The psychological space that I entered on the internet was an online chatroom through AOL Instant Messenger. There were several chatrooms to choose from such as sports, art, and food, but I chose a generalized chatroom and decided to label myself as a female instead of a male. I made very direct contact with the other people in the chatroom; I was eager to talk and after many of my comments, I made it blatantly obvious that I was female (after messages, I would say phrases such as “You guys wouldn’t understand, it’s just girl-talk” etc.). Every single person in the chatroom believed that I was indeed a female. I would presume that through a medium such as online chatrooms (and computer mediated communication), it is very difficult to pick up on cues that would lead to someone lying about their sex. Possible ways of decoding an individual would only be based on cues that were available, such as one’s screen name and attitude online. Even then, it is still uncertain that one could decipher a male from a female online.
I managed my impressions by being very direct and straight-forward. In the chatroom, people were talking about home furnishing stores, so I added input by stating that the best home furnishing stores are Lowe’s and Pottery Barn. My response was in accordance to ‘standards’ set by people already in the chatroom, so my sex was not challenged or truthfully detected. Because my true identity was never challenged, I was able to continue with my cover, and manage myself based on the structure of the conversations at hand. Additionally, Wallace mentions in her book The Psychology of the Internet, that women tend to have more detailed and emotionally provoking responses than men online. I managed my impressions by following these norms and stayed away from typing such phrases as “how r u,” and “lol” to make myself seem more presentable and lady-like.
This psychological space affected my presentation in many ways. In general, it is very difficult to detect if someone is lying about their sex online. Thus, it was easy for me to say and act a certain way and not have my identity questioned. Had I been in a chatroom dedicated toward cars, sports, or other possible manly titles (and I stated that I was a female but talked like myself), my true identity might have been revealed. Overall, I was able to conceal my identity because of the online medium. The chatroom I entered was one that set me up for as little detection as possible. The situation that I was a part of, follows premises discussed in Comm 245 such as anonymity and parts of the Social Information Processing theory. Anonymity allows individuals to create a ‘second-self’ online because it is difficult for online personas to be detected with minimal verbal and facial cues. The Social Information Processing theory developed by Joe Walther in 1993 states that as the absence of social cues led to a slow transition of information between online users. In this case, truth would reveal that I am not a female, but a male concealing my identity. Along with this theory, it would be assumed that as time increased and more interactions occurred, cues would increase and my true identity could be discovered. I enjoyed this assignment and it shed light on how easy (and scary) it is that people can conceal their true identities online.
Comment link 1:http://comm245yellow.blogspot.com/2007/09/assignment-3-selecting-media.html
Comment link 2: http://comm245yellow.blogspot.com/2007/09/assignment-3-weekend-of-change.html
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