Is there really a difference between your real identity and your online identity? This is a question that has been disputed ever since the rise of social networking and online interactions. The term “online identity” generally has a negative connotation due to identity thefts and fake identity that has happened on the internet. But someone’s online identity can also be a good thing. In Facebook for example, most people use their online identity to share things with their friends and express themselves to many people at once.

What is so interesting and unique about an online identity is how malleable and changeable it can be. A person can create an online identity for themselves that is exactly like how they are in real life. They can talk online how they talk in real life, they can post about things that they are interested about in real life etc. However, this is hard to do when you are behind a computer screen and people can get lost in the idea of being able to create a different identity online. Think about how easy it is to put up pictures that aren’t really yours, or to say things that you would not normally say when you are on the internet. I feel that because of this, nobodies online identity is exactly like their real identity. They are almost like two different dimensions. 

On the most extreme level regarding online identity, there are people who create completely new identities or steal other people’s online identities. These more rare cases are what give the term “online identity” a somewhat negative connotation. The idea that someone can pretend to be a completely different person so successfully online is a very scary thought. People can be scammed, duped, or even worse through identity theft and it is something that people definitely need to be careful of because it affected around 10 million people in 2008 and that number is only increasing. There are some ways of protecting yourself against it, but that area is definitely something that needs to be worked on for the future now that so much of our lives run through the internet.

Overall, your online identity is simply what you make of it. You can attempt to create one exactly like your real self, you can attempt to create a “perfected” version of yourself, and some people can use it to harm others. Online identity is neither a good or a bad thing, it simply is.