Annotated Bibliography: The construction of the self in a digitalized world

Topics of Interest: 

Self v. Digital Self
Constructing the self in a digital world
Reality v. Hyper Reality in relation to the digital world
Creating a false sense of the self
Virtual Reality and Public Sphere

These topics interest me the most because I would like to further understand the notion of ‘the self’ vs. ‘the digital self’. In what ways does this impact our student’s thoughts, interests, and lives as a whole? As educators, we are surrounded by students on a daily basis, in order to better understand the students and the lives that they live we must first understand who they are and the means by which they represent themselves both on and offline. Delving into this topic will hopefully deepen my understanding of the personas students create in order to embody someone they could only ever dream of being like. The hidden world of online personas is a topic few scholars have written about but, I believe pushing the research even further will help me better understand the underlying driving force behind the ‘why’.

Questions:

Why do people (students) represent themselves one way online and then another way in person?
How/what does our online persona tell us about who we are as individuals?
How does the way in which we represent ourselves online reciprocate the way we represent ourselves offline?

*My apologies, when I copied my citations over from Microsoft word the formatting got weird and has spaces in places that shouldn't have extra spaces! Thanks for understanding :) 

Annotated Bibliography

Papacharissi, Z. (2002). The virtual sphere: the internet as a public sphere. New Media &           Society, 4, 9-27. doi: 10.1177/14614440222226244
This article discusses the internet as a public sphere and the information accessed on this platform is thought of as ‘public’ and by no means private. The author goes on to further explain anonymity online and how the absence of face-to-face communication allows for freedom of expression and allows users to omit information about themselves they do not feel truly “represents” who they are.

Robinson, L. (2007). The cyberself: the self-ing project goes online, symbolic interaction in the     digital age. New Media & Society, 9, 93-110. doi: 10.1177/1461444807072216
This article goes in depth with an explanation about the ‘looking-glass’ theory and its direct connection to ‘the self’. The author demonstrates a postmodernism approach to understanding the creation of the cyber ‘I,’ ‘me,’ and ‘other’. This article will help further my research because it will add an interesting perspective in relation to ‘the self’ vs. ‘the online self’. This will further my research because this understanding of the cyberself will allow me to explore the concept of the digital selfie and how the online self is a fabricated version of the offline self.

Schau, H. J., & Gilly, M. C. (2003). We Are What We Post? Self-Presentation in Personal Web Space. Journal of Consumer Research, 30, 385-404.

This article raises the awareness of consumer identities and how computer-mediated environments (CMEs) have emerged through the creation of virtual worlds. This article will be useful in my research as I explore consumer identities and the affiliative relationships students foster with others and social groups. The creation of a consumer identity is the intention to want what we choose not to have and through the virtual CMEs one is able to create an identity that reflects who they are and who they believe themselves to be.

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved October 28, 2015, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.
This article presents an explanation of the Connectivism theory and how technology impacts this theory. The learning theory is further broken down into three focuses: Objectivism, Pragmatism, and Interpretivism. This article will be useful in my research when looking at the ways in which technologies have begun to rewire and reshape the ways in which we think.

Zhao, S. (2005). The Digital Self: Through the Looking Glass of Telecopresent Others.           Symbolic Interaction, 28, 387-404.
This article looks at the impact telecopresence has on individuals and its direct connection to ‘the self’ along with the differences between the “digital self” and the disembodiment of ‘the self’ in the online world. The author explores the “looking glass” theory and the three stages teenagers go through in order to establish this notion of ‘the self’. This article will be particularly helpful in my research when further exploring adolescence and this particular stage in a teenager’s life and its direct connection to the representation of ‘the self’ vs. ‘the digital self’.

Here is a list of (potential) references that will be used for my research*

References

Ackermann, E. K. (2004). Constructing Knowledge and Transforming the World. Chapter             published in: A Learning Zone of one’s own: Sharing representations and flow in collaborative learning environments, 1, 15-37.

Belk, R. (2013). Extended Self in a Digital World. Chicago Journals: Journal of Consumer           Research, 40, 477-500.

Clark, E. J. (2010). The Digital Imperative: Making the Case for a 21^st- Century Pedagogy.             ScienceDirect: Computers and Composition, 27, 27-35.

Garcia-Montes, J.M., Caballero-Munoz, D. & Perez-Alvarez, M. (2006). Changes in the self      resulting from the use of mobile phones. Media, Culture & Society, 28, 67-82. doi: 10.1177/0163443706059287

Hull, G. A. (2003). At Last: Youth Culture and Digital Media: New Literacies for New Times. National Council of Teachers of English, 38, 229-233.

Papacharissi, Z. (2002). The virtual sphere: the internet as a public sphere. New Media &           Society, 4, 9-27. doi: 10.1177/14614440222226244

Schau, H. J., & Gilly, M. C. (2003). We Are What We Post? Self-Presentation in Personal Web   Space. Journal of Consumer Research, 30, 385-404.

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved October 28, 2015, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.

Steuer, J. (1992). Defining Virtual Reality: Dimensions Determining Telepresence. Journal of     Communication 4, 73-92.

Suler, J. (2002). Identity Management in Cyberspace. Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 4, 455-459.

Thomas, A. (2004). Digital Literacies of the Cybergirl. E-Learning, 1, 358-382.

Zhao, S. (2005). The Digital Self: Through the Looking Glass of Telecopresent Others.          Symbolic Interaction, 28, 387-404.