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Oscar Olmedo Cruz

Professor Rodrick

English 115

11 October 2018

Technology and Who We Are

We as individuals have always defined our identities based on what we have been

exposed to. In the past however we were much more limited to what was in a close proximity to

us. Due to being limited in forms of contact we also only showed our identities to those around

us. Fast forward to the current decade and we see a massive amount of exposure as well as a

much grander scale to show ourselves. With this change it is argued that technology has

completely changed the way we identify ourselves as well as how we show ourselves. I don’t

feel it is a simple as this however, I would say that we have for sure changed but not as much as

some may think, we simply have a more broad platform to show it on and see.

Along with technology came social media, a place to judge and be judged. We as people

have always sought to be accepted and the current decade is no exception. This is especially

apparent on social media since it is a collective of people who criticize others. “...popular culture

manufactures "portraits" of who it wants us to be. Tapping into our most basic needs to feel good

about themselves, accepted, and attractive, popular culture tells us what we should believe about

ourselves.”(Taylor). Jim Taylor talks about how social media has changed how we identify

ourselves by making us fit a mold that social media gives us instead of being true to ourselves.

While I do agree that a change like this is more apparent now, this is nothing new. There have

always been molds that society has tried to push onto other people so that they fit in more even if
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it's not true. An example being something like a magazine showing what someone should look

like or enjoy through articles or celebrities.

Another aspect of social media that has changed how we see ourselves is the ability to

easily change who we are online. Social media has some anonymity to it, on it anyone can be

anyone changing anything about themselves essentially have more than one identity. David

Baker says it best “a way to re-engineer our identity almost continually and discover what it is

like to be someone very different from our "real" selves.”(Baker). Despite this being very

common online in this age it is not necessarily new. Baker goes on to explain how we as people

grow from experiences like music and books we read and so as we’re exposed to these things

were are continuously changing our identities even offline and before technology expanded this

much.

Despite showing that some of the supposed changes have been around since before

technology, there are new changes with technology. One being with who we express ourselves

with. “For instance, people used to socialize and interact with their neighbors and friends in the

close proximities. However, with technology, people can now interact and establish relationships

with people who are in far distances”(Joresera). Because of the shift in who we expose ourselves

with we now no longer receive purely positive opinions about ourselves from people close to us.

Instead we receive a mix of positive and negative opinions about us from both close people and

people who don’t know us personally.

In the past when telling others about yourself you had more freedom on what you could

say, more specifically you could lie about yourself. Now with the internet and all the social

media sites that people register to its easier to see whether or not someone is telling the truth or

telling a lie because of this “many people spend a lot of time trying to build on a reputation
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across the social media and other social platforms.”(Joresera) The building of reputations isn’t

only for online though, in this day and age your reputation online follows you offline into things

like job interviews where they might check your profile to see if you are someone acceptable.

Because of the possibility of this happening people change who they are online even more

usually leaving who they really are hidden to others and even themselves.

In the past reflecting on yourself would be induced by “quiet feedback from close friends

- the traditional way that we understand how our identity is perceived”(Baker). This allowed to

properly see yourself for who you are and how those that matter saw you. Now instead we have

hordes of people to give their feedback almost instantaneously and with so many people

reflecting what they feel about you, your own identity to yourself becomes blurred and

indistinguishable to you. One would assume that since these people aren’t close that they don’t

matter but as I mentioned earlier, as humans we want to be accepted by others leading us to care

even if it is only a little.

Depression and even worse has become more common with social media. Due to how

some people expose their problems to others hoping for support they sometimes receive the exact

opposite. An example being a british teen taking her own life after venting her problems on an

app call Ask.fm only to receive the following “Anonymous posters urged Smith to cut herself

and drink bleach. One even said, “Do us all a favour and kill ur self."”(Johnson). Even when

someone doesn't necessarily open up about themselves just being on social media can make you

depressed. In another article by Kelsey Sunstrum she talks about her friend who deleted her

instagram and when she asked why she was told “She deleted her Instagram because she felt

herself becoming depressed by it. The pressure of taking the right picture, with the right filter,
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wearing the right outfit, at the right place, with the right people was too much pressure.”

(Sunstrum).

In conclusion technology has moderately altered how people view themselves but not

entirely since some of these aspects of technology and identities have been around since even

before technology. Technology has blurred the perception of people because of all the negative

feedback received. Technology has made people feel like they need a reputation and hide all the

negative traits they have even if it their true self. These same masses most of the time give

negative feedback leading to possible depression or worse.

Work Cited
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Baker, David. “How Disconnecting the Internet Could Help Our Identity.” BBC News,

BBC, 1 Apr. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35895719.

Johnson, Chandra. “Growing up Digital: How the Internet Affects Teen Identity.”

DeseretNews.com, Deseret News, 28 May 2014,

www.deseretnews.com/article/865603981/Growing-up-digital-How-the-Internet-

affects-teen-identity.html.

Joresera. “How Does Technology Influence Our Identities?” Joint Research, 13 Aug. 2016,

joint-research.org/technology-influence-identities/.

Sunstrum, Kelsey. “How Social Media Affects Our Self-Perception.” World of Psychology,

13 Mar. 2014, psychcentral.com/blog/how-social-media-affects-our-self-perception/.

Taylor, Jim. “Technology: Is Technology Stealing Our (Self) Identities?” Psychology

Today, Sussex Publishers, 27 July 2011, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-

power-prime/201107/technology-is-technology-stealing-our-self-identities.