Week 3 Part 1 (B)-Online Persona

Regardless of whether you intend on having a ‘persona’ using the internet in some degrees creates a persona for you. The way we speak in emails, blogs, chartrooms etc, is different to how we speak and write in real life, therefore an ‘online’ persona is created, because it differs to how you would act normally. In my opinion, this is harmless and it just comes hand in hand with using the internet. Styles are going to be different, when using different mediums. This is the same as putting on a ‘phone voice’ when answering the phone in an office, it causes no harm and everybody realises that this is what done. However, it is when people consciously choose to represent themselves different is when the problems start. People can pretend to be who that what to be, changing information about themselves which they do not like, or want to hide, e.g. age. The lack of security on the internet allows this to be easy and can harm not only themselves, but the people they are talking to. For example, people can pretend to be over 18 to access websites, such as 4OD, with channel 4 having a low ability to actually find out the users real age. When programs have age restrictions, and if the viewer is lying about their age, they are risking what they are being exposed to. The boundaries are being pushed with issues like this on the internet, because there is little the providers can do to find out the truth!