Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet Export

@book{citeulike:197297, abstract = {{Sherry Turkle is rapidly becoming the sociologist of the Internet, and that's beginning to seem like a good thing. While her first outing, <i>The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit</i>, made groundless assertions and seemed to be carried along more by her affection for certain theories than by a careful look at our current situation, <i>Life on the Screen</i> is a balanced and nuanced look at some of the ways that cyberculture helps us comment upon real life (what the cybercrowd sometimes calls RL). Instead of giving in to any one theory on construction of identity, Turkle looks at the way various netizens have used the Internet, and especially MUDs (Multi-User Dimensions), to learn more about the possibilities available in apprehending the world. One of the most interesting sections deals with gender, a topic prone to rash and partisan pronouncements. Taking as her motto William James's maxim "Philosophy is the art of imagining alternatives," Turkle shows how playing with gender in cyberspace can shape a person's real-life understanding of gender. Especially telling are the examples of the man who finds it easier to be assertive when playing a woman, because he believes male assertiveness is now frowned upon while female assertiveness is considered hip, and the woman who has the opposite response, believing that it is easier to be aggressive when she plays a male, because as a woman she would be considered "bitchy." Without taking sides, Turkle points out how both have expanded their emotional range. Other topics, such as artificial life, receive an equally calm and sage response, and the first-person accounts from many Internet users provide compelling reading and good source material for readers to draw their own conclusions. }}, author = {Turkle, Sherry}, citeulike-article-id = {197297}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike09-20&amp;path=ASIN/0684833484}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike01-21&amp;path=ASIN/0684833484}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike06-21&amp;path=ASIN/0684833484}, citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://www.amazon.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684833484}, citeulike-linkout-4 = {http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684833484/citeulike00-21}, citeulike-linkout-5 = {http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike07-20&path=ASIN/0684833484}, citeulike-linkout-6 = {http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/0684833484}, citeulike-linkout-7 = {http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0684833484}, citeulike-linkout-8 = {http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?keywords=0684833484&index=books&linkCode=qs}, citeulike-linkout-9 = {http://www.librarything.com/isbn/0684833484}, comment = {(Thoughts on Chapter 10 - "Identity Crisis") In a nutshell, Turkle is arguing that "the many manifestations of multiplicity in our culture, including the adoption of online personae, are contributing to a general reconsideration of traditional, unitary notions of identity" (260). I have a really difficult time reading psychology-based literature. I don't get psychoanalytic theories. This made it hard for me to enjoy or really appreciate what Turkle is doing in this chapter. This chapter seems like a conclusion to the whole book, and what I am wondering about is if Turkle is positing a new theory for psychoanalysis that takes into account her ethnographies. I also have trouble with thinking about "identity." I don't really believe in "multiple identities." I believe that they all tie together in some way, which made me receptive to many of Turkle's argument here about multiplicity, flexibility, and fluidity. I really liked the paragraph on the bottom of page 267 that related what people are doing online with self-representation and how simulated science experiments, financial transactions, and digital art relate to each other. This could be turned into a whole book on New Media. ---=note-separator=--- What is the relationship between identity and personality? Does Turkle use them interchangeable? What the the properties of one's "identity" in various online environments? Does she have a clear notion of what a "crisis" is (and by extension, what an "identity crisis" is)? }, day = {04}, howpublished = {Paperback}, isbn = {0684833484}, keywords = {1digitalyouth, agency, identity, psychology, sociology, theory}, month = {September}, posted-at = {2005-07-28 18:58:55}, priority = {3}, publisher = {{Simon \& Schuster}}, title = {Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet}, url = {http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike07-20&path=ASIN/0684833484}, year = {1997} }

TY - BOOK ID - citeulike:197297 L3 - citeulike-article-id:197297 N2 - {Sherry Turkle is rapidly becoming the sociologist of the Internet, and that's beginning to seem like a good thing. While her first outing, <i>The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit</i>, made groundless assertions and seemed to be carried along more by her affection for certain theories than by a careful look at our current situation, <i>Life on the Screen</i> is a balanced and nuanced look at some of the ways that cyberculture helps us comment upon real life (what the cybercrowd sometimes calls RL). Instead of giving in to any one theory on construction of identity, Turkle looks at the way various netizens have used the Internet, and especially MUDs (Multi-User Dimensions), to learn more about the possibilities available in apprehending the world. One of the most interesting sections deals with gender, a topic prone to rash and partisan pronouncements. Taking as her motto William James's maxim "Philosophy is the art of imagining alternatives," Turkle shows how playing with gender in cyberspace can shape a person's real-life understanding of gender. Especially telling are the examples of the man who finds it easier to be assertive when playing a woman, because he believes male assertiveness is now frowned upon while female assertiveness is considered hip, and the woman who has the opposite response, believing that it is easier to be aggressive when she plays a male, because as a woman she would be considered "bitchy." Without taking sides, Turkle points out how both have expanded their emotional range. Other topics, such as artificial life, receive an equally calm and sage response, and the first-person accounts from many Internet users provide compelling reading and good source material for readers to draw their own conclusions. } SN - 0684833484 TI - Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet PB - {Simon & Schuster} KW - 1digitalyouth KW - agency KW - identity KW - psychology KW - sociology KW - theory N1 - (Thoughts on Chapter 10 - "Identity Crisis") In a nutshell, Turkle is arguing that "the many manifestations of multiplicity in our culture, including the adoption of online personae, are contributing to a general reconsideration of traditional, unitary notions of identity" (260). I have a really difficult time reading psychology-based literature. I don't get psychoanalytic theories. This made it hard for me to enjoy or really appreciate what Turkle is doing in this chapter. This chapter seems like a conclusion to the whole book, and what I am wondering about is if Turkle is positing a new theory for psychoanalysis that takes into account her ethnographies. I also have trouble with thinking about "identity." I don't really believe in "multiple identities." I believe that they all tie together in some way, which made me receptive to many of Turkle's argument here about multiplicity, flexibility, and fluidity. I really liked the paragraph on the bottom of page 267 that related what people are doing online with self-representation and how simulated science experiments, financial transactions, and digital art relate to each other. This could be turned into a whole book on New Media. N1 - What is the relationship between identity and personality? Does Turkle use them interchangeable? What the the properties of one's "identity" in various online environments? Does she have a clear notion of what a "crisis" is (and by extension, what an "identity crisis" is)? AU - Turkle, Sherry PY - 1997/09/04/ UR - http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike09-20&amp;path=ASIN/0684833484 ER -