After reading both Baym and Turkle, I realized that a lot of people really do not have an identity when using online communication. How do we really know who posts blogs and comments are really who they say they are? Some people post profile pictures, but even then it can always be a false picture. So what exactly are people doing to make sure identities within online communication is accurate? I’ve been watching this show called “Catfish,” on MTV and it is about a guy who helps people who are in online relationships find out the true identities of their secret lovers/admirers. I believe in that type of situation no one should have to step in and help another person determine the identity of another. There are hundreds of ways in todays technology to determine if the person you are chatting with is real or not. The blog that I am following is about helath care and politics which is created through a woman named Maggie Mahar. I do believe that her identity is exactly who she says she is and her background as well. Her thiughts and commnets about public health and the economy confirm that she is absolutely serious about these issues. Baym and Turkle are pretty much trying to come up with ways to seek true identity of online profilers and better ways for people to reveal themselves. It is all about whether or not a person is willing to be honest and approachable towrds people they associate with online.
7 thoughts on “Blog #6”
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Let me start my comment on your blog by saying that your title confused me because this is blog 7 not 6, but after I read the blog I realized that you might did a typing mistake.
In the end of your blog you said that it depends in the person whether he or she want to be honest and approachable towards people online. I agree with you because no matter what we do, it is a fact that most of people like to lie about themselves and their real identities,simply, because everybody want to sound Mr. or Mrs. right to get attention. But on the other hand, there will always be serious people like your blogger who we can benefit from reading their posts or blogs.
I know Catfish has been mentioned several times on the blog, particularly this week, but I do want to point out that it is a *TV show,* and so we have to keep in mind that anything you see on the show is edited and selected for the best dramatic value. There have certainly been several famous cases in internet history of people deceiving others about their identities (often by claiming to be people/children with serious medical conditions), but if you think about the sheer numbers of people online, I think the overall percentage of people who engage in deception is pretty small. As you note about your blogger, generally what people seem to do is tell the truth, although they may not reveal *everything* about themselves.
“Catfish” is a good example for this week blog.It shows exactly what Baym and Turkle is saying that identities are altered to become what we want. However, because “Cathfish” is a TV show how do we know what we see is actually true. Just as the identities online are alter TV does the same thing. This show has to present itself a certain way in order to get viewers.
I agree that everything we see on Catfish may not necessarily be true. If we see a certain story on there, how do we know that it actually happened the way MTV said and is not really a reenactment of a similar story that may have happened? Catfish is still a show for entertainment. A good way to figure out if someone is real or not is just to go through their pictures. If they have a lot of pictures of themselves and they look the same in all of them, then they are probably okay. Another thing you could do is search Google and if their picture comes up on there then you know they are most likely not real.
Yes Dr. Markman is right about the catfish being a TV show. When ever you film a documentary type tv show you always edit it to stray the audience a certain direction. MTV seems to have producers and editors that only look for dramatic scenes, regardless of the true story. I think the show catfish and MTV in general is a bad example to compare with self identity since it is misleading edit.
I think the basic premise of your post is undoubtedly true; namely, it’s not too difficult for someone to present themselves on the internet as someone other than who they truly are. However, I also think Dr. Markman has a good point when she says that people generally tell the truth. Well, perhaps mostly. Even in reality, I’m sure we have all heard real-life stories about someone simply lying about who they are in order to attain a social goal. A classic example might be the dude who tells some girl he’s single, when he actually has a wife and kids twenty miles away. Interestingly, one reason this story – or, one like it – is so popular is because people exaggerate how often this happens. Thus, we have all of these people in presumably healthy relationships who seem unnecessarily fearful that their significant other is cheating on them. The same goes for “Catfish” scenarios. Sure, it happens. Manti Teo, anyone? But, it’s not as common as some seem to believe.
Definitely agree with every single comment. It is just a television show so maybe I was a little too forward about the situation of that particular scenario. People usually are truthful but what about the ones who are not? What are they really trying to hide?