The Artificial "Self"

Online activites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo have made a drastic influence on people's social lives. Not only does technology weaken communication ties, but online activities have provoked a confusion of one's "self". According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the "self" is defined as "the union of elements (as body, emotions, thought, and sensations) that constitutes the individuality and identity of a person". Ideologies, thoughts, emotions, personality is what an identity consists of. Without the previously named aspects, a person wouldn't be identifiable and would have no identity of their own. With the unfortunate help of the Internet, people, especially teenagers growing in our technology-concentrated society, tend to create another "self" online. In simpler terms, when people create a profile for themselves, sometimes they will write information that might seem presentable or attractive to others. They would also pretend to be someone who they are NOT; in order to be someone who they WANT to be. In addition, those who are normally quiet in class, at work, or at home, can easily look like a party person on the computer according to their profile and pictures they've uploaded for the public to see. In result, people create an artificial identity, and this also creates a confusion for people today. The more we are prone to writing fake information about ourselves, the more we become distanced from our own self. We start to lose our identity and we start to question ourselves "Who are we?", "Who am I?".

The Internet is a world where people can create themselves. They can get away with anything. Also, it is a world where people can escape to. To go in further details, people today can easily get access to songs for free by simply downloading it illegally. Also, they can get any other computer applications such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Word by again simply hacking a full version online. This has affected many companies (Apple, Adobe, Microsoft) and also many artists.