It seems that ever since Instant Messenger became popular, people it is amusing to change their identities. Maybe they do it for fun, or maybe they are unsatisfied with who they are. Perhaps, they just want to step into the shoes of a different life, to feel special. I remember when I first started instant messaging on AOL in middle school. I would talk to my friends for hours or even have them over and go in the "singles chat." There, we would play games on the middle aged men and women. Cruel as it may have been, we had our giggles.
When I think about how we communicate online, I realize how easy it is to be ourselves or someone else. It's as easy to be open and honest as it is to be cruel and dishonest. It's the fact that we are not seen, that even though we may hurt or play with others, we don't feel as bad. Our identity is hidden from the world. We can be anything we want to be and say what we want to say. I believe this is one of the reasons blogging has become so popular in the last 5 years. Blogging has given people the opportunity to say things that they might not say in public. Being able to say anything and hide your identity is a great way to express how you feel and still "save your" face to the outside world. That's just one of the many great powers technology gives us.
With the better innovations on online games, like with RPG elements, we are given the opportunity to step into the shoes of a fantasy-like character and interact within their world. It's neat for a fifty-six year old man to pretend to be a general of the Horde and lead his army into battle to fight the ravaging undead or a boy that is paralyzed from the waist down, charging into battle.
Whatever the case may be, the ability to change our "self" has expanded many different forms in communication from Blogging to playing World of Warcraft. It has allowed us to be whatever our imagination desires.
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