Online Identity

When I discuss with my parents their perceptions of their identity while growing up, it is vastly different than the way I perceive my identity.  In my parents era it was considered the "modern era" in which identity was much more fixed and stable.  There were distinct identity roles and they were aware of their morals and beliefs from as long as they can remember.  There was no experimenting with their identity.  My dad was always a studious, ambitious, and fun-loving brother, son, and friend.  Who he was with his family was the same person he was at school, at church, and with his friends.  His identity was constant.  Same with my mom, she was always athletic, outgoing, and nurturing no matter where she was.  

I have been growing up more in the "post-modern" era, where identities are much more fluid, multiple, and socially constructed.  I am bossy and direct when I am with my siblings because I have been that way since I was a little girl and now that is how my family expects me to be. When I am with my friends I am much more passive and am willing to be a good listener.  At school, I am super focused on my classes and am conscious of how I spend my time, so I can be the most productive at all times.  Depending on where I am and who I am with I am a different person.  I try and adapt to my surroundings by changing what I identify with.  For example, the other day I was at my boyfriend's friend's house.  There was a handful of people over watching a football game.  I am not the biggest football fan and would never sit down by myself and watch a game.  Everyone at the house was cheering and hooting and hollering, so I soon found myself cheering just as loud as the next person.  Normally my identity would not consist of being a football fan but that afternoon my fluid identity allowed me to be a football fan.  

Living in this era, post-modernity, out identities are even more fluid when we add in the factor of the internet.  This generation is much more computer-savvy and is regularly online.  This has a huge impact on our identity and one must consider which identity is more salient, online identity or real life identity.  When I go online, the first website I check are my social networking sites, Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter.  I realized that the way I decorated my profiles was based on what my friends did on their profiles.  My profiles are a collection of bits and pieces from each of my friends' profiles.  I will see a certain musician on one of my friend's profile and then I will end up putting a similar musician on my profile. When you look at my profiles you would never think that my page is based off my friends' profiles because there are only small similarities.  By me creating my profile that reflects what my friends' profiles are is an example of how identity can be socially constructed.