Online Identity:

We establish ourselves in the online sphere through our continued presence and visits or contributions to particular websites. Through the development of social networking sites, we have gained control over our identity, and now have the ability to portray ourselves in the way in which we would like to be seen; something which we have little control over in the physical world. The online sphere allows a new type of freedom, to choose and create your own identity and to place yourself or your opinions in a canvas which is open to interpretation.

This is where we also encounter dishonesty, and scammers/schemers who manipulate the confines of such websites for the purposes of theft or even possibly for voyeuristic purposes. The blank and vast world that is the cyber realm is one which is limitless and faceless, free from obstruction, and quite often free from consequence. And in this situation we see people who set out to advantage and manipulate and deceive others by collecting personal information resulting in identity and monetary theft. It is important as users of these social websites that we do not reveal too much about ourselves, for fear of theft or deception, which can be terrible losses. With antivirus software, and other programmes, situations like this become harder to get into, but nevertheless exist. We have the ability to control how we are portrayed and what we put into the online sphere, so it is essential we limit such information the bare minimum, if we choose not to display ourselves on a public scale.