Social Media Influence On Identity

As a human being, there are multiple personas an individual portrays every day. The personas individuals portray depends mostly on the setting they are in or whom they are in front of. Whether being in front of your employer, children, or strangers, these are different situations that reflects an individual’s personality. It is taken to a different level, when a human being approaches the internet community. Many individuals are users of social media sites such as Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Through these sites, a user creates another persona for their identity. This new identity involves the concept of anonymity. Anonymity is defined as the quality or state of being unknown to most people. Users of certain social media sites have the …show more content…
Jacob Silverman considers the war against identity an, “identity-driven, persistently surveilled Web that acquires bits of information that matters more for what they say about us and how they inform our public demonstrations of identity” (Silverman 163). This quote explains how Jacob Silverman viewed what the war against identity was considered in his terms. How does it feel to know that the internet is primarily used to benefit the company of social networking sites? The internet community collects information based on the information from your identity to publicly demonstrate advertisements. Unbelievably, every individual that has been introduced to the internet community has been introduced to this life scam. This concept effects individuals that use social networking sites on the internet greatly. What can be done to stop this war against identity with relation to the option of remaining anonymous? Roger A. Grimes gives nine humorous steps on how to make an individual completely anonymous online. Grimes suggest for step one that individuals find a safe country that does not try its hardest to spy on internet activity. He next suggests that individuals connect to the internet community anonymously. Another method he suggests, is to never use a normal credit card (Grimes). Seriously, how realistic are these methods from Grimes? It …show more content…
There was a specific example that demonstrated the importance of anonymity on social media sites. In West Virginia, a director of Clay County Development quits her job after backlash over Facebook post where she described Michelle Obama as an “ape in heels” (Allen). This councilor has potentially ruined her career because she has shared a sensitive opinion. She felt the need to share this comment on her personal Facebook page. Everyone on this social media site is aware of her position and idolizes her simply because of the position she holds in West Virginia. She is someone that individuals consistently look up to in their lives and individuals will believe strongly that this controversial comment demonstrates the quality of her character. If she happened to anonymously post this opinion, her trustworthiness and credibility to the world might have not been at stake. Not only is her position in her career at stake, personal property and effects have been demonstrated towards her. “She also claimed the backlash had become a ‘hate crime against me’ and that she and her children had received death threats” (Allen). This director personal safety and her family’s personal safety is now at stake. If she happened to anonymously post her opinion, individuals that would have noticed the comment would have overlooked what was said because of the simple fact, an identity was not