Week 13 The Digital Self PDF

The Digital Self Understanding The Self – Week 13  Intended Learning Outcomes At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to: Analyze the dynamics of online interaction, including social media, virtual communities, and digital communication tools, and understand how they impact...

The Digital Self Understanding The Self – Week 13  Intended Learning Outcomes At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to: Analyze the dynamics of online interaction, including social media, virtual communities, and digital communication tools, and understand how they impact the formation of digital identity; Understand the significance of self-expression, creativity, and digital content creation in shaping one's digital identity, and explore the ways individuals present themselves online; and,  Intended Learning Outcomes Analyze how digital media, including filters, photo editing, and visual platforms, influence individuals' perceptions of beauty, body image, and self-worth. The social world of a western-influenced society, is typically consists of three domains: 1. Family 2. School 3. Neighborhood But with the emergence of the Internet, however, adds a fourth domain – the online life. THE DIGITAL SELF  Definition: The Digital Self The digital self, also known as online identity, is used to describe a person’s representation of himself on the Internet. In different social media platforms, a person can construct a controlled projection that impacts how other people perceive him.  Definition: The Digital Self The characteristics of the digital self (Zhao, 2005): Oriented inward Narrative in nature Retractable Multipliable  Definition: The Digital Self An individual’s belief of how other people perceive him defines the social self. He naturally create a social identity to achieve a perceived belongingness to a certain group. Thus, a person can define his sense of being based on other people’s validation.  Definition: The Digital Self In general, the digital self is not only about sharing a person’s life online. It may also be about what is acceptable and impressive to other people whom a person want to get approval from.  SELECTIVE SELF- PRESENTATION AND IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT  What is Self-Presentation? Self-presentation behavior refers to the conscious or unconscious efforts an individual make to create, modify, or maintain an impression of himself in the mind of others.  Reasons for Engaging in Self-Presentation Helps facilitate social interaction Enables individuals to attain material and social rewards Helps people privately construct desired identity What is Impression Management? It is done by controlling or influencing how other people perceptions about himself. It can involve strategic choices in clothing, grooming, body language, and verbal communication.  What is Impression Management? Two main motives of attempting to manage the impression of others: Instrumental – to gain rewards and increase one’s self esteem Expressive – attempts to be in control of one’s personal behavior and identity  Impression Management Strategies Self-Promotion – a person actively says things or takes action to show his competence to other people Ingratiation – a person tries to win the approval or acceptance of others Exemplification – strategic self-sacrifice Intimidation – showing off authority, power, or the potential to punish Supplication – a person exploits his weaknesses or shortcomings to receive help or benefit  IMPACTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS TO THE SELF In the digital age, the Internet could highly affect how teenagers form their identities. They tend to seek for outside affirmation from friends and strangers through different social media platforms. However, this can also give them an amplified feeling of invisibility which can have a great influence on how they perceive themselves. The current generation doesn’t know how to differentiate their real-time identity and online identity. They see these two as identical, when in fact these are not. Technology, specifically the Internet, makes it more difficult for teenagers to form an identity since it creates more versions of the “self” than before. “Digiphrenia is the experience of trying to exist in more than one incarnation of yourself at the same time. There’s your Twitter profile, your Facebook profile, your email inbox. All of these sort of multiple instances of you are operating simultaneously and in parallel. And that’s not a really comfortable position for most human beings.” – Douglas Rushkoff App-dependent behavior refers to which an individual relies heavily on digital applications for communication, productivity, entertainment, and other functionalities. WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SO ADDICTED TO THE INTERNET? ONE CANNOT NOT COMMUNICATE. Social networks break the barriers of distance and time through allowing people to communicate anytime and anywhere. These have also expanded the possibilities of sharing and playing identities. BOUNDARIES OF THE ONLINE SELF  The Private and Public Self PRIVATE SELF PUBLIC SELF Mental events in a person’s Behaviors that are open to life that are inherently the observations of other unobservable to others or people only within his network of Within the entire internet connections  What are Social Profiles? Social profiles refer to the digital representations of individuals on different online platforms, capturing various aspects of their identity, interests, and activities. These provide users with a space to share information about themselves and engage with others.  Possible Advantages of a Public Online Profile Facilitates open communication Allows posting and open discussion of ideas Provides an opportunity to widen business contacts Targets a wide audience Improves business reputation (for entrepreneurs) Helps expand market research, implements marketing campaigns, delivers communications, and directs interested people to specific websites  Possible Risks of a Public Online Profile Increases the possibility of fraud, spam, and virus attacks Increases the risk of people falling prey to online scams Potentially results in negative comments and bashing  Advantages of a Private Online Profile Control over viewers Protected from scammers and bashers Disadvantages of a Private Online Profile Very limited network Very low engagement Do not get to meet interesting people Will not help grow a business (for entrepreneurs)  The Individual and Social Identity INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY SOCIAL IDENTITY Develops over the course of a A person’s sense of who he is based person’s life in group membership May include aspects of a person’s life Group as an important source of that he has no control over pride and self-esteem Emphasis on the individual Emphasis on what a person has in Created through differences in common with the members of the personal characteristics group Created based on similarities with others  Gender and Sexuality Online The world has truly been transformed by the Internet, especially when it comes to the concept of gender identity. Sex is based on the biological make up of a person, which can be identified as male or female. According to Judith Butler, gender is a product of discourse, interactions, and social processes.  Gender and Sexuality Online “Stereotype is a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people” (Cardwell, 2014). Examples: Women are not as capable as men in technical fields. Men are not emotional and should not express vulnerability.  Gender and Sexuality Online The disembodiment hypothesis suggests that through the Internet, individuals are able to allow the mind to engage in social activities while the body is static. On the Internet, people do not need to conform to an assigned gender. Thus, they are able to freely perform, communicate, and act based on their true gender identity.  Gender and Sexuality Online Sexuality refers to a person’s feelings, attractions, behaviors, and orientations related to one’s emotional, romantic, and sexual experience. Factors that affect an adolescent’s sexuality: Hormones Personality or temperament Social or environmental factors Media and the Internet  REFERENCES Otig, V.S. et al. (2019). A Holistic Approach in Understanding the Self. Mutya Publishing House, Inc. Alata, E. et.al. (2018). Understanding the Self. Rex Book Store, Inc. Ditch the Label. (2017). Are You Living an Insta Lie? Social Media Vs. Reality [Video file]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EFHbruKEmw Johnson, C. (2014, May 28). Growing Up Digital: How the Internet Affects Teen Identity. https://www.deseret.com/2014/5/28/20542165/growing-up-digital- how-the-internet-affects-teen-identity