Theoretical Studies In Fashion SOCIAL MEDIA - Essay Example

TO WHAT EXTEND HAS SOCIAL MEDIA CREATED A PLATFORM FOR PEOPLE TO CREATE FALSE IDENTITY? In this essay research will discuss the adoption of artificial identities, aspects of alternative identity in the social media, and how it relates to fashion. It will start with the positives of using alternative identities in the social media as forms of self expression. In this part, the essay will expound on various issues including the concept of the mask, expressing one’s beliefs and orientations, understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses, and use by minority groups. Here, the essay argues that alternative identities in the social media help people to express their positive feelings and opportunities. Secondly, the essay considers the negative aspects of alternative or false identity in the social media. The essay argues that false identities cause manipulation and exploitation, psychological harm to others, bullying, and other forms of cyber crime. The essay further talks about the issues of appropriation and authenticity, and gaze in relation to false identity and fashion. False identity enables people to appropriate ideas in fashion. It also promotes female gaze which represents sexuality and sometimes may cause intimidation of the subjects. Introduction The purpose of this essay is to find out the relationship between the use of social media and the creation of false identity. It attempts to establish whether the social media has encouraged the creation of false media. If the social media enhances the creation of false identity, then it is important to understand in what ways the social media does so. The essay also identifies the positive and negative effects of fake identity in the social media. The results of the essay will enable the public to identify situations of false identity in the social media and avoid its repercussions such as psychological trauma, conning, and other effects of false identity. The growth of the social media has acted as a medium to create alternation or false identity, causing sinister opportunities (Barker, 2012). Performance artists such as Leigh Bowery and Cindy Sherman have expressly been used as examples of celebrities who alternative their identities in the social media. Fake identity in the social media has positive effects as a form of self-expression, and negative effects as a form of exploitation and perversion. There are various social media networks that people may use to create alternative identities. First, the Instagram is one of the social media channels where people share pictures and interact on iPhone and Android devices. There are approximately 400 million instagram users monthly (Smith, 2015a). Approximately 9% of teenage girls have reported bullying on instagram. Secondly, Facebook has about 1.5 million users. According to Kelly (2012), 72% of adult internet users visit Facebook every month. Kelly (2012) suggests that approximately 83 million accounts created on Facebook are fake, creating false identity. Twitter has about 1 billion registered users (Smith, 2015c). According to Fitzgerald (2012), about 15,000 bullying related tweets are posted every day. Positives of Adopting Alternative Identity Alternative or fake identity acts as a form of self-expression in the social media that gives an individual positive feelings and opportunities. The social media is used by individuals to create and support social process. Therefore, the social media acts as a space through which people can express their identities. For instance, people may express their identity by creating profiles in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. False identity is expressed when the profiles do not represent the true forms of identity of the person (Barker, 2012). Using blogs and positing comments on the social media also defines people’s identities more clearly on the social media. The style of writing, vocabulary and topics chosen in the social media add to the individual’s self-expression and identity. Fake identities act as forms of presenting issues related to privacy, anonymity and undesired disclosure of personal information. The concept of the Mask by Dorian Wiszniewski and Richard Coyne can also explain how the social media has been used to create false identities (Ellison et al, 2011). The authors suggest that the interaction of people in the social sphere creates a mask for each individual. Similarly, the use of alternative identities in the social media creates a mask for the participants to hide their true identities and protect themselves in their self-expression. People create false identities in the social media by providing false information about their age, gender, username, address, and picture. This social media mask does not reveal the real identity of the individual, but presents the character of the person behind the mask. For example, a person who likes rock music may express his interest by creating the profile of a rock star on the social media. The fake profile represents his false identity, but acts as a form of self-expression in which the individual shows his interest and love for the rock music. A mask of identity or alternative identity can also be used as a safety net due to the emotional and psychological dynamism of the social media. The social media exposes users to emotional and psychological problems, making them reluctant to interact online. In this case, users of the social media fear that their identity may be stolen or abused if it is exposed in the social media. Therefore, they choose to evoke alternative identity to express their thoughts and feelings freely without fearing the effects of online exposure. The use of a mask or false identity enables social media users to interact with others confidently and fearlessly. Alternative identity in the social media also helps people to gain a deeper and richer sense of who they actually are. Individuals with false identities can engage in dialogues with others and constantly formulate their masks to help them understand their strengths and weaknesses in a better way. For instance, online communication between students enables them to interact with their courses more deeply, ask questions freely, and exchange information easily so that they can learn their strengths and weaknesses about their class work. Such interactions in the social media enable students to enjoy a degree of separation and anonymity so that they can ask questions and express opinions that they would otherwise fear to express in their true identities. When interacting with false interactions, people do not form preconceptions of each other as they may do in their true identities. People may not recognize the appearance or speech characteristics of the person with false identity. In this regard, false identity enables one to avoid the discomfort of true identity because other people do not know them (Krombholz et al, 2012). False identity eliminates the aspects of prejudice and bias that people receive when others know their true identities. Preconception of true identities leads people to consider the opinions of others in a biased manner. Therefore, one can use false identity to express his or her opinions without attracting subjective bias. Alternative identities also offer people with freedom and an opportunity to express their beliefs and orientations without fear of persecution (Elison et al, 2011). For example, people may want to express personality traits, unique behaviours and other real world identity components that have never been experienced before. This freedom gives opportunities to the society by allowing people to assume different roles of gender and sexuality in a harmless, yet interesting and helpful manner to the people who take up false identities (Krombholz et al, 2012). In this perspective, alternative identities enable people to feel comfortable with various roles in the society which would not have otherwise been expressed through real identities. A good example of a person who has used alternative identity for self-expression is Leigh Bowery. This fashion designer and performance artist has used false identity for freedom of expression and avoidance of the traditional approaches. Leigh Bowery appears in the social media dressed in uniquely dripping colors, overdrawn lips and exaggerated silhouettes which serve to distort his form so that he is not recognizable. Belinky (2015) suggests that Bowery used his body as a canvas for self-expression. This inspired his fashion design because he posts pictures that demonstrate his designs in non-conventional forms. His expression attracted a lot of fans who imitate him and become obsessed with his designs. Therefore, false identity has given him the opportunity to express his designs and performances in an unconventional manner, giving him a lot of benefits in his performance and fashion design career. Alternative expression was used by Leigh Bowery as a way of communicating meaning thorough the body. The performances of Bowery presented his body in form of false eyelash on the lower lid, shaved eyebrows, and orange air (Bracewell, 1994). His make-ups and costumes extended his appearance to inaccessible and unacceptable limits. This unique outfit expressed new ideas and forms of his fashion that had not been experienced ever before (Bracewell, 1994). Bowery also made statements that were articulated through the medium of the body. Therefore, the false identity through the body of Leigh Bowery provided opportunities for the fashion designers and performance artists to express their work in new ways so that they can transform the old perspectives of people into a consumption of new styles and fashions. Leigh Bowery also used alternative identity as a means of expressing his gender role sexual orientation. Traditionally, homosexuality was highly condemned. Therefore, Bowery used unconventional mechanisms to express his sexual orientation as a gay. He was a gay for many years and married his friend Nicola Bateman in 1994 (Bracewell, 1994). In this regard, Bowery used his unique outfit and unconventional lifestyle to express his gender role as a gay and provide him with comfort in his sexual life. Alternative identity in the social media may also be beneficial for minority groups to avoid stereotypical prejudices and attain greater sense of inclusion. Some of the minority groups are identified in terms of sexuality, race, ethnicity, social status, and disabilities. For example, minority ethnic communities may use false identity in the social media by developing profiles that have false information and details of majority groups to shield themselves from stereotypical attacks and bias. In fact, they may wear clothes with new fashion designs and trends to conform to the changing consumerism of the majority members of the community. Furthermore, the minority groups of homosexuals and gays may use alternative identities like Leigh Bowery to express their beliefs more comfortably. The social media also provides a platform for people struggling with their gender roles and sexualities to come together and share their experiences (Krasnova et al, 2009). For example, lesbian and gay teenagers may develop alternative profiles in the social media and join lesbian and gay groups to share their experiences with people who have similar sexual orientations. The anonymity and false identity of participants enable them to interact courageously without fear of stereotypical bias and prejudice against them (Hogg et al, 1995). The false identity makes their interaction non-threatening and non-judgmental, and provides a safe communication for young people with alternative sexuality. According to Surkan (2000), false identity in the social media also plays a crucial role in determining the gender roles of people. He suggests that people can use alternative identities to make independent choices about their sex and sexuality preferences, as well as gender. McRae (2000) also states that gender roles are dependent on people’s choice rather than biological sexualities. People choose the sexual preferences and gender roles that they would like to embody. However, the society uses conventional rules and norms to judge people’s choices of sexuality and gender. Therefore, alternative identities enable people to choose and express their gender roles without direct judgments and exclusion from the society that would have otherwise intimidated them. Alternative identity in the social media also enables users to use selective self-presentation to portray themselves in preferential ways and enhance conformity to the community (Elison, 2013). The virtual environment of the social media provides individuals with the opportunity to choose identity cues that they would want others to identify them with. This curates a desired impression for the individual. Socially mediated communication is usually asynchronous because it takes some time before the message reaches the recipient (Ellison, 2013). Therefore, users of the social media have time to fake their identities and present messages and information that hide their true identity and present positive cues to others. For example, an individual may selectively represent physical cues that hide his true skin colour as an indication of his racial identity in order to avoid discrimination and stigmatization. People with physical disabilities also take advantage of the flexibility of the social media to create alternative identities with which they can control the disclosure of impairment. Stendal (2012) suggests that alternative identities in the social media have the value of improving inclusion in the society. For example, an individual with physical abilities may upload fake or photos of himself performing normal activities so that the society can take him differently from the person he is in reality. Van Gelder (1995) also suggests that alternative identities in the internet are important for people with disabilities because face-to-face interactions would cause unbearable stigma for them. Lack of true identity allows such people to construct and transform themselves and eliminate mental and psychological problems associated with stigma. Negatives of Adopting Alternative Identity On the negative side, malicious people may use alternative or false identities in the social media to falsify their identity and exploit other people. Krasnova (2009) suggests that false identities in online media creates contrasting effects and misrepresentation of online and offline existence for the purpose of exploiting unsuspecting users of the social media. Such exploitations occur in terms of sexual, financial, ideological, and social exploitations. Perversion through false identities also causes emotional and psychological problems such as mental illnesses, stigmatization, low self-esteem, and stress (Krombholz et al, 2012). These pervasive and exploitative experiences through the social media are detailed as the major problems of social media false identities. First, sexuality and sexual issues in the social media are used by sexual predators to cause mental and psychological harm to others (Surkan, 2000). For example, people with pedophilia (psychiatric disorder in which adults become sexually attracted to children and teens) may obscure their identity in the social media by posting fake photos of a young person to attract sexually active teenagers and children. Such activities lead to sexual harassment in the social media because it allows older people to express sexual behaviours to young people in the social media (Surkan, 2000). Some people also post pornographic films in the social media using hidden identities. Such films are not suitable for young users of the social media because it erodes their morality and changes their sexual behaviours negatively (Krombholz et al, 2012). They also have negative impacts on the psychological wellbeing, and cause mental disturbance of young people. Fake identity gives such malicious people the freedom and confidence to post inappropriate sexual content on the social media. Alternative identity also enables users of the social media to control their self-presentation to manipulate and exploit others (Ellison, 2013). For example, old people who would like to exploit young people sexually may mask their physical cues ascribed to the body such as wrinkles and skin colour which give impressions of age and ethnicity respectively. These regulated representations enable malicious people to present false cues that lure unsuspecting victims to their malicious sexual exploitations. McRae (1997) also suggests that online sexual interactions complicates and unsettles the division between the mind, the body and the self. These three elements have become consciously-determined constructs through which people interact with each other in the society. For example, Leigh Bowery used the concept of fashion to develop a conscious construct of his body which interacts with the mind and the self to express his sexuality as a gay. Therefore, the social media may be used to create false identity that is constructed through the mind, the body and the self to influence people’s interaction, causing pervasive consequences. Other psychological aspects include cyber crimes such as bullying and threats are also performed using false identities created in the social media. The social media has offered an appropriate place for cyber bullying. Malicious people create fake identities to bully victims without being recognized in real life. Bullying can be done through intimidating messages, threats and abusive words written by malicious people to their victims through comments, posts and messages (Fitzgerald, 2012,). Criminals also hack social media accounts of victims and post inappropriate messages and photos to ruin the image of victims. This leads to frustration, distress and stigma among victims. Furthermore, cyber criminals use anonymous and fake identities to threaten people and cause intimidation. Malicious people such as fraudsters also use fake identities to cause harm to users of the social media by using the information of social media users to commit financial fraud and other exploitative actions (Krasnova, 2009). For example, hackers and credit fraudsters use information they find in social media to obtain credit information and steal money from unsuspecting victims. Malicious people also use false identity in the social media to steal other people’s identities and obtain unfair financial and economic advantage. For example, a fraudster may fake the identity of a stock market manager broker to distort money from potential investors who want to buy stocks at cheap prices. Therefore, false identities increase the rates of online frauds and financial manipulations. Appropriation and Authenticity Appropriation is the use of something or idea of someone else for one’s own use (Young, 2013). False identity, especially in Instagram, allows malicious people to appropriate the images of others and use them to gain unfair advantage. Authenticity is the use of information or something in the right manner. False identity in the social media undermines the authenticity of information. The social media is an appropriate place where people can easily appropriate ideas, especially in the fashion industry. Cultural appropriation is a common topic of debate in the world today. In this case, people from different cultural backgrounds use each other’s fashion design (Surkan, 2000). For example, people from the Asian origin may appropriate fashion designs of the western styles to look like them. The social media plays a significant role in promoting this issue. For instance, celebrities in different cultures post their photos and messages on the social media which are then used by other people in other cultures to develop their own false identities in the social media. This results to the infiltration and influence of fashion from one culture to another. Hence, the original cultural heritage of the people who appropriate other cultures declines. Trends and styles in the fashion industry are significantly influenced by different cultures. Those who support cultural appropriation of fashion and design claim that appropriation helps to boost appreciation of cultures rather than diminishing them. For example, using false identities in the social media to update or post cultural symbols serves to recognize and appreciate those specific cultures. Appropriation through false identity in the social media also helps to spread the different styles and trends in the fashion industry, leading to competition and increased consumerism in specific fashion designs and fashion brands. Therefore, the social media is an important place where people can develop false identities for appropriation. Gaze in the Fashion Industry The social media can also be used as an important avenue for people to develop false identities that can be used to gaze at other users. Gaze is used as a concept of visual psychoanalysis; and it may cause intimidation of the subjects (Sutton, 2010). Malicious people may use false identities to stalk their subjects as ‘secret’ admirers, and cause intimidation to the subjects who may feel insecure (Surkan, 2000). Gaze is also related to gender because women are usually considered as the objects of gaze. Fashion designers may use photos of women to show different fashion designs, making them object of gaze. Gender is constructed in the fashion industry through the social media. In this case, false identity may be used to help people construct gender without being known. Particularly, women are sexualized through gender construction in fashion media. The looks of women are enhanced through fashion, and posted in the internet to define their sexuality (Surkan, 2000). Various female celebrities are used to demonstrate sexuality in the media. New fashion designs help to provide body representations and portraits of such celebrities in explicit sensation. These women become subjects of gaze which usually attracts men to social media networks that have their photos. However, some women may not be confident or willing to expose themselves publicly as objects of sexuality. Therefore, the use of false identities in the social media helps them to attract female gaze without using their true identities. Conclusion This essay has shown that the social media plays a significant role promoting various aspects of fashion and identity. It has examined how the social media has been used to develop false identity. The social media such as facebook, twitter, instagram, and Pinterest help people to create false identities by allowing them to develop false profiles and withhold personal information and images. Clearly, false identities in the social media have both positive and negative effects on users of the social media. On the positive side, the social media is used to develop false identities which act as forms of self-expression. People misrepresent their real identity so that they can express their beliefs, thoughts, sexuality, and gender without fear of stereotypical bias and prejudice. However, false identities in social media also enhance negative effects of exploitation and perversion. Malicious people use the social media to exploit people financially. They also use false identity to threaten and bully victims, leading to mental and psychological problems such as low self-esteem, stress, and stigmatization. False identities in the social media are also used to construct female gender and sexualities through fashion, leading to gaze and exploitation. They may also be used to appropriate fashion and cause increased infiltration of cultures and fashion designs into new cultures, leading to increased consumerism of fashion across the world. 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