Photograph Credit: Daniel Pearson
Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? Do we identify ourselves as being a different person when looking into a mirror or in this case a cyber-profile? Do we really exist on the internet? Is it just a projection of a bogus cyber self? The theory of “Ontology” (Kuttainen, 2015) could well be questioned. Are we truly existing folks in the world of virtual space or are we characters that we have created and labelled to project who we want ourselves to be perceived as? Is it the identity and title that we give ourselves that is fundamentally orientating to our ‘friends’ and fellow cyber bid viewers? Or is it just a Fairytale that we are creating for ourselves? The Fairytale of Snow White depicts that the Queen is the most beautiful in her space although Snow White is considered the most beautiful in her space. Metaphorically relating to oneself, the beauty of a person is anticipated in real life and the make-believe self is projected through a Facebook profile. The things that we share, the statuses we post and the posts we like, are all general factors of who we are within the space and world of Facebook. Identifying yourself through the use of statuses or photos on Facebook has labelled who you distinguish yourself to be within the computer-generated biosphere. It is the unwritten meaning behind these posts that the viewer may not pick up on but “Without speech, without the use and exchange of words and the ideas they convey, there cannot be in the first instance any human action or force directed towards preconceived goals.” (Tuan,1991).
References:
Kuttainen,V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives
and the making of place, Lecture 5: Power. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_1996330_1&course_id=_69740_1
Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the Making of Place: A
Narrative-Descriptive Approach. Annals of the Association of American
Geographers (81), pp. 684-696. https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/Conc-camcontent-bb_bb60/items/getitem.jsp?as_course_code=14-BA1002-TSV-INT-SP2&content_id=_1631890_1&course_id=_60553_1&doc_id=30163
Ontology, N.D. (2015) In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology
Photograph Credit:
Pearson, D. (2015). Retrieved from: http://moviepilot.com/posts/2015/03/18/mirror-mirror-on-the-wall-and-9-other-famous-movie-quotes-that-everybody-gets-wrong-2792688
Hi, nice post! Great use of rhetorical questions, they really made me think! I liked your take on what our internet persona's were really made up of, whether that be reality, virtuality, or a mix of both. There's a book on communication theory that relates to your excerpt from Tuan's reading about the mutual influence of media selectivity and media effects and their impact on individual behaviour and social identity. In this book it discuss' the idea that the internet identity we create for ourself is in direct correlation to the positive feedback we receive, (Slater, 2007). This reinforcement can direct our internet personality in certain directions, much like road blocks. I think that this reference further backs your comments and analysis in this weeks post, as well as some of the theory in this weeks lecture - just with a different spin.
ReplyDeleteRef:
Slater, M. D. (2007, July 25). Communication Theory. Retrieved August 26, 2015, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2007.00296.x/abstract;jsessionid=60B22A0027A9B0B4ED4F542B4477DE07.f01t04?systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+and+related+systems+will+have+3+hours+of+downtime+on+Saturday+12th+September+2015+from+10%3A00-13%3A00+BST+%2F+05%3A00-08%3A00+EDT+%2F+17%3A00-20%3A00+SGT+for+essential+maintenance.++Apologies+for+the+inconvenience.&userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=