Q:
In what ways has building and communicating through online profiles changed you personally?
Do you think that online communities and role play have helped us more (in terms of self reflection and growing) or hurt us more (in terms of addiction to fantasy and disconnect from reality)?
A:
When interacting in online communities, people do fragment themselves, or pick and choose what is best needed for the situation. Facebook: time to look pretty, be witty and be friendly. Online gaming: Time to kick ass and show how awesome I am. Posting in a Art Forum: time to show how cultured and smart I am.
Using the theory on these window personalities we really differentiate ourselves much more than people used to. We become specialists in each area trying to portray a relevant side to ourselves and improve/show it to the best of our ability.
I think online personalities have allowed me to really explore any aspect about me I could possibly want to explore. THe freedom and anonymity really helps with the freedom of exploration. Face to face time has been reduced a bit, but not eliminated all together for me.
Online communities have helped us evolve socially with self exploration ad growth. The addiction to fantasy and disconnect from reality are side effects of when these online communities become used exclusively for social interaction. Face to face time is a very important part of communicating and social health. Disconnect from reality should be carefully gauged to keep things from getting out of hand. Enjoying online communities is a great thing, but diving into them and completely forgetting real life is not healthy and really cripples people socially.
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