All of this had me wondering about what blogs reveal implicitly, what the choices we make regarding our blogs say about us. The interesting part of this line of thought consists of considering how what bloggers don’t say about themselves combines with what they do say to help from a new online identity that exists somewhere between fact and fantasy.I’ll start with a statement that will blow your mind.
Though you may not know it, I have already shaped your perception of me.
Queue X-Files music. Kinda creepy, huh? No, it’s not some alien mind trick. There’s a reasonable explanation for all of this. So how did I do it you ask?
Some of you may have seen me in class, or around campus, but don't know anything about me. To many of you, I am no more than a name. Still, you have formed an impression, a feeling, if you will, for who I am and what I'm like. All of this, from a single blog page.
Just by changing the template of my blog, I can change your opinion of what I'm like. You might have ascertained that I'm a serious individual from my current template. It is simple and sparse, containing only necessary elements. The colours are sober and traditional, indicating that I am calm and reserved. The sans-serif font is simple and easy-to-read, demonstrating that I value function over form. If you know a bit about Blogger and how it works, you might also be aware of the fact that this template is built-in and requires no programming knowledge to set up. This is an identity I have built through my blog in order to reflect not only my subject matter, but also my desire to present myself in a reasoned academic matter.
A few clicks, and I can erase this identity. Were I to change the template of my blog to include bright polka dots, a fussy, feminine font and vibrant colours, your perception of me might change. You might consider me a girlie-girl, someone who pays more attention to superficial, physical characteristics than putting any substance into my posts.
I am conscious of the way the choices I make when constructing my blog shape the perception of myself and my message. My choice of template reflects who I want to be online, but doesn’t necessarily give you the whole story. For example, while I am using a default template, I have considerable experience in coding HTML and CSS and building websites both with web authoring tools and by hand. Those who know me well can attest to the fact that I’m generally a quirky individual and tend not to be boring and staid (except on my bad days). While we’re at it, my favourite colour is a bright, vibrant orange, not a calm but admittedly predictable shade of blue. For the most part, you can glean some information from my blog. I am pretty reserved, and I’m serious about my studies. I found the layout attractive, after all, so that says something.
What does this mean? Well, for starters, it means I had you duped until I opened my big fat mouth (or flexed my clumsy typing fingers) and told you.
But a blog reveals more than the choices I make in constructing it. I have to consider what the subject matter of the blog reveals about me and my interests. This is harder to fake. While I could conceivably start a blog about something that holds no interest to me (like, say, Thomas Carlyle) it’s pretty darn unlikely that I’ll ever get up the gumption to post much of note.
Incidentally, creating a blog is, in a way, an implicit construction of ourselves as experts on some subject. Even I the blog is just a personal diary, it conveys the idea that you are an expert about yourself. Not glamorous, but it’s still something.
The gadgets on my blog also reveal a bit about me. One could conceivable gain insight into my psyche by analyzing my blogroll, (to see which blogs I like to read) or my choice to allow people to subscribe to my blog.
As you can see, almost every detail of a blog has meaning. Even if I choose to give out real-life personal information, any information about my real-life identity is tempered by the impressions that my blog imparts. There’s more to blogging than just posting a few messages and hoping for replies. You really have to think about exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it. After all, in this day and age, you never know how the information you provide can be used against you.
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It doesn't surprise me that much that most people reveal about themselves. In some cases, they really are that trusting; in others, they just don't care. And even when they are creating a false identity, they feel secure enough behind a fake name to add in their real-life experiences to their online persona. They might only alter the context of those real-life events. "When I was riding my bike to school..." might become "When I was driving to work...", but the story itself would be real.
ReplyDeleteAnd usually, even if you're pretending to be somebody else, who you really are comes through in your writing, with respect to your topic. How you talk about a certain thing may display how you feel about it, how seriously you take it.
Then again, somebody crafty enough could fake that too. And you're right about what many people assume. But those who know to look correctly, see more. ;)