Explore the Cyborg in You

Who Are You in Cyberspace?

This hub of the Communication and Society in the Digital Age Project is dedicated to exploring the impact of computer-mediated communication on our perceptions of self and identity.

As ever greater numbers of people come online it has become obvious that the "virtual self" is not the same in many cases as the "real self." People often act quite differently online from the way they normally do in real life. Not only are traditional communication patterns, rituals, and ettiquette changing as we move toward the Digital Age, but the very notion of self is coming under attack as people take on virtual personae under the clock of electronic anonymity. At present we know very little abou t how people's conceptions of self, of relationships, of language, etc., may change as they communicate increasingly with those they do not know, cannot see, whose gender and identity may forever remain a mystery, in electronic spaces without geographical meaning. Moreover, we have only the beginnings of an understanding about how people feel about their virtual selves and the impact that online interaction may have on people's real world lives.

At the same time people are logging onto the Internet more often, they are also becoming increasingly "wired." Humans have always searched for ways to extend their physical and mental capabilities, but the rapid pace of technological change of the late 2 0th century has brought unparalled possibilites within reach or at least within sight. Some analysts foresee a future in which we have the capability to embed communications equipment in our bodies to allow us to surf the web, make plane reservations, fi nd our location on the globe to within a meter, and get directions across town without looking for a computer. Though we have a few years to figure out what these possibilities might mean, it seems clear that major changes are on the horizon and now is n ot too soon to start thinking hard about what we want the future to look like. Do we want a world full of cyborgs?

To help unravel these puzzles this hub of the web site seeks to provide information, analysis, and links to other resources to answer the following core questions among others.

Contents

Links to Digital Publications

Our list of links to academic work dealing with the virtual self includes a growing number of articles for which students have written concise abstracts to allow those pursuing particular interests to quickly find what they are seeking.

Bibliography of Hard Copy Publications

Much of the best work on virtual self issues still rests on the printed page.

Links to Digital Publications

Topic Areas

Online Personae and Behavior

Gender and Sexuality

Susan Herring (June 1994), "Gender Differences in Computer-Mediated Communication: Bringing Familiar Baggage to the New Frontier"

Herring argues that women and men have recognizably different styles of CMC contrary to the oft heard claim that CMC erases gender distinctions. She also argues that women and men have different values when it comes to online communication. As in th e real world, men tend to dominate online discussions, to be more aggressive and competitive in tone (read: they flame a lot). Women, on the other hand, are far more likely to communicate in a polite, cooperative manner. The result, argues Herring, is that many discussion groups or communities on the Net are inhospitable toward women.

Cyborgs

Alexander Chislenko (November 1995), "Are You a Cyborg?"

Chislenko argues that cyborgization is an ongoing process that has been taking place forever as humans have sought to counter the inherent limitations of the human body. Chislenko argues that the same approaches taken to improve outdated computer sys tems are those humans have used to improve their capabilities. Instituting parallelism and specialization, creating redundancy, wrapping old pieces of the system with new ones, adding external aids, and in rare but increasingly frequent cases, replacing parts of the system that are relatively well understood. Chislenko offers a self-test for the reader to help them decide how far along in their cyborgization they are, with the intention of showing you just how far gone you really are.

Gareth Branwyn (1993), "The Desire to be Wired" Wired 1.4

Branwyn surveys the current state of technology research and practice in the realm of auditory and visual prosthesis, functional neuromuscular stimulation, and prosthetic limb control via implanted neural interfaces. Branwyn notes that current practi ce is nowhere near The Hype but that nonetheless technology has and will continue to offer new capabilities with enormous implications for individuals and society.

Virtual Selves/Real World Selves

Bibliography of Hard Copy Publications

Turkle, Sherry Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet (New York: Simon and Schuster 1995)

Turkle, a psychologist and Professor of the Sociology of Science at MIT, has produced the best work to date on the Digital Age is changing our perceptions of the self, of how the mind works, and of why people behave as they do online. She argues that the Internet has brought postmodernism to the streets as we confront the decentered and multiple identity encouraged by both the computer interface and by people's experiences in virtual communities.
Turkle, Sherry The Second Self (data to come)

Turkle's earlier work is extremely valuable for those seeking to understand our relationships with computers and communications technologies more generally. Turkle argues that by examining our interactions with computers we learn much about ourselves . Howard Gardner wrote in the New York Times Book Review: "Anyone who wishes to know about the effects of computers on American society today would do well to read The Second Self."
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