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Kathy Huizar
Jennifer Rodrick
English 115
27 September 2016
Final Project Web Essay
Do you enjoy seeing your family, friends and society creating a world of illusions with
their own devices that pertains to their identity? Society focusses more on social media and to
what others post thus creating entertainment to fill the lust of a persons selfish mentality in order
to feel good about themselves. The digital identity is modifying our lives and losing sight of our
real lives. It is crucial to understand that society has placed social media in a position of
destroying our identities since we are steered to lower self-esteem and create false identities.
Low self-esteem is a component of social media that has shaped different identities.
According to the article, Social Media Sites As A Means Of Coping With A Threatened Social
Identity authors Schmalz, et al, inform:
In November 2011, following, liking, and being associated with The Pennsylvania
State University (PSU) took an unpleasant turn, as news spread of an alleged
university coverup of several instances of child molestation committed by former
PSU assistant football coach Gerald Jerry Sandusky. The subsequent talking
points prevalent on SMS precipitated a variety of coping responses among
individuals who identified with the university and/or the PSU football team (21).
The fact that an individuals decision to follow and like, deprived from thinking of the
consequences that was inefficiency claimed without proof of the coverup demonstrates the

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false accusations due to the lack of honest communication. These factors composes of incidents
that low self-esteem because it negatively with-drew the true identity from a person. Another
example that portrays low self-esteem is when the author, Hongladarom of the article, Personal
Identity And The Self In The Online And Offline World evaluates:
A main characteristic of social networking is to form webs of links among
persons whose identities are there on the social networking websites. It is
typical for a member of Facebook to have hundreds of friends. It does not
matter how many of these friends are those whom the member actually meet
and interact in real life; what does matter is that the interaction is taking place
more and more online. The line between the real person (or the offline one) and
her projection onto social networking sites (her online self) is becoming
blurred (534).
In other words, digital lives only provides the satisfaction that having more is better which
blurs, losing sight of their real identity versus the digital identity. It reduces the amount of selfesteem since people are losing confidence to create bond in person than online. It is removing a
safe and appropriate communication in order to fulfil interaction online despite the danger that a
friend could have a fake identity or hide their personality from their true motives.
Social media it has also detrimentally controlled the identities of individuals which
results in false identities. In the article, You Don't Look Like Your Profile Picture Blanco, et
al, claims, the internet, and the technologies that have come to be known as social media, have
ushered in a new era of identity construction. As a result of technological changes, it is now
possible for individuals and organizations to create online identities, which are only loosely
connected to their material reality (139). The authors point expresses that the innovative

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technology allows personal information to be materialize which is a negative appeal because it is
hiding ones actual characteristic. Social media should instead enhance a contribution of real
identities in order to elaborate new ideologies based upon true personalities. Therefore, through
the progress of collaboration effectively, it would develop an environment that respects,
recognizes and accepts an individuals true identity. However, a factor that prohibits the growth
of true identity is when the authors also mentions, perhaps one of the darkest examples of the
risks of disingenuous online identity construction is the emergence of the catfish phenomenon. A
catfish is someone who pretends to be someone theyre not using Facebook or other social media
to create false identities (140). It steals the opportunities to develop ones identity thus defeating
the purpose of accepting for who they are. The catfish phenomenon prevents the environment to
be establish since people abuse their power thus succumb to false identities.

In addition, the illustration coveys that people are being trap by their digital lives making it
harder for a person to escape the false identity they created online. Our attention focuses more on
the digital identity than to interact with the people around us. This identity attaches to the person
which lowers self-esteem because people rely more on the device to socialize and as a result
removing themselves from life opportunities of communicating truthfully. The digital
communication hides the true actions and feelings of a persons intention which creates an easier
access to run away from problems rather than confront them. People should face these problems

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and improve their flaws instead of escaping from relying on the device. The prisoners are
sinking in a cage of low self-esteem and are being imprisoned by the false identity to the extent
of our identities to be hidden because of social media influencing more victims to partake in the
secrecy of a digital world.
People are being devour by the effects of social media prior to lowering self-esteem and
easy access to create false identity. It affects society negatively because people are being
controlled by social media thus not thinking ahead of the consequences of their actions. We
should just only access social media to create bonds that reveals our true identity and not hide it
from the world. It should be used when it is needed to reduce the self-esteem and selfish
motivation a false identity. Instead social media should be used to help look in a better
perspective to improve flaws of a person and reflect respectfully to reduce the amount of low
self-esteem and false identities. Technology in aspects of social media creates a type of world
that allows an individual to escape their reality. However, a persons real identity will diminish
the war of low self-esteem and false identity online and in return create stronger bonds between
the people thus waking up from their illusion world.

Work Cited
Blanco Ramrez, Gerardo, and Lyssa Palu-ay. "You Don't Look Like Your Profile Picture: The
Ethical Implications Of Researching Online Identities In Higher Education." Educational

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Research & Evaluation 21.2 (2015): 139-153.Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Sept.
2016.
Hongladarom, Soraj. "Personal Identity And The Self In The Online And Offline World." Minds
& Machines 21.4 (2011): 533-548. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.
Schmalz, Dorothy L., Craig M. Colistra, and Katherine E. Evans. "Social Media Sites As A
Means Of Coping With A Threatened Social Identity." Leisure Sciences 37.1 (2015): 2038. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.