Understanding The Self: The Digital Self PDF

Course Packet LM02-NGEC Packet 05 06...

Course Packet LM02-NGEC Packet 05 06 0213 Learning Module 2 Understanding the Self Course Packet 06 The Digital Self Knowledge Area Code : SSCI Course Code : NGEC0213 Learning Module Code : LM02-NGEC0213 Course Packet Code : LM02-NGEC0213-06 Learning Module: Understanding the Self 48  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 Course Packet 06 The Digital Self Course Packet 06 Introduction Technology and the internet, at present, plays a big role in shaping an individual’s social self, with emphasis on the use of social media platforms and membership in virtual communities, people acquire role identities. These are the characters and roles an individual creates as a member of a particular social group. In an online environment, one’s role identity is vitally important in order for him/her to project himself/herself in the said environment. However, participation in virtual environments may entail changes that may affect a person’s sense of self. In some cases, people present themselves differently in online interactions as compared to the face-to-face interactions they engage in. Understanding clear concepts of identity online, self-presentation, impression management, impact of online interaction on the self, boundaries of the self-online, gender and sexuality online, the learners develop critical thinking that may help them fully examine and recognize their digital self. Objectives 1. Examine critically how the digital self is formed. 2. Assess behavior when doing online activities. Readings Introduction Like it or not, we all have a digital self—a mask that we put on to engage the technological world. Who hasn't struggled with their digital self-identity? All of this technology has come at us so fast and furious, that we haven't had the time to think about how our relations hip with it shapes our very identity says, Tamara J Hicks, a psychiatrist. Learning Module: Understanding the Self 62  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 GROUP 4 Course Packet 06 Do you have self-issues while online? I, me, myself, and my user ID online identity The digital self is the persona you use when you’re online. Some people maintain one or more online identifies that are distinct from their “real world” selves; others have a single online self- that’s more or less the same as the one they inhabit in the real world. According to Zao,(2005), with the rise of web -based social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, there is a development of self-perception and self-development. What should be considered here is the development of the “digital self”, which studies the online identity an individual develops in relation to their online audience. Zao points out four major characteristics of the digital self 1. “Inwardly oriented”. Characteristic where individuals are more likely to be “more oriented toward one’s inner world” focusing on other people’s feelings and personalities. 2. “Narrative in nature”. Since we are required to provide basic details of ourselves to our online friends and we want to provide a description of our best selves we are able “to craft a self in a more careful, elaborate, and coherent manner. “ 3. “Retractable”. This refers to the fact that our created digital selves can be easily retracted if we aren’t happy with them. Teenagers are able to go through multiple digital selves on different media platforms and if they don’t like one of them. they can easily retract that digital self or digital version of themselves which directly relates to Zhao’s last point of multiplicity. 4. With multiple websites and multiple selves that we project digitally, we can “experiment with multiple ver sions of their self”. As individuals are subjected to the digital world at increasingly earlier ages, it’s important to consider how their development of self-perception can be influenced by the creation of single or multiple digital selves (Gallinero, et.al, 2018). Learning Module: Understanding the Self 63  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 Selective Self Presentation and Impression Management According to Baumeister and Hutton (1987), self-presentation is behavior that attempts convey Course Packet 06 some information about oneself or some image of oneself to other people. Two types of self- presentational motivations can be distinguished (Baumeister, 1982a). One (pleasing the audience) is to match one's self presentation to the audience's expectations and preferences. The other (self-construction) is to match one's self-presentation to one's own ideal self. Creating a positive impression on the audience. Important refinements of the audience-pleasing concept were introduced by Jones and Pittman (1982). Instead of pleasing the audience, someone may desire to present himself or herself as dangerous (strategy of intimidation), as morally virtuous (strategy of exemplification), or as helpless and needy (strategy of supplication). The general principle behind all these self- presentations, then, is that people present themselves so as to create a particular and useful impression on the audience, in order to influence or manipulate the audience to benefit the self- presenter. Some further general principles regarding self-presentation were articulated by Hogan (1982). He notes that self-presentation is structured both by the immediate peer group and by the larger, partly internalized reference group. He says that the images of self that guide self- presentation can sometimes be defensive-that is, self-presentation can be a matter of denying some image of self rather than claiming it. He emphasizes that the entire pr ocess of self- presentation gradually becomes overlearned, automatic, and hence unconscious (Baumeister, R. F. and Hutton, D.G., 1987). Gallinero, et.al (2018) state reasons why people engage in self- presentation. 1. Facilitate Social Interaction 2. Gain Material and Social Rewards 3. Self-Construction Another Identity Leary (2001), state that impression management involves the processes by which people Learning Module: Understanding the Self 64  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 control how they are perceived by others. People are more motivated to control how others perceived them when they believe that their public images are relevant to the attainment of desired goals, the goals for which their impressions are relevant are valuable. There are two Course Packet 06 main motives we have for trying to manage the impressions of others: t he instrumental and the expressive. The instrumental motive includes the desire for increased self-esteem. The fundamental meaning of instrumental motivation is the gaining of rewards. So, when we try to manage perceptions to get something back from another person, we are motivated by instrumental purposes. An expressive motive comes down to wanting to be in charge of one's personal behavior and identity. It can come from a response to social norms, expectations or restrictions, and it seeks to show others something different. Five Common Impression Management Strategies 1. Ingratiation. It is the most familiar impression management strategy. The goal of ingratiation is to get the other person to like you. Since we tend to like people who agree with us, sa y nice things about us, do favors for us, and possess positive interpersonal qualities (e.g., warmth and kindness), it should come as no surprise that ingratiation can be accomplished through imitation, flattery, doing favors for someone, and displaying positive personal characteristics (Jones, 1990). 2. Self-Promotion. Here we seek to convince people of our competence. With self-promotion, we are trying to get people to think we are capable, intelligent, or talented. 3. Intimidation. Sometimes people want to be feared. This is intimidation. An employer, for example, might want to be viewed as tough, powerful, or ruthless. 4. Exemplification. With exemplification, people attempt to create the impression that they are morally superior, virtuous, or righteous. Exemplification is often portrayed by exaggerating the degree to which one has suffered poor treatment at the hands of others or has endured excessive hardships. 5. Supplication. It occurs when people publicly exaggerate their weaknesses and deficiencies. The more general point is that people will sometimes exaggerate their incompetence and frailties if doing so gets them what they want. In extreme cases, these tendencies may underlie depression and other psychological difficulties (Gove, Hughes, & Geerken, 1980; Leary & Miller, 1986) Impact of Online Interaction with the Self According to T.-M. Joo and C.-E. Teng (2017), the impact of social networking is varied from good to bad. Online activities have also been categorized into pros and cons of social networking, either as reported as hiding Internet activities among teenagers or killing loneliness among elderly. Below are some of their findings. Learning Module: Understanding the Self 65  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 Pros: 1. Referring to Mustafa and Hamzah (2011), many people use the Internet in particular, to meet their psychological and social needs. Internet is the place to meet and interact Course Packet 06 and form relationships. 2. Burke, Kraut, & Marlow (2011), state that the use of social network sites (SNS) is designed to connect people with friends, family, and other strong ties, as w ell as to efficiently keep in touch with a larger set of acquaintances and new ties. 3. Wright and Zdinak (2012) have also articulated the impact of change on Internet users. They are now active in creating and sharing online content, can express opinions, peer- to-peer communication tools are used, able to connect from various devices and often they are connected online all the time Cons: 1. According to a study of Chou and Edge (2012), FB’s influence has changed their users’ perceptions of the lives of friends and family members. The highlight is that the longer the people log on FB, the more they start to believe that others have a better life than they do. 2. Diaz, Evans, and Gallahger (2011) have highlighted that FB has brought up people who like to escape from negative interactions and this cause heavy impact to family relationships and eventually people might turn to be antisocial. 3. Baym et al. (2007) has stated that online relationships are of a low quality than offline relationships, whereas in an interpersonal communication research, closeness and intimacy are critical to a strong relationship. GROUP 5 BOUNDARIES OF THE SELF ONLINE: Private vs. public; personal/individual vs. social identity online How are identities constructed in the age of the Internet? Is here a distinction between “private identity” and “public identity”? It can be said that for millennials and for the future generation, the notion of “privacy” as an individual would probably be lost. After all, these are young people who have been subjected to security measures in various forms and in numerous settings. Millennials have been socialized to do things in group. Private vs. public self Social scientists have given very different definitions of the concept of “private” and “public”. Understanding the difference between these concepts will help in your study of the “self” (Baumeister, 2012). Learning Module: Understanding the Self 66  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 Private refers to the mental events in a person that are inherently observable by others while public are behaviors that are open to the observations of other people. Course Packet 06 Social profiles are description of individual’s social characteristics that identify them on social media sites. When it comes to online personal or business branding, the creation of social media profiles is absolutely essential Possible advantages of making your online profile in public:  It facilitates open communication that could lead to better and faster information discovery and delivery.  It allows open discussion on ideas and posting of news, asking questions, and sharing of links.  It provides opportunity to widen business contacts.  It targets a wide audience, making it useful and effective tool to increase your network friends.  If you are entrepreneur, it improves business reputation and client based with minimal use of advertising.  It helps expand market research, implement marketing campaigns, deliver communications, and direct interested people to specific websites. Possible risk:  It opens up possibility for hackers to commit fraud and launch spam and virus attacks  It increases the risk of people falling prey to online scams that seem genuine resulting in data or identity theft.  It potentially results in negative comments and bashing. Some advantages of making your online profile private:  You have control over viewers, connect only with those you want to communicate with.  Your online profile is protected from scammers and bashers. Disadvantages of private profile:  Your network is very limited. Opportunities that social media bring is small. Learning Module: Understanding the Self 67  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213  Your engagement is very low.  You do not meet interesting people whom you can exchange ideas and learn from. Course Packet 06 If you are an entrepreneur, a private profile will not help you grow in business (Gallinero, et.al, 2018). Individual vs. social identity online The development of Internet communication and social media has expanded the traditional notion of identity. Now, people have online identities in addition to real life identities. Your online identity is not the same as your real-world identity because the characteristics you represent online differ from the characteristics you represent in the physical world, and because your online identity reflects kinds of interaction that often differ from your real -world interactions. When you are using the Internet, your online identity is the sum of your characteristics and interactions. Your individual online identity is an ever-changing thing so you have to pay attention to it and make sure it's working for you, not against you. When you create a personal online profile, you have control over what you put in it, so be sure to give it some serious thought. It can be very tempting to provide as much information as possible, but even the smallest facts can be risky. Just entering your birthday and zip code when signing up reveals your age and what city you live in. Check that everything you are going to post passes your personal information filter first. Chatting programs and social networks can be a fun way to let your friends know what you're up to but you have to be careful that you don't reveal anything dangerous, because by doing that you're also letting every weirdo stranger in Cyberspace know exactly what and where you are in real life. Social identity is defined by Henri Tajfel (1978), as "that part of an individual's self-concept which derives from his membership of a social group (or groups), together with the value and emotional significance attached to this". Pegg, K. et al. (2018) state that online social identities are self-concepts that result through identification with social groups or categories that individuals experience online. We share a wealth of information about ourselves on our social media platforms. We snap perfectly posed selfies, check in at happy hours, tweet at our friends, and ann ounce the arrival of bouncing new babies. The benefits and joys of social media are numerous, but there are privacy risks to consider as well. Social media users tend to overshare life details in order to feel connected to friends, family, Learning Module: Understanding the Self 68  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 and coworkers. But these private details can be used maliciously by cyberthieves to access sensitive accounts, create fraudulent identities, and compromise careers. Course Packet 06 Teens and young adults can also experience the impact of oversharing. Sexting, cyberbullying, texting while driving, privacy concerns, and self-esteem issues are topics that need to be addressed and consistently monitored, and many parents admit to feeling ill -equipped when it comes to talking with their children about online sharing. References  Digital Self. (2010). Like it or not we have a digital self. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital- self/201008/understanding-and- creating- your-digital-self  Understanding the Self (GED) 01 Digital Portfolio Section 2: The Socio-Digital Self Retrieved from https://utsged101portfolio.wordpress.com/section-2-the-socio- digital-self/  Your Digital Self: How to Present Yourself Online. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.evonomie.net/2018/07/03/digital-self/your-digital-self-how-to- present- yourself-online/  Self-Development. (2019) Retrieved from https://lesley.edu/article/perception-is- reality-the-  looking-glass-self  Zhao, S. (2005). The digital self: Through the looking glass of telecopresent other s. Symbolic Interaction, 28(3), 387-405. doi:10.1525/si.2005.28.3.387  Gallinero, Winston B. et.al. (2018). Understanding the Self, Mutya Publishing House, Inc.  Baumeister R.F., Hutton D.G. (1987) Self-Presentation Theory: Self-Construction and Audience Pleasing. In: Mullen B., Goethals G.R. (eds) Theories of Group Behavior. Springer Series in Social Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4612-4634-3_4#citeas   M.R. Leary,( 2001) Impression Management, Psychology of. in International Encyclopedia of  the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Retrieved from Learning Module: Understanding the Self 69  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/impression- management#:~:text=Impression%20Management%2C%20Psychology%20of&text=Impre ssion%20 Course Packet 06 management(also%20called%20self,they%20are%20perceived%20by%20others.&text=Res earch%20 on%20impression%20management%20has%20developed%20along%20two%20distinct%2 0paths.  Impression Management in Sociology: Theory, Definition & Examples. (2015). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/impression-management-in-sociology- theory- definition-examples.html.  Chapter 07 on Self Presentation., (2013). Retrieved from https://faculty.washington.edu/jdb/452/452_chapter_07.pdf Chapter 7  Joo, T.M. , Teng, C.-E. (2017). International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology Vol.7, No.4, 27-50, 27 Impacts of Social Media (Facebook) on Human Communication and Relationships: A View on Behavioral Change and Social Unity Retrieved from http://ijkcdt.net/xml/12711/12711.pdf  Protecting Your Information | Communicating Safely | Managing your Online Identity (2020) Retrieved from http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/facultyPages/communication/identity.html  Welcome to the Online Identity — An Overview Training Module. Retrieved from  https://www.internetsociety.org/wp- content/uploads/tutorials/online_identity_overview/story_content/external_files/Ove rview%20 Online%20Identity.pdf Resources: Clarke, R. Primelife Project: Retrieved from http://primelife.ercim.eu/images/stories/deliverables/d1.3.1 - design_of_privacy_throughout_life_demonstrator-public.pdf  Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking (2018) Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5770097/  How to Manage Your Social Media Privacy Settings Retrieved from https://identity.utexas.edu/everyone/how -to-manage-your-social-media-privacy- settings  Munusamy, K., Ismail, M. (2009). Influence of Gender Role on Internet Usage Pattern at Learning Module: Understanding the Self 70  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 Home Among Academicians. Retrieved from http://www.sosyalarastirmalar.com/cilt2/sayi9pdf/munusamy_ismail.pdf  Wolfson, E. (2017). The Chemistry and Chimera of Desire Retrieved from Course Packet 06 https://www.healthline.com/health/what -is-desire#1  Byers, E. S., & Shaughnessy, K. (2014). Attitudes toward online sexual activities. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 8(1), Article 10. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2014-1-10 Retrieved from https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/4302/3351 Learning Module: Understanding the Self 71  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 Activity Sheet Activity Sheet Activity 01. Share an online experience when you did: 1. self-presentation 2. impression management Learning Module: Understanding the Self 72  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 Assessment Assessment 01. Assessment 1. Explain how digital self is formed. 2. Evaluate your behavior when you’re online. Is it to your advantage or disadvantage? Why? Learning Module: Understanding the Self 73  Course LM02-NGEC Packet 06 0213 Assignment Assignment 01. Read something about learning to be a better student. Assignment Answer the following: 1. What is one way of becoming a better student? Explain. 2. How do you study your lessons? Learning Module: Understanding the Self 74