Introduction to my blog

One’s online identity and the ways in which they construct it, is the topic I wish to investigate for this research project. This topic feels very relevant to today's social climate, as most of today’s youth, and now even adults, use social networking sites, and have a carefully constructed online identity. After the past few articles from class as well as presentations surrounding this topic, I found myself wanting to further research how social gratification plays into this construction and presentation of one's identity online. The profiles and identities many people have online are very carefully created and put together, based on how people respond to what they post, and therefore may not be an accurate representation of themselves, as they are tailored to how people respond to them, and what looks the most attractive. This clearly alters the way people are presenting themselves online, and I would like to look into this phenomenon further as well as its implications. The ability to omit and enhance aspects of our lives in our online identities creates a online identity that differs greatly from our offline identity. Online we are able to put forth the most attractive version of our lives online and edit out the less appealing parts in order to receive optimal social gratification. Therefore, there is a notable gap between our on and offline identities. Our online identities showcase the best parts of ourselves and lives which we want people to see, and how we wish our lives looked. I wish to explore this occurrence and the creation of a “perfect life” or "idealized self" through people’s self-presentation on Facebook.