Finding Myself (online)
Being online is my reality. It’s yours too. Us peers in school right now all are dependent upon being online. I feel an immense connection to the study finding that, “online identity narratives are constructed together with other people” (Page et al 2013). In all my classes I tend to do discussions, break out rooms, and feedback a lot like how all my other classmates do. If I get a breakout group in a zoom where my peers are engaging, I’m more comfortable to engage. When everyone is hesitant, discussion is last luster. Also, within discussions the same finding correlates. If there is activity and engaging discussion it motivates others to pitch in. Adults within my experience this semester are able to express themselves better and develop their identity when the environment of their peers is engaging. Therefore, for someone with a developing mind it’s even more important to provide a healthy
As I was reading the Bozkurt & Tu article my first thought was, “maybe Dr. Pazurek really knows what she’s doing.” Bozkurt and Tu (2016) found a conclusion that, “digital identity formation makes learners visible to other learners and increase sense of social presence; in other words, it makes networked learning experiences more humanly which is essential to increase interaction in social learning”. After discovering this, it makes a lot of sense. Knowing more context and perspective from someone allows you to think deeper and more critically about something they share. It can add more creditability to their thoughts or even arise more discussion because you know they may be interested or have knowledge upon something. It our last module when making our profile on Medium we were asked to add a profile picture and a biography. Initially, I was pondering if it was worth my time. However, after reading this study I now understand the reason. I will now before responding to discussions make the attempt to learn more about the author of the post as it will provide a better interaction.
In all honestly, I don’t know if we can protect people on the internet. What we can do is provide resources to help people understand the good and the bad side of the internet. One should have the self control to know which is right and wrong on the internet. The internet doesn’t needs to be censored but it’s user educated. Also, people need to learn how to have healthy relationships online. Learning to have healthy relationships in person is even hard. Therefore there should be an emphasis in learning what it means to provide a great relationship via the web.
