The psychological space I chose to do an identity switch in was a religious chat room by the name of Victory in Jesus. I was a little apprehensive when entering especially since I was posing as a male. When I logged in as Brian, I was immediately approached by women, more vigorously by a woman with the screen name Sonshinegal2. She began by saying hi and asking me how I was but then stopped. Being a female, I’m assuming she was waiting for me (the guy) to do something, ask questions, or peruse her in conversation. I realized this after a few minutes and decided maybe I should say something. We began talking about life and she was acting like a mentor, always giving advice and wanting to help in some way. I also found it interesting that she didn’t ask how old I was or any personal questions of any sort. Since I wasn’t asked I decided I wasn’t going to pursue the topic either. Although not many cues were present, I pictured this woman as a lonely middle-aged women and I presume this by her choice of words and her immediate welcoming of members made me think of her a “mother” figure. It’s almost as if she wanted everyone to feel included and felt she was the one responsible for that.
When chatting, I had to think how I was going to phrase things and what qualities I wanted to express. In addition, I would naturally keep my responses short and to the point just to keep my identity secure. I would act ignorant when they randomly talked about baking and clothing. Everyone chatting, even Sonshinegirl2, would exclude me from these conversations even when trying to join in. I was presenting myself in a way that would confirm who I was and I only gave out information that I wanted others to know. As an impression manager, I had control over what I wanted the impression developer to know. Giving out too much information, in my case, might have ruined my disguise and blown my cover. My self-descriptions gave my desired impression of myself, which of course was my desire to be viewed as a man. I gave responses as I thought a man would and to my fortune, I pulled it off. I tried not to be so emotional and tried to link myself with attributes guys would be more associated with to further enhance my character. Since it was a religious chat, I associated myself as being a devout Catholic and believer in God. All these tactics enabled me to successfully achieve an identity switch. According to Wallace’s Psychology of the internet, women pretending to be men online are looked upon as being less deceitful than men posing as women.
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3 comments:
Meghan,
I'm surprised that she didn't automatically ask you a/s/l which is the first response I got in my experience. I suppose her motives are difficult given the chat room topic. This goes against what we learned in class that people try to categorize you after a few milliseconds. Even if she didn't care to have a better picture of you, I'd still expect her to ask so that she can adjust her conversation method/topics accordingly.
It's interesting that there's a double standard for gender deceit online. As a woman, I suppose I can understand why a woman would feel more endangered/tricked if a man pretended to be a woman. You would question his motives. However, why aren't the females who pose as men questioned? Is one lie better than the other?
I would have liked to read more about your conversation and impression management techniques. What/how did you say to make people think you were a man and a religious person. Did you choose different punctuation, grammar, vocab then your usual voice? I also chose to be the opposite sex for my blog. I found it difficult to talk like a guy and slipped because it wasn't my mindset.
Linda Chu
I found your post really interesting. Because I chose to do the 2nd assignment this week, I did not get to have an online interaction with a stranger, so I enjoyed reading about your experience. The fact that you had to speak in short, concise sentences to hide your identity is a perfect example of the Hyperpersonal Model. You assumed that if you only offered a few cues, other chatters would take those cues and amplify them to represent your whole personality. This goes against the Cues Filtered Out (CFO) Theory that believes less cues leads to less personality. I wonder if your chatting partner didn’t ask for your A/S/L because of the context of the chatroom (Victory in Jesus).
Hi Meghan,
I enjoyed reading your post. I found it really interesting that a woman approached you, then backed off, waiting for you to pursue her. It also seems unheard of that she didn't ask you a/s/l. Was your screen name something where she could probably guess an age and gender? I also generally find it fascinating that by talking to someone online for just a few minutes, we can conjure an image of the other person based on so little! The one thing I am left wondering is if the switch was just your gender or also in religious beliefs. If you don't believe in that religion to begin with, I bet it is a lot harder to manage your impressions. Great post!
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