Online Identity Essay: Digital Self, ARIN2620, University Name

This essay delves into the multifaceted nature of online identity, drawing upon Alice E. Marwick's work and Erving Goffman's theories of self-presentation. The study examines how individuals construct and manage their identities across various digital platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, with a focus on the construction and management of online identities. It explores the key differences between online and offline personas and the implications of managing multiple identities or versions of the same identity. The essay uses personal examples to illustrate how individuals navigate the complexities of self-representation in the digital realm, including the importance of security and privacy. It also investigates the impact of multiple identities on self-perception and social interactions. The essay emphasizes the fluid nature of identity, the concept of multiple selves, and the impact of context collapse and authenticity in the digital space.

Running Head: MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE IDENTITY
MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE IDENTITY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

2
MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE IDENTITY
The purpose of the study is to throw light on the subject of online identity. The term
online identity becomes popular after computer mediated communication became a regular
habit for the mass, during mid-1990s. In this context this study delves deep into the article
‘Online Identity’ by Alice E. Marwick. In this article Alice has tried to throw lights on all the
aspects of social media and online identity. According to her the term networked or digital
identity refers to the identity adopted or claimed by an individual in cyberspace or online or
digital platform. With reference to her elaboration about online identity this study attempts to
focus on construction and management of online identity. The construction and management
of these online identities are explained with the help two of my online identities. The next
section of the essay tries to find out some of the key differences in my online identities.
Finally this study talks about the implication of creating multiple online identity or multiple
versions of the same online identity.
How do you construct and manage your identities online?
According to Alice E. Marwick in this creating identity, in generals refers to the act of
presenting one’s true self in front of the mass. This include the representation of a person
ethnic as well as racial background or personality traits, views on politics, personal tastes
and preferences and so on.. In this context Alice talked about the theories of identity.
According to the theories identity- Identity refers to the personal traits of a person which
are assumed to be fixed during the entire period of life. This was the classic liberal as well
as humanist approach to identity. With the advent of the digital era has changed the
perception of people about ‘identity’. In fact, the social media platforms have become a
popular medium to create identities for both an organization and individual. If I want to
make friends I just need tocreate my identity on any of the popular social networking sites,
and I will meet people easily know about them from their profile or online identity as much
as they disclosed themselves online.Same is true even for business organizations or e-

3
MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE IDENTITY
commerce companies. In this case financial transactions are made depending on the online
or digital identity of the organizations. Again there are online dating sites where people
likes each other’s online identity and their respective online image attracts them they start
dating. Hence people are also choosing their partners online trusting their online identity
blindly, assuming their digital identity as their actual self.This is the evidence of the fact
that , either it is friendship, love or business, the whole world is highly reliant of online
identities. There lies the importance of constructing and managing online identity
(Marwick, 2013).
Online identity can be created by opening accounts in popular social networking sites,
for official purpose or for personal reasons. According to Alice E. Marwick, in order to
construct online or digital identity a person needs to create his or her profile with the help
of username and password personal details like-photo of the identifier, his or her name, age,
date of birth, qualification and occupation, likes and dislikes, hobbies or fields of interests.
Creation of online identity also depends on the activities of the user or the identifier such as
online posts of a person will create an image of the person in the minds of his or her online
friends or followers. A digital identity is linked to one or more digital identifiers, like an
email address, URL or domain name (Marwick, 2013).
This can be explained with the help of an example. I have account on both facebook
and Instagram. In order to create an identity in facebook, first I need to visit the website-
www.facebook.com, where I will find buttons like sign in. I need to click the ‘sign in’
button. After that a new webpage will open asking the personal details of the new user like,
name contact number, e-mail address, date of birth, qualification and occupation, likes and
dislikes, hobbies or fields of interests, music of interests, political interests, favourite
movies and television shows (Marwick, 2013).

4
MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE IDENTITY
I have account on Instagram. In order to create an identity in Instagram, first I need to
visit the website-www.facebook.com, where I will find buttons like sign in. I need to click
the ‘sign in’ button. After that a new webpage will open asking the personal details of the
new user like, name contact number, e-mail address, date of birth, qualification and
occupation, likes and dislikes, hobbies or fields of interests, music of interests, political
interests, favourite movies and television shows (Marwick, 2013).
Management of the online identity refers to maintaining the particular image of the
user which is created by the user himself or herself and maintaining the privacy of the
profile created online. Management of the online identity depends mostly on the, Online
search activities photos shared, online posts. For example, in my Instagram page I use to
post social welfare activities and campaigns by the NGO with which I am associated.I am
strictly against gender biasness and terrorism. Hence my posts reflect the messages
regarding importance of gender equality in a society, the evils of terrorism and so on. From
the above example it is evident that, through my posts I have already projected myself as a
social as well as responsible person or citizens, who protest against any kind of social
issues related to gender discrimination and violence due to terrorism. The fact that I know
my duties towards the society reflects through the posts of social welfare campaign
arranged by the NGO I work with.Thus, identity created by me over social media
represented me as a dutiful, socially responsible person and social activist. In order to
manage this image of mine. I have to be consistent in posting contents which protest
against gender discrimination, terrorism such as – whenever there is any terrorist attack in
the country or any movement or campaign by any NGO to make. If any social crime
happens and I remain silent over the social media, I do not make any post raising voice
against gender inequality or terror attacks, the image I created, will be proved wrong.
People will not believe my online identity. Again, if anybody hacks my profile and share

5
MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE IDENTITY
posts which are against my interests or which are opposite to my thinking or acting, which
support violence or vulgarity for example. In that case my image will be abolished.In terms
of digital identity management, key areas of concern are security and privacy.Hence
securing my identity by strengthening privacy concerns are another essential aspect of the
management of online identity (Marwick, 2013).
What are some of the key differences in your online identities?
According to Alice E. Marwick, there may be some key differences between the
online identity of a person and the actual identity of that person. According to her the online
identity is actually how the world perceives a person observing the personal traits and
attributes of a person as described over social networking sites. Due the facilities provided by
social media platforms, a person can represent his or her personality in a way which actually
differs from the actual one. For example a person may not be as ethical as he or she pretends
to be online, or, as beautiful as he or she looks in the photos posted online. These are the little
factors that establish a gap in the actual and portrayed identities of a person.
According to Alice E. Marwick, there are also cases where a person makes an online
identity, which becomes just the reflection of his or her dreams or assumed self. For example,
a poor man who dreams of being a billionaire can fulfill his dreams virtually by representing
himself as a billionaire online (Marwick, 2013).
Depending on the concepts elaborated by Alice E. Marwick, I can identify the key
differences in my online as well as offline identity. In my facebook page I rarely share
anything which strongly protest against gender inequality or terror attack. Again, in
Instagram I share posts, which strongly protest against gender inequality or terror attack. I
do not always portray myself or my life as a glamorous one in facebook, but following the
trends of other youngsters I portray myself as a very stylish and glamorous woman in

6
MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE IDENTITY
Instagram by posting pictures of attending parties wearing stylish and aristocrat outfits
(Marwick, 2013).
What are the implications of having and managing multiple identities, or
multiple versions of the same identity?
According to Alice E. Marwick, implications of having multiple identities often lead
to the incidents like ‘identity theft’, fraudulent activities over online. Because identity theft
has become a common offence over the internet, digital identity authentication and validation
measures are essential for maintaining a secure network infrastructure. Hence the
management of multiple identity or multiple versions of the same identity should be done
wisely following ethics and norms related to cyber securities, laws regarding cyber crime
(Marwick, 2013).
This can be explained with the help of real-life examples of my profiles on facebook
and Instagram. I have two distict identity over facebook and instagram. In facebook I often
post the pictures or ads of the social welfare campaigns, I participate in. I do not post any
picture on facebook that speaks of the enjoyment and fun I have while attending parties, for
showing off the glamour of my life I use instagram. Hence my facebook friends perceive me
as a socially responsible dutiful lady who is not interested in parties. Again the follower I
have on Instagram can get the chance of having the glances of the glamour of my life. Thus I
may not have multiple version of the same online identity but I have multiple online identity
(Marwick, 2013).
In order to manage both of my profiles in the twitter as well as facebook I have
activated safety measures available in both the social networking sites. In facebook we have
the privacy option under settings. With the help of the privacy option we can enable or
disable other users to view the contents of my profile. This can be done with the help of the
‘block’ and ‘unblock ‘options. Whenever I post something on facebook which is related to

7
MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE IDENTITY
my lifestyle or family or relationship I select the ‘friends only’ option, so that only my friends
are able to view my posts. Again sometimes, I want to hide my posts or personal information
from the world. In this case I use ‘locked’ option so that nobody can view my personal
information. Two years back, I was receiving messages from a particular facebook group,
which I did not even join. It led to a disturbing situation. In order to stop the group from
sending me unwanted messages I selected the option ‘report as spam’. As a consequence of
all these, the facebook authority took the charge of solving this issue. Further, I did not
receive any mail from the group. I must say, that these options were really helpful to secure
my personal information from all kinds of online threats. Instagram is a social platform
through which a person can do the branding of himself or herself. If you are fond of
photography you can become famous overnight by posting some of your clicks online. Again,
if you are a fashion-freak instagram is your place to show off all your fashionable outfits and
accessories. In short, instagram provide us the opportunity to show off things we boast over.
Hence, instagram is entwined with our lives. Our instagram is actually the database for our
personal photos. Hence It is very essential to maintain security in instagram. I activate the
setting available in under the privacy option., according to my requirement. I choose who can
watch the photos posted by me and who cannot. I also select my friends online prudently, as I
know this is another way to secure my profile and personal information. This is the way how
I maintain multiple identity over facebook and instagram (Marwick, 2013).

8
MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE IDENTITY
Bibliography
Marwick, A. E. (2013). Online identity. A companion to new media dynamics, 355-364.
Huang, J., Kumar, S., & Hu, C. (2019). Physical Attractiveness or Personal Achievements?
Examining Gender Differences of Online Identity Reconstruction in Terms of Vanity. In
Proceedings of the Regional Conference on Science, Technology and Social Sciences
(RCSTSS 2016) (pp. 91-99). Springer, Singapore.
Kim, H., Lee, J., & Oh, S. E. (2019). Individual characteristics influencing the sharing of
knowledge on social networking services: online identity, self-efficacy, and knowledge
sharing intentions. Behaviour& Information Technology, 1-12.
Foster, M. D. (2019). “Use it or lose it”: How online activism moderates the protective
properties of gender identity for well-being. Computers in Human Behavior, 96, 163-173.
Pérez-Sabater, C., & Moffo, G. M. (2019). Managing identity in football communities on
Facebook: Language preference and language mixing strategies. Lingua.
Haimson, O. L., & Hoffmann, A. L. (2016). Constructing and enforcing" authentic" identity
online: Facebook, real names, and non-normative identities. First Monday, 21(6).
Gerhart, N., & Sidorova, A. (2017). The effect of network characteristics on online identity
management practices. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 57(3), 229-237.
Balleys, C., & Coll, S. (2017). Being publicly intimate: teenagers managing online
privacy. Media, Culture & Society, 39(6), 885-901.
Haimson, O. L., Bowser, A. E., Melcer, E. F., & Churchill, E. F. (2015, April). Online
inspiration and exploration for identity reinvention. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 3809-3818). ACM.

9
MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE IDENTITY
Haimson, O. L., Brubaker, J. R., Dombrowski, L., & Hayes, G. R. (2016, May). Digital
footprints and changing networks during online identity transitions. In Proceedings of the
2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(pp. 2895-2907). ACM.
Salter, M. (2016). Privates in the online public: Sex (ting) and reputation on social
media. New media & society, 18(11), 2723-2739.
Westgate, E. C., & Holliday, J. (2016). Identity, influence, and intervention: the roles of
social media in alcohol use. Current Opinion in Psychology, 9, 27-32.
Zhao, X., Lampe, C., & Ellison, N. B. (2016, May). The social media ecology: User
perceptions, strategies and challenges. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI conference on human
factors in computing systems (pp. 89-100). ACM.
Linder, K. E. (2018). Managing Your Professional Identity Online: A Guide for Faculty,
Staff, and Administrators. Stylus Publishing, LLC.