Cultural Identity Politics in the (Post-)Transitional Societies

How modern technology shape-shifts our identity
might not be possible if others discover that the offline behaviour is very different from
the online behaviour of persons whom they like and have learned to know in cyberspace.
The World Wide Web allows an accentuation of certain personal characteristics that
individuals consider important and realize by making use of hyperlinking, pictures,
videos, animations and social software that supports interaction online. We all have a
choice when it comes to how much of ourselves we want to share with the world and it
can be daunting to some people because they know that the Internet is forever so they
have to decide how far they will put themselves out there. Everyone’s comfort level is
different and everyone’s level of desire to share who they really are publicly is different.
There is no right or wrong here. One can expect that on platforms like Facebook.
com, which allow the self-presentation of individuals, most users aim at presenting
and accentuating aspects of their self that can help them in creating contacts with
others. Personal blogs can be considered as publicly available online diaries that allow
accentuated presentations of individual selves. Online identities have characteristics
that give us a hint of which topics and ideas are important for an individual. Studies
show that the difference of online and offline identities is in many cases not as large as
some scholars suspected in early Internet research. On the one hand, differences and
discrimination concerning racial, sexual, gender, class and bodily identities can have
a lower importance online due to the anonymity of online communication; but on
the other hand, users might feel more disinhibited online and might hence engage in
identity based discrimination more openly and directly.
How we decide to present ourselves in cyberspace is not always a purely conscious
choice. Some aspects of identity are hidden below the surface. Covert wishes and
inclinations leak out in roundabout or disguised ways without our even knowing it. We
are not always aware of how we dissociate parts of our identity or even of the emotional
valence we attach to them. A person selects a username or avatar on a whim, because
it appeals to him, without fully understanding the deeper symbolic meanings of that
choice. Or she joins an online group because it seems interesting while failing to realize
the motives concealed in that decision. The anonymity, fantasy and wide variety of
online environments give ample opportunity for this expression of unconscious needs
and emotions.
People vary greatly in the degree to which they are consciously aware of and control their
identity in cyberspace. For example, some people who role play imaginary characters report
how the characters may take on a life of their own. They temporarily have surrendered
their normal identity to the imaginary persona, perhaps later understanding the meaning
of this transformation. Those who are acting out their underlying negative impulses usually
have little insight into why they do so. By contrast, attempts to work through conflicting
aspects of identity necessarily entail a conscious grappling with the unconscious elements
of one’s personality. Striving in cyberspace to be a “better” person also requires at least
some conscious awareness – a premeditated vision of where one is headed. Some people,
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