Have you often wondered who you are online? Or who you are talking to online if it is a stranger? Is it really who you think it is? These questions are answered by taking a look at the simple facts. In Sherry Turkle's book, she answers this through a number of scenarios.
Turkle starts off with a story about fifty-seven-year-old Leonora who is a busy chemistry professor. Leonora discusses how she uses email to communicate with friends and family. She struggles to make face-time with the important people in her life, so Leonora has to schedule appointments with her friends, sometimes months in advance.
Even though this might seem like an unconventional doctor's appointment type of approach, I often find myself getting sucked into this scenario. Life gets too hectic and when many people are pulling at you from different directions, it's often easier to push them off with an email reading: Let's get together the week after next. At least this buys some time in case I need to reschedule or cancel.
The next person brought up in the book is Audrey; a sixteen-year-old high school junior. Audrey is described as a shy individual who always communicates through her phone. Since her parents are divorced, Audrey gets tugged in two different directions with each parents asking her to pass a message along to the other. She describes this as her parent's way of using her like a computer and says, "I am their IM".
Audrey also shares her feelings about social sites, such as Facebook. This is where she can create a "twin", which is the better version of herself. The online, but real version. Her Facebook twin is who she wants to be and how she wants people to perceive her. She constantly has to reshape herself and sometimes that is done through removing photos. This is where Audrey struggles a bit. She explains that is Facebook were no longer around, she would literally freak out. When she removes a photo, she assumes that people can no longer view that photo, which worries her. She feels a false sense of comfort, however, when she thinks that the Internet is one big archive and the picture is never really gone.
The issue that arises with the online version of one's self is a dangerous one. Too many people are getting addicted to Facebook and other social media sites. Addiction in itself becomes a huge issue when you don't realize you are out of control. Recently, the CNN Newsroom in Atlanta, Georgia was broken into by a teenager. All he wanted to do was check his Facebook account, but is now facing major charges.
There are several other dangers to the online world, which is why parents should monitor their teens' social sites. In the book, Audrey explains her most emotional experience on a social networking site. While she was a sophomore in high school, she met a group of Italian exchange students. Since she already took a year of the Italian language, the students introduced her to Italian Myspace where she was able to set up a basic profile. She describes this version of herself as, "older and more experienced". Audrey received a lot of messages from Italian men and was overjoyed. She assumes that since the men are in Italy and she's in America, there is no harm in replying to the messages. She gets a thrill out of it.
The danger is prominent. What most teenagers, especially young women, don't realize is you don't need to have your personal info on the networking site in order for someone to find you. The Internet is a large book of knowledge and all you need is a name and basic location for someone to track you down. There are too many stalkers, child-molesters, and kidnappers just waiting on someone to post one personal thing so they can step in. Below is a short video on just how easy it is for a random person to obtain your info through Facebook.
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