York Festival of Ideas

The Ways We Know Ourselves and Others Online

Dr Catherine Talbot (Bournemouth University) and I spoke with Rikke Amundsen from the University of York about how the image we choose to convey of ourselves in online environments is complex and may change in different contexts. In anonymous online spaces, we may choose to experiment with everything about who we are - our gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity or personality - whereas in some social media spaces many of our connections are known to us offline and this is not possible. Instead, we may use strategies to conceal or protect our identities, and seek out safe spaces for expression.

We looked at how we choose to present ourselves and how we attempt to manage the impressions others form of us online. We examined the factors that might motivate or influence us in creating different versions of ourselves. And we stressed the importance of considering how we perceive other people online, as there are potentially serious consequences for getting an incorrect understanding of who someone really is.