It's my story, 'like' it or not!

Millions of individuals on a daily basis now produce online selves, with 50% of Facebook users logging in everyday (McNeill, L. 2012). The popularity of social networks, such as Facebook, suggests the human need for communication and interaction, and sharing our 'narrative', is rapidly increasing.

Although Facebook claims to be authentic, as users are required to sign up with a real name which is then verified by a date of birth and email address there are still millions of fake accounts, allowing the user power to create an identity that may or may not be authentic.

Each individual user is able to write their own story, and become part of other users journeys through the site, whether it is through commenting on or liking another users post, or merely just observing. As suggested by van Luyn (2013) "self narratives, like maps, are constructs for a particular purpose and context".  As such, are these fake profiles a fictitious narrative for he user, or are they a means of predatory cyber-stalking, or are they just created to experience and observe the lives of others online?

How real is an 'authentic' user anyway? Although you may use your real name for your profile, so that mean you are anymore authentic than those who choose to create a fake or alias account?  There is no filter on the site to prevent you from posting a fake experience with other users.  Facebook has created a virtuality where users can be whoever they want to be, say whatever they want to say and observe whom they want to observe.  I found it very interesting when researching how to detect a fake Facebook account, as it encourages the user to "do some detective work" i.e. lurk around this users profile to see what information you can divulge. Does this not make you the cyber-stalker that you were initially trying to escape???

Reference List:

How to reveal a fake Facebook account, retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Reveal-a-Fake-Facebook-Account, retrieved from Google

McNeill, L. 2012, There is no 'I' in network: social networking sites and posthuman auto-biography
Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

van Luyn, A. 2013, BA1002 'Our Space: Netwokrs, Narrative and the making of Place' Lecture: week 4, Part 1 Networked Narratives, retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Image Credit:

Question Mark Face, retrieved from http://www.opensecrets.org/news/assets_c/2011/03/Question-mark-face-4346.html found on Google