In Chapter 5, Baym mentioned that “people often expect others to be less honest online.” Although she noted that existing research does not support the hypothesis that anonymity contributes to dishonesty, most of us have heard of incidences of deception that happen online. Perhaps it could be that these are high-profile cases, ala Manti T’eo, which distort our perception of the amount of this behavior. Yet, on the other hand, the show Catfish supposedly highlights cases of online relationship deception between ordinary people.

Turkle’s article brought up the Freudian concept that our identity is multi-faceted, and that we have latent desires to exhibit different sides of ourselves. Her study found that, for a number of reasons, some people feel like they can’t be their complete selves in the real world. Instead, they manifest different parts of themselves online. It could be that some people feel the need to lie online about their physical identities in order to live out parts of themselves they feel they cannot show in real life.

Baym pointed out that “…self-representations are grounded in explicit connections…” which makes it difficult to create elaborate falsities online. For my semester blog analysis, I’m following Jason Good, a self-proclaimed writer, comedian and family man. I wouldn’t call him a public figure, but he has been on Comedy Central, which by most people’s standards would make him a comedian. Obviously he’s a writer because he has a blog. His blogs are almost entirely about his family, thus making him a family man. It would be very difficult for Good to lie in detail since his offline identity is well known.

Baym touched on the idea that most people go online to satisfy communicative desires, much as we do face-to-face. CMC does not necessarily enhance our desire to lie. In the case of Jason Good’s blog, it’s quite the opposite. His motivation appears to create authentic connections with his audience, primarily those with kids who can relate to his life. CMC allows him to expand his network.

The Walther article emphasized that self-presentation is not unique to online communication. Referring to Goffman, he noted that “people are concerned with the way others perceive them, motivating actors to manage their behavior in order to present favorable and appropriate images to others.” Whether we purposely speak formally to a professor or slang with a friend or whether we write longer emails and spend more time editing them when a professor is our intended recipient compared to a classmate, we are creating an impression.

Meeting people online is complicated, because you have to wonder if the person you are meeting is the person they say they really are. It is hard to trust or to believe everything that is online. There is more room to lie online than in person. You can hide many things or pose as someone you are not. Being in the privacy of your home and being online with no one else watching might give someone the liberty or freedom to lie. Yet, there are those that might feel more comfortable being even more honest than they would be in person. This depends from person to person, because the affordances are different.

I find the virtual games very interesting, because it does give people the opportunity to play different roles. To what point do they believe they are really those other people? Also, sometimes being someone other than yourself might be so satisfying that it becomes addicting to play on these virtual sites. “Role playing games can serve in this advocate capacity because they stand betwixt and between the unreal and real: they are a game and something more” (Turkle, 1995).  A player described his playing as becoming more than the person they play “you are who you pretend to be”. This was very interesting because I imagine this is how they find satisfaction in virtual role playing.

The blog that I am looking at shows some characteristics of online role playing and the type of identity they are trying to portray, but I think only to a certain extent. My blogger is a first time mom, and I am sure she portrays herself as a good mother, or a new mother who is trying her best to be great, but I doubt she would write something that would make her look like a horrible mother. Then she would have child services at her door by now. She is playing the role of the character of the title of her blog. However, it is still her because in real life she is still this mother, but maybe online she might be this super exiciting mom, or maybe what we see is what we get. It is hard to say without knowing the person, but from what I have read she seems like a really cool mom. And maybe blogging gives her the freedom and opportunity to be more honest than she would be in person because she has time to think, reason, and write about her thoughts on motherhood. Just my opinion.