Under Identity performance from the reading “The role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life”, Danah Boyd indicates that “people have more control online-they are able to carefully choose what information to put forward, thereby eliminating visceral reactions that might have seeped out in everyday communication.” This is a key factor separating one’s online identity from their offline identity. The internet, as a mediated space, allows people to portray themselves as who they want to be rather than who they really are in offline societies. Each social network user has the total control over the texts, messages and photos he or she posts online. “Please don’t post this photo on Facebook!” become the instant reaction for “bad” photos, further exemplifying the distinction between the online identity one tries to create and the offline identity one tries to ignore.
Online identities are directly tied to the notion of credibility, context, and frame in the exploration of real vs. virtual identities. A person's primary audience online consists of people that they know offline. And because of this direct link between online and offline identities, peoples' actions and presentations of themselves are often being judged from both perspectives. This difference between the impression people present online and offline could bring trouble to their offline life, when others consider it “being fake”.
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