Identity Vs. Persona
Tuesday, September 8, 2009 by Jess
While researching for my essay, I came across this interesting blog post that discussed the idea that there is a difference between 'identity' and 'persona' on social networking sites. The author, defines identity as 'the state or fact of being the same as one described', and persona as 'the mask of facade presented to satisfy the demands of the situation or the environment'.
The creation of fake profiles on social networking sites clearly defines the separation between the two concepts. People who create fake user profiles are not portraying an identity; rather they are portraying a persona of the person they are pretending to be. For example, there are hundreds of fake celebrity profiles on a variety of social networking sites, including Facebook, Myspace and more recently, Twitter. The author of the blog also points out that there is no way to test the veracity of the persona, therefore it is easy for people to fall into the trap of believing online personas.
Identity, is much simpler. Identity on Facebook, for example, is your login information, and nothing else. This means that identity is something unchanging (for the most part), and more importantly, is something we keep to ourselves. This view on identity is quite unusual, and although I can see where the author is coming from, it is somewhat problematic.
The concepts of identity and persona on social networking sites from this perspective are very interesting to me, particularly as a user of social networking sites. However, I believe the author's views are quite limited, because there is more to a profile than a public persona; there is the person, and thus an identity, behind it.
The creation of fake profiles on social networking sites clearly defines the separation between the two concepts. People who create fake user profiles are not portraying an identity; rather they are portraying a persona of the person they are pretending to be. For example, there are hundreds of fake celebrity profiles on a variety of social networking sites, including Facebook, Myspace and more recently, Twitter. The author of the blog also points out that there is no way to test the veracity of the persona, therefore it is easy for people to fall into the trap of believing online personas.
Identity, is much simpler. Identity on Facebook, for example, is your login information, and nothing else. This means that identity is something unchanging (for the most part), and more importantly, is something we keep to ourselves. This view on identity is quite unusual, and although I can see where the author is coming from, it is somewhat problematic.
The concepts of identity and persona on social networking sites from this perspective are very interesting to me, particularly as a user of social networking sites. However, I believe the author's views are quite limited, because there is more to a profile than a public persona; there is the person, and thus an identity, behind it.