Sofie Klapow Post 2

            Identify is defined as the conception and expression of the self.  There are many ways through which people construct their identities. One of these ways is through technologies of the self. Technologies of the self are a means by which people represent themselves. Technologies of the self include social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and user-generated media like YouTube and vine. All of these sites allow for identity construction.  My Facebook homepage for example is a representation of who I am. Different parts of the page say different things about who I am.  If you were to look at my pictures you would be able to get a good representation of what I do and whom I hang out with and if you were to look at my likes you would get a good representation of what kind of book I like and what my favorite TV shows are.  All of these things help me to construct my identity. I think that while my Facebook page is a good example of my identity it is not necessarily my identity all the time. My Facebook page only represents a part of my entire identity.  My Facebook page like many others is a representation of my best self.  That doesn’t mean that everything on my Facebook page is false, it just means that certain stuff is left out and avoided. The contemporary view on identity tells us that identity is a flexible, multidimensional and social constructed sense of self.  This view on identity can is clearly proven through identities of the self. If you were to look at a persons Facebook page 5 years ago chances are it would be a lot different then it is now. People change and there identities change over time.

            One thing technologies of the self and CMC allow for is anonymity, which has led to Identity disembodiment.  Disembodiment is an identity that is free from constraints and no longer dependent on your physical appearance. Anonymity allows you to be whoever you want to be. It allows you to change anything about your identity that you want to. Tumblr is one website that is very free from constrains. On tumblr you can remain completely anonymous if you choose to be unlike Facebook where you are required to put your name on your profile. Tumblr is one of my favorite websites because of the anonymity is allows.  I don’t have to worry about someone that I actually know seeing my blog. People can’t just search your name to find it.  I can be whoever I want to be on tumblr. How I represent myself on tumblr can be completely different from my actual identity because no one there actually knows who I am. People can no longer judge me and make assumptions about my based on how I look.  My followers on tumblr cant see me; all they see are the words that I’m posting and the things that I’m reblogging.  Technologies of the self and disembodiment are two components of CMC that have allowed me to further explore multiple identities and figure out who I am.