of existing and prospective employees,[2] creating multiple online identities enables you to control your Digital Footprint and therefore what information can be found out about you online.[3] It allows you to use the web for both professional and recreational purposes without the two ever having to mix, thus preventing further problems.
Multiple online identities also forms as a method of protection from online identity theft. There is less chance of your identity being cloned as personal information that is available about you online is fragmented and exists in several different places.
Additionally, it grants users a certain degree of anonymity, which can aid the flow of creative ideas as well as the production of more critical discussion. This aspect to free speech has long been established as an important element to modern society as it has been infamously noted that, ‘protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse’.[4]
Negatives
Conversely, the increased anonymity granted by multiple online identities also plays an instrumental role in the occurrence of the Online Disinhibition Effect, identified by Suler as a contributing factor to people being more hostile online.[5] This can result in cyber-bullying and produces a reduced scope for individuals to be held accountable for their actions. The advantages and disadvantages of anonymity online are discussed further in the video below.
A disconnected image of yourself being portrayed online can cause people to question the authenticity of your online presence and subsequent interactions which you make.[6] Online identity fragmentation reduces your credibility as well as suggesting to others that you may be up to illegitimate activities.
Lastly, it also provides fertile grounds for Online Deception,[7]whereby users are never truly aware as to whom they are interacting with. This reduces the safety of the Internet and is an ever more prevalent issue since programmes such as ‘Catfish’ have surfaced.
These are but a few of the compelling arguments which can be raised for and against possessing more than one online identity, however one thing which remains clear is that our online identities are a focal part to modern society. However, I put it to you, how many versions of you exist online and why?
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REFERENCES
[1] Cristina Costa and Ricardo Torres, ‘To be or not to be, the importance of Digital Identity in the networked society (2011), [49].
[2] Philip Landau, ‘Job applications: social media profiles under scrutiny’ (The Guardian, December 2013) < http://www.theguardian.com/money/work-blog/2013/dec/11/job-applications-social-media-profiles-scrutiny > accessed 24th February 2016.
Recruitment Grapevine, ‘55% of employers reject candidates after social media search'(September 2014) accessed 24th February 2016.
[3] Internet Society, Manage Your Identity , http://www.internetsociety.org/manage-your-identity accessed 24th February 2016.
[4] McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm’n, 514 U.S. 334 (1995).
[5] John Suler, ‘The Online Disinhibition Effect’ (2004) CyberPsychology & Behaviour 7(3) 321, [322].
YouTube, CiviliNation Academy- The Online Disinhibition Effect, accessed 25th February 2016.
YouTube, CiviliNation Academy- Anonymity and Pseudonymity Online, accessed 25th February 2016.
[6] Aleks Krotoski, ‘Online identity: is authenticity or anonymity more important? (The Guardian, April 2012) < http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/19/online-identity-authenticity-anonymity> accessed 25th February 2016.
[7] Michail Tsikerdekis and Sherli Zeadally, ‘ Detecting and Preventing Online Identity Deception in Social Networking Services’ (2015) IEEE Internet Computing 19(3).
kemi-grace's uosm2008 experience 
Hi K!
I really enjoyed reading your blog- nicely written. What I found rather interesting was the Online Disinhibition Effect which Suler talks about. I think there is no doubt that people find it easier to express themselves whilst hiding behind a screen rather than in person. But the effect itself is not necessarily a bad thing in my perspective, as freedom of self expression may be vital for some people’s personality manifestation.
Personally, I have one consistent online identity and try to use my first and last name as my username across most platforms. This is not to say that I don’t agree with having multiple online identities, however. As I mentioned in my own blog, there is a time and a place for both. One place where I have an anonymous profile is on yikyak (https://www.yikyak.com/home), which is the premise of the application after all. And even though yikyak is completely anonymous, I dont think I have ever seen any cyber bullying on it. Its mostly funny personal stories which actually many people empathise with 😛
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Hi Melina,
I agree that the Online Disinhibition Effect is an interesting concept and that this aspect to having multiple online identities should not always be considered as a negative. This is particularly the case when exploring the effects of anonymous speech, although having more than one online identities may grant users a certain degree of anonymity, there are instances where anonymity can be bypassed if this feature has been abused (i.e IP addresses being released). So far as everyone plays by the rules, as with your example of yik yak and of course TH/TH, it can grant people with an excellent release with often very comedic results. However, as we can never truly be anonymous, I advocate multiple online identities so that individuals can really get the most out of the internet and the connections to various communities that it offers.
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Hi Kemi,
Interesting points! I would like to discuss authenticity of identity when you have more than one profiles. I have a few different profiles and often don’t use my full name (for example I may exclude my surname) purely because it is such a rare name in the UK that I don’t feel comfortable that there is no security on a google search. I don’t agree that authenticity is always lost as I believe it is dependant on how the person uses that profile. Identity theft or a catfish is the first conclusion people jump to but these often have reasons to make you distrust them. For example you can tell when someone has set up a profile just for comedy and won’t assume that is their real character if they always make jokes or someone was tweeting recklessly all the time, it is likely they are hiding under a profile. Authenticity can be verified by the people that interact with them eg posting on their wall or tagging photo’s etc and this is often how people make judgment. Some people prefer anonymity because they have been attacked before as explained here http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=bb2f1b5f-7160-44f7-9fb1-a089730735c9%40sessionmgr102&vid=0&hid=126&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=90558410&db=ers with the group “Anonymous” so it isn’t always for cyber bullying as Melina also points out.
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Hi Liz,
I definitely see your point. The authenticity arguments can go both ways as in one sense, as argued above, if you have multiple identities with one that is not kept as updated as much people will be less likely to trust your online presence. However on the opposite side, without having multiple identities it can bar you from expressing your true self. By simply trying use one profile to for all internet purposes it may place improper restrictions on the way you interact online.
Moreover, I’d have to say that anonymity is vital, but to a certain extent. The downsides of anonymous forums are still prevalent particularly highlighted through the backlash faced by Ask.Fm (http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/aug/08/cyberbullying-websites-boycotted-david-cameron). However, an important thing to note is the age groups in which anonymity resulting in cyberbullying occurs within. As mentioned briefly above, anonymous speech has been upheld in a variety of case law and this provides a strong reason as to why multiple identities should be advocated; due to the way in which it aids anonymity and anonymous speech. I therefore strongly support multiple identities as I feel as though, when used properly, its benefits outweigh the negatives when it is used improperly. In other words, there are strong mechanisms which are now in place in order to sanction those who misuse the anonymity factor to multiple online identities.
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