Prof. Moses

In his book Identity Matters, author Richard Jenkins says that “identification matters because it is basic cognitive mechanism that humans use to sort out themselves and their fellows, individually and collectively.” In the age of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, this identification is increasingly becoming a self that is constructed online. How does our virtual self differ from our real self? Does our portrayal of ourselves through the use of social media affect the identity that we give to ourselves and the identity given to us by others?

In a carefully constructed 3-4 page, thesis-driven essay, argue whether or not social media can provide an accurate portrayal of who we really are and defend your position on the consequences thereof.

Readings:

· “Defining Our Role in Social Media”

· “I Tweet, Therefore I am”

· “How Social Media Affects our Self-Perception”

· “You have one Identity: Performing the self on Facebook and LinkedIn”

Things to Consider: (Remember to keep your essay argumentative in nature)

The questions below are meant to guide you as you think about and write your essay. It would be difficult to answer all of these questions, so do not attempt to do so. Focus on a single argument and incorporate, if you can and you’d like, other elements into your own argument.

· Has the technological world conditioned people to act a certain way online?

· Can people alter their online behavior?

· Does one’s online “self” change the way he or she acts in real life?

· Does being online develop personality? Do you even have the same personality online as you do in real life?

· Do social networking sites allow for one to create the ideal self?

Requirements

· 3-4 pages, typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. font in Times New Roman and 1” margins

· You must use at least three credible, scholarly sources, one of which must be an article given in class (but at least one other one must be independently researched)

· MLA format – including a “works cited” page

· Your final draft should have this prompt, your final draft, your second draft, your first draft and your peer review sheet -- in that order.

Dates DUE

1st draft:

2nd draft:

FINAL DRAFT:

Exercise 1: The Google Mirror

A brief situational statement:

After watching the YouTube video, “My Internet Identity,” many questions arose. Do you know what your internet identity entails? What do you want your internet identity to reveal about you? Before we begin analyzing the virtual identity of others, it is interesting to look at our own.

The steps of this exercise:

1. Google yourself. How many results come up? Make a list of all the social network services that Google lists you are on.

2. After creating your list, you will write a 300 word reflection asking yourself the following: did any of the search results surprise you? Are you comfortable with this information about you online? Is your virtual identity reflective of your real identity?

Details of this exercise:

1. The first part of this exercise is a list. This should be typed.

2. Below the typed list, you will type your 300 word (minimum) reflection.

DUE:

Exercise 2: The Ethnography

A brief situational statement:

Ethnography is a genre of writing that uses fieldwork to provide a descriptive study of human societies. In this instance, you will observe an area of Facebook.

The steps of this exercise:

1. Choose an area of Facebook where there is ample human interaction (Facebook news feed, your page, your friend’s page, a fan page, an app, etc.). Write down your observations. Try to be objective as you look for manifestations of the idea with which you’ve been working.

2. Under your objective observation, write an analysis informed by the texts we’ve read thus far.

3. The analysis should cover the following: what area of Facebook have you chosen? What are people doing/saying? What conclusions can you draw about the nature of human relations? What might be the impact of social networking on society?

Details of this exercise:

1. The first part of your ethnography will be observation; the second half will be analysis.

2. No more than 2 double-spaced pages. Follow MLA format, including a “Works Cited” list.

DUE:

Exercise 3: The Book of Faces

A brief situational statement:

As more social media networks become available and grow increasingly more popular, the number of people who have more than one social media site escalates. This brings up other interesting questions when analyzing the use of each by a single person or a group. Does the identity portrayed in each differ or is it relatively the same? What can we deduce, then, about the mediums in which we choose to create our virtual identities, and what can we say about virtual identity creation in general?

The steps of this exercise:

1. Pick a celebrity or someone in politics to follow online.

2. Find all the social media networking sites this person uses. Pick at least 2 with which to work.

3. For each medium, you will write a description of the types of texts produced by your celebrity. What topics does this person address? In what tone? Does he/she reply to fans? Does this page have personal information or is it merely publicity?

4. For each medium which allows photos, you will write a description of the types of photos this person publishes online. Are they personal or professional? Are they mostly alone or with others? Are the photos what one would deem appropriate for a person in his/her position?

5. For each medium you describe, you will then analyze the online character of the subject. By looking at the pictures posted or the rhetoric used, what can you deduce about the nature of this person?

6. Finally, you will describe the similarities and differences you noticed between the character portrayed in the various social media sites by the same person.

Details of this exercise:

1. This assignment, as always, will be typed in MLA format.

2. Double space and include a “Works Cited” page

3. You should have no less than 2 double-spaced pages, and no more than 4.

DUE:

Progression 2 – Seeing and Hearing Texts