Cyber Culture

Inspired by our recent New Media theory studies on the "cultural imperialism thesis" I decided to break down the effects of new media on aspects of identity creation this week.

In studies researching the effects of social media on web-users' identities, several showed positive effects. These imply that social interaction through social media on the web encourages identity growth, better 'real life' socialisation and better communication with friends and family.
By looking at sub-groups identified by Marshall and Burnett in Webs of Identity, one can see how social media is contributing to the evolution of identity construction and therefore life beyond the 'web bubble' and the impact on 'real world' culture.

With advancements in web based interaction there is a wider platform to interact anonymously, at least to a certain extent.

I earlier discussed the concept of avatar use and this week I want to delve into an aspect of that: how web users use their option to be 'faceless' to offer their opinion or interact with other users and how this impacts on our culture.

After recently watching the 2009 film Surrogates , I realised how pervasive the idea of avatars are becoming in pop culture.