musings on diverse presentations of self

During the early days of cyberculture research, many folks argued for a utopian reading of the digital domain. People could be whomever they wanted. Race, sex, sexuality - it would no longer matter. But, through The Turing Game, Amy Bruckman and gang found that people are not actually able to construct entirely different presentations of self.. much of who they are physically seeps through into their digital presentation. In Sexing the Internet, i argued that coarse profiles are problematic because we interpolate the information we're given to derive a much more detailed (but often inaccurate) image of the other person.

Together, this creates an interesting dilemma for digital presentations of self. Many of us would love to live in a world where issues of difference were to be celebrated, not loathed. But simply wishing for that world doesn't create it. Identity issues play a significant role in how we interact with others and, even when it is not immediately obvious online, it plays into how we present ourselves.

Furthermore, our readings of others' presentations are hugely dependent on our own experiences and our own expectations. The readers of this blog know that we are women and couch all of our statements in this identity. But, in some places in the blogosphere, you might not know the complex identities that come into play when someone posts something. Yet, you still envision the person on the other end. What do they look like? How often do you assume them to be like you?

I often wonder if non-radical blog voices get homogenized not by the presenters, but by the readers. Identity places such a critical role in how we read others and in how we interact with them. While we can often figure out identity features of speakers, it is not written on the blog in the way that it is written on the body. Yet, are folks aware of who they are reading?

Communities with diverse backgrounds coming together to talk about something is often critical. But what does it mean if you cannot discern whether or not there is a diverse crowd participating? What does it mean when the majority of people in the blogosphere are reading and lurking, but not posting?

I don't have any wonderful answers on this, but i'd love to know if anyone out there is thinking about issues of diversity and blogging, not just whether or not diverse groups are blogging, but whether or not they're seen and acknowledged for their diversity.

Btw: if issues of identity presentation (offline and online) are new to you, you might want to pick up Erving Goffman's "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life" or feel free to read my thesis "Faceted Id/entity: Managing Representation in a Digital World"