The new profile page & digital culture

5am

5am

well, maybe I am
I miss the old days when you could just write anonymously everywhere, if you wanted to. I got used to the whole registration thing, and now there's the contact and networking thing. If I was into that I would get a myspace page or something.

A while ago I run into an article about the changes in people's views on online discussion boards. It said that 10 years ago people wanted to be anonymous. It was what gave people the courage to post things as they felt they wouldn't have to account for what they write. Nowadays the trend seems to be the complete opposite: people want to tell the world everything about themselves. Preferably with pictures.

How do you like the latest features here?
 
I think that people do use the Internet differently now than they did 10 years ago. The opportunities are there to connect with people you would never have had a chance to, and possibly in a meaningful way and that's great. I do think that there are different situations or places to give different levels of information, though, and I think it's important that people give the information that they want to, and feel comfortable with.

Unfortunately, this site is not a place that I am comfortable posting personal information. I post more contact info and other identifying details other places. The profile and friends lists don't bother me, because there's nothing in my profile anyway. I don't go around looking at people's profiles to see who they are friends with anyway. I think that the main purpose of the friends list is to be able to quickly send a private message, but until yesterday I've never had a friends list here anyway.

I am not completely sure that there's a reason to have to be totally anonymous to state your true opinions.

About the new features, they don't bother me. I think it would be better if you could make the profile private, though. I'd post more info if I could control who sees it. I do like being able to change the look of the profile. I think that's cool.

Networking online is potentially a great idea, but only if you want to, and I think there are better places to do it for more specific reasons. I love talking to Morrissey fans, and if I lived near some of the people here it might be fun to meet them sometime, but sometimes when someone you don't know starts trying to be your buddy it can be awkward if you're not trying to do that.
 
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5am said:
I miss the old days when you could just write anonymously everywhere, if you wanted to. I got used to the whole registration thing, and now there's the contact and networking thing. If I was into that I would get a myspace page or something.

A while ago I run into an article about the changes in people's views on online discussion boards. It said that 10 years ago people wanted to be anonymous. It was what gave people the courage to post things as they felt they wouldn't have to account for what they write. Nowadays the trend seems to be the complete opposite: people want to tell the world everything about themselves. Preferably with pictures.

How do you like the latest features here?
Click to expand...

I think even with basic messageboards though, over time you pick up things about people, their personalities, their views, and you get to know cerain people even if they are strangers.
But I like the anonymity too.
I guess it's your choice how anonymous to be online... in my blog for example I don't write about my private life. But there is still a sense of me through reading it.
Facebook really is the death of a social life. It's the sound of a social life being strangled.
 
i guess im guilty of posting photos sometimes. but hey, im only young once, i wont be nice to look at soon :)
I try not to post EVERYTHING about myself on the forums but I geel you guys are my little morrissey fan e-family. This is all I use, socially. I have a myspace, but only you guys and people i know IRL are able to see it because its private. I signed up for facebook but i hate it, its like one big spam website.
 
5am said:
I miss the old days when you could just write anonymously everywhere, if you wanted to. I got used to the whole registration thing, and now there's the contact and networking thing. If I was into that I would get a myspace page or something.

A while ago I run into an article about the changes in people's views on online discussion boards. It said that 10 years ago people wanted to be anonymous. It was what gave people the courage to post things as they felt they wouldn't have to account for what they write. Nowadays the trend seems to be the complete opposite: people want to tell the world everything about themselves. Preferably with pictures.

How do you like the latest features here?
Click to expand...

I think the new features are okay but I don't see them as being much more than visually appealing, user-friendly upgrades of the previous features.

On the subject of MySpace and other community sites: it's interesting that there's less anonymity than there used to be, but at the same time I think people have figured out that-- aside from giving away your home number, address, photos, etc.-- revealing certain cherry-picked facts about yourself is not necessarily revealing the truth and is actually as much an act of fiction-spinning as deliberate lying is. Anything short of a flesh and blood meet-up is giving a stylized version of yourself, even if you are making an honest attempt to reveal who you really are to those you regard as friends. It's unavoidable. My guess is that people understand this, even if only implicitly, and enjoy manipulating their virtual identities, despite the fact that their intentions are to be sincere and authentic.
 
I'm not really excited about the new features. I have a myspace page, which I never visit, and I have every intention of cancelling it soon because it's just one more piece of weight, one more thing I'm supposed to keep up with. This seems to promise the same thing.

So don't be offended, everyone, if I don't make full use of the networking features. I'm accepting friends, though. ;)
 
PregnantForTheLastTime said:
I'm not really excited about the new features. I have a myspace page, which I never visit, and I have every intention of cancelling it soon because it's just one more piece of weight, one more thing I'm supposed to keep up with. This seems to promise the same thing.

So don't be offended, everyone, if I don't make full use of the networking features. I'm accepting friends, though. ;)
Click to expand...

I'm accepting friends too, but I'm not really putting any out. and I just tried to doodle with the background picture thing, but it looks really dumb and now I'm abandoning all custom features.
 
Worm said:
Anything short of a flesh and blood meet-up is giving a stylized version of yourself, even if you are making an honest attempt to reveal who you really are to those you regard as friends.
Click to expand...

But aren't you who you are online AND in this alleged 'real life'?
It's like when big brother contestants say 'I'm just going to be myself.' How can you ever be anyone else? (to paraphrase Oasis).
 
laughing_anne said:
It's easier to maintain a false personality online where you have the advantage of being able to control your reactions better and editing your responses before submitting. Also, it's easier to be nicer (or meaner) to people you've never met.
Click to expand...

it's easier to be more honest, I agree. and dishonest yeah, if that's your thing.
But everyone I've ever met online had been more or less how I expected them.
I am not into controlling my responses or reactions in any medium, I don't think.
 
laughing_anne said:
I've never met anyone I've talked to online, so I can't comment on that. As for controlling your reactions online, I can honestly say I'm probably alot nicer here than I'm in real life. I don't think I'm consciously trying to control my reactions, but it's just so much easier to ignore the people you don't like and to avoid confrontation online. On the flipside, it's also easier to get into arguments as you're arguing with a screen name rather than a "real" person.
Click to expand...


i have never met anyone i met online.

sounds like a scary idea.


really scary.
 
lightupvirginmary said:
It's actually rather good.
Click to expand...

laughing_anne said:
I'm sure most people here are nice and (relatively) sane so chances of meeting a total psycho would be slim. It's not something I'd like to do, though... I'm also wary of submitting personal information online.
Click to expand...

I was being rather tongue in cheek there...

sorry.


I am meeting a few solo peeps rather soon actually.

fingers crossed none of them are crazy.

haha
 
lightupvirginmary said:
But aren't you who you are online AND in this alleged 'real life'?
It's like when big brother contestants say 'I'm just going to be myself.' How can you ever be anyone else? (to paraphrase Oasis).
Click to expand...

Right, just as the idea of "authenticity" had to be invented, or "natural". That's a whole topic on its own.

What I'm talking about is that the medium prevents a certain amount of reality from ever being expressed. Elisions are inherent in the way we communicate.

Look at it this way. When you think about celebrities-- say, Morrissey-- your common sense tells you that everything about them is an elaborate construct. You are getting a version of Steven Patrick Morrissey. You get his songs, his voice, his words (interviews), his images, and (in the form of record sleeves etc.) you know what his interests are. And all (or most) of us are rightly skeptical about the "real" Morrissey. We understand that Morrissey is an image, just like every other celebrity. We expect there to be a difference between his image and the real man.

If you think about it, our online profiles are essentially no different. Morrissey makes his own music; we put up MP3s of the bands we like. Otherwise, our images on Morrissey-solo are really the same as the images of any other celebrities: words, music, pictures all come together to paint a complete portrait of a person, and no matter how "honest" we are we cannot "be ourselves" to any more than Morrissey can "be himself" on Jonathan Ross or in emails on True To You. If we have a healthy skepticism about Morrissey's image versus the real man, why shouldn't we have the same skepticism about those in our online communities?

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, just an observation. Most of us here are not consciously fabricating identities to seem better than we are. The enjoyment of "manipulating our image" is, in most cases, innocuous. For example, posting a decent photo of yourself rather than the one where you are blind drunk in a toilet cursing the friend who brought the digital camera. There's no harm in it-- you're not lying, and the clear, posed photo you chose isn't doctored up or unrepresentative of you-- but you've already edited yourself, so to speak. And there are a billion other ways that even our straightforward, honest attempts to communicate our "real selves" to others end up stylized in just the same way.
 
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