(The Virtual You: The Self in the Cyberspace)

“The infinite vibratory

levels, the dimensions of
interconnectedness are
without end. There is
nothing independent. All
beings and things are
residents in your
awareness.”

- Alex Grey
1. Establish the nuances of the digital self.

2. Elaborate on the abstractions one gets to experience

when interacting with virtual technology.

3. Outline performance as an essential concept in digital

identity formation.

4. Differentiate anonymity and pseudonymity in the

online setting.

5. Examine the online disinhibition effect and the factors

that cause it.
 We live in highly mediated times

 Expressions of identity nowadays

involve layers of make-believe
selves

 This is what Kenneth Gergen

(1991) terms as MULTIPHRENIA,
or the idea that countless
alternatives to self-expression
neuters identity formation
 People nowadays are
more interconnected
than at any point in
history

 With the digital

revolution in full swing,
the challenge to maintain
a coherent sense of
identity is prominent
 IDENTITY

POP-UP QUESTION 1:

 How do you think can people maintain a

cohesive sense of identity online?
 In this day and age,
nothing beats falling in
love with the boring
bits cut out

 Virtual romance speeds

through moments and
cuts to the chase

 “Digital Meet Cute”

 Catfishing – the act
of luring someone
into a (largely
virtual) relationship
with the use of
online alter-egos
 love.

POP-UP QUESTION 2:

 What is your opinion on love in the

cyberspace?
“If I choose
abstraction over
reality, it is because I
find it the lesser
chaos.”

- Robert Brault
 Given the pervasiveness of numerous reality
simulations, abstraction is fast becoming a staple
of (modern) human experience

 Abstraction - the non-physical properties one

gets to try and interact with when consuming
technology

 According to Kimberly Rosenfeld (2015), varying

manifestations of abstraction can be mapped on
a continuum
 Real-Life Reality – the reality with which you
engage most frequently

 Pertains to life away from digital devices

 Simulation – basic
purpose is to copy reality
as closely as it can

 Offers uncanny
representations of real-
world aspects

 Can also be used for

instruction
 Augmented Reality – this is real-life reality
spliced with the unreal

 Permits you to creatively interact with both

the tangible and digital world (often at the
same time)
 Virtual Reality - type of abstraction
completely detached from real-life reality

 Here, you are granted freedom to explore

open worlds using a custom-made character
 Hyperreality – more than
anything, this abstraction
is a state of mind

 The inability to distinguish

the real from the
otherwise

 A utopia of the mind;

people exist as the best
versions of themselves
 abstraction.

POP-UP QUESTION 3:

 Have you tried any of these abstractions

(from Simulation onwards) before?
“Choose your self-
presentations
carefully, for what
starts out as a mask
may become your
face.”

- Erving Goffman
 Identity is, in many ways,
interrelated with
performativity

 Technology, for all its

faults, provides new venues
for forging identities and
personhoods (Rosenfeld,
2015)

 In short, our lives online

revolve around performance
 Participating online is
equivalent to performing to
a crowd

 The Presentation of Self in

Everyday Life (1959) – Erving
Goffman’s landmark book
which analogizes the
nuances of social interaction
with those of the theater

 The book tells of

socialization as heavily role-
oriented, with individuals
being assigned specific ones
to portray
“All the world’s a
stage, and all the men
and women merely
players. They have
their exits and their
entrances, and one
man in his time plays
many parts.”

- Erving Goffman
 Social interaction, as in theatrical
performances, has the front stage,
back stage, and off-stage regions

 Front – performer’s consciousness

of an audience’s expectations
impacts the performance

 Back – where the performer can

relax and be himself/herself

 Off-Stage – this is when the

performer gets to meet members of
the audience completely separate
from his/her performance
 Erving Goffman also added
that people, when
engaged in social
interactions, internalize
what he calls impression
management

 Impression Management –
a process wherein each
attempts to manufacture
and present one’s self
positively to avoid
embarrassment
(Crossman, 2018)
 1. Performance – refers to
the set of activities in
which the self
participates in front of
others (labeled “the
audience”)

◦ Through performing, people

are able to express meaning
about themselves and their
present situation
 2. Setting – this centers
on the scenery where
an interaction will take
place

◦ The actor needs always to

consider altering his/her
performance to fit the
needs of the setting
 3. Appearance – the
function of appearance
rests mainly on its
ability to portray the
self’s various statuses

◦ On social media, display

pictures (often “selfies”)
and cover photos embody
this element
 4. Manner – pertains to
how an actor sends
various signals to the
audience to ultimately
inform them in advance
of the role he/she
seeks or is about to
perform

◦ People’s manners should

merely function closely
with their self-
presentations (physical
or virtual), lest they be
misread
 4. Front – works as a
kind of social script
that actors follow for a
more guided
performance

◦ This defines a particular

encounter or interaction
for the audience
 performance.

POP-UP QUESTION 3:

 Aside from the theater, what other analogies

do you think can be used to explain Erving
Goffman’s concepts on the presentation of
self? Why?
“Anonymity in the virtual
landscape is much
different than in real
life.”

- Jason Cranford Teague