Identity On and Offline

Since Kassandra covered the Boyd and Heer Friendster study, I'll go ahead and highlight some topics that the book went over that will help us understand how people create identities in both offline and online environments.
Identity acts as a sort of symbolic marker in a two-fold sort of way. First- our identity is how we want to be seen by others and second-our identity is how others actually see us. While scholars have traditionally described identity to be a fixed part of our nature, more modern arguments tend to define identity as an ongoing process, fluid and flexible. This description of identity has become particularly relevant upon the advent of the internet and CMC. Where identity had been previously defined by physical appearance (race, class, religion), in an virtual online community, these traits are made invisible, thereby avoiding any sort of social hierarchies that dominant ideologies have constructed. With the construction of online identies, people are able to choose different symbolic markers to represent who you are. For example, simply from reading a person's Facebook profile (hometown, political views, favorite things, etc.) we can get a pretty goo idea of what type of person they are (or so we think). When constructing such an online profile, we are able to choose various symbolic markers (ie. pictures, quotes, favorites) to piece together a representation of ourselves. Daniel Chandler refers to this process as bricolage.
Sherry Turkle suggests that online identities are a sort of "second-self"-- a self that is anonymous and disembodied. Because of this anonymity and disembodiment, people are able to have further control over how they wish to be seen online and offers more room for identity play, or acting as something you are not.
In conclusion, it has become evident that identity can no longer be described as a fixed and an inherent part of our nature, especially within CMC. Identity in all forms is a performance that we create as a way of offering others a way to view us.
With this in mind, here are some possible discussion questions:

1. Do you consider online identities real? What are the factors that constitute a "real" identity. How has CMC challenged the traditional definitions of identity?
2. Is online identity more controllable than offline identity? If so, in what ways? What are some positive and negative aspects of controlling identity in an online environment?