Social media has earned its place as one of the most impactful technologies of the new millennium. Public usage of this technology has seen a meteoric rise, and as of June 2019, 72% of Americans have created an account on at least one social media platform . Additionally, the average American spends 144 minutes a day on social networking apps. This deep and broad usage of social media throughout society has changed how we interact with the world around us and also how we interact with ourselves. Luciano Floridi describes transformative tech like social media as "forces that change the essence of our world because they create and re-engineer whole realities that the user inhabits".
One aspect that has seen the most change stemming from social media is our sense of identity. On some platforms, we are able to form our identities as we please, separated from reality’s limitations. This has made these platforms a haven for society’s most marginalized individuals who face scrutiny offline for being who they are. However, loose identity verification has also enabled certain users to abuse this freedom for problematic purposes.
One aspect that has seen the most change stemming from social media is our sense of identity. On some platforms, we are able to form our identities as we please, separated from reality’s limitations. This has made these platforms a haven for society’s most marginalized individuals who face scrutiny offline for being who they are. However, loose identity verification has also enabled certain users to abuse this freedom for problematic purposes.
In “Constructing and enforcing ‘authentic’ identity online”, authors Oliver Haimson and Ann Hoffman document how the policies of social media websites limit marginalized individuals from representing themselves in the way they please. Facebook, for example, requires users represent themselves with their real, government issued identity. This creates problems for people like transgender individuals, who face account shutdowns because of ID verification issues stemming from name changes.
One platform which remedies this issue is Twitter, which as former CEO Dick Costello states, “does not care about real names”. On Twitter, there is no system for identity verification, which allows users to represent themselves as they please. For marginalized individuals, this is great and allows for fill self expression, but this system is abused by a good amount of Twitter users for harmful purposes.
“Other services say you have to use your real name because they think they can monetize that better and get more information about you." - Dick Costello on Twitter
There are many examples of problematic Twitter usage supported by anonymity and false representation, including bullying, fraud, and digital blackface.
Though Twitter’s lack of real name policy has allowed for some users to represent themselves authentically, it has also given way to harmful and inauthentic representation. A happy medium must be discovered which allows for free expression, but discourages harmful misrepresentation moving forward.
Though Twitter’s lack of real name policy has allowed for some users to represent themselves authentically, it has also given way to harmful and inauthentic representation. A happy medium must be discovered which allows for free expression, but discourages harmful misrepresentation moving forward.
This is a well-thought out post. I like how the first paragraph provides some context and you clearly did your research. I also felt like your integration of the readings alongside your argument was more smooth and had more logical flow than the first draft. My only suggestions for further improvement would be that I wish the font was bigger, and I found the part about, "There are many examples of problematic Twitter usage...and digital blackface." irrelevant/distracting from your main argument. Nice job overall!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting topic and you've done a good job improving the flow of your article from the first draft. The use of links and class content helps make your argument more robust. I also think the emphasized quote is a nice layout decision that gives your article a polished look, though I would suggest giving it some more whitespace between the main text. What I think is missing from this version from the previous is a more fleshed out example of problematic profiles. For example, going into more detail of the Twitter troll posing as a black trans woman. It would also be interesting to discuss the implications of this malicious form of identity taking.
ReplyDeleteI love this new version and slightly new look, the updated information is exactly what this post needed. I'd still love to see a little more personality in it but overall it is packed full of great information and it is in a very nice package.
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