Group items tagged

This article discusses whether our constant use of the internet might actually be changing the way our brains do their work - physically and mentally. Why should the brain retain information if it knows that Google can supplement what it's lost? Studies have shown that our habitual practices can actually change our neuronal structures, and what is more habitual than our constant use of the internet? This article posits that we may be losing some of our capability for contemplative concentration due to technology and a culture that is no longer print-based.

The present study investigates identity construction on Facebook, a newly emerged nonymous online environment. Based on content analysis of 63 Facebook accounts, we find that the identities produced in this nonymous environment differ from those constructed in the anonymous online environments previously reported. Facebook users predominantly claim their identities implicitly rather than explicitly; they "show rather than tell" and stress group and consumer identities over personally narrated ones. The characteristics of such identities are described and the implications of this finding are discussed.

Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships Early research on online self-presentation mostly focused on identity constructions in anonymous online environments. Such studies found that individuals tended to engage in role-play games and anti-normative behaviors in the online world.