Multiple online personalities / facets

Barbelith wiki entry on fictionsuits:

"actively encouraged using multiple fiction suits on the board as a way of presenting different aspects of yourself without worrying too much about the contradictions".

Similarly AOL invite you to create an online personality by choosing wallpaper, icons, smileys and sounds.

"Once you've chosen what you want, you have a Personality. You can create additional personalities as you choose.".

Being online liberates opportunities for expressing the multiple facets of your personality. You can adopt a new personality by changing your name (Barbelith) or your online appearance (AOL). These separate facets of your personality are referred to by Sherry Turkle as multiple selves: 'the Internet is redefining human identity, as people explore the boundaries of their personalities and adopt multiple selves.'.

When online a distinct facet of your personality can become an entirely distinct online personality... in other words... a distinct online self.

[tag: personality]