RachaelS_DTC
Twitter and Facebook are forms of social media that has changed out lives. Beth Coleman and Clay Shirky have made this argument in their work “Hello Avatar.” With Twitter and Facebook the user can create an “online identity” (pg 38) by controlling the images uploaded, items that are liked, and what is said. With this control, the user is an agent of the medium and can be someone who they are not. Agency is how someone understands themselves in environments and how they engage in their environments. Having another identity seems uncanny, but Coleman and Shirky explain this idea as a cross-reality or x-reality. An x-reality is a “representation of a diversity of network combinations” (pg 20). The network is created by the C3 structure; communication, community, and collaboration. An online community is created between users by following them (Twitter) or becoming friends (Facebook). Within the community, members communicate through posts, sharing and likes (Facebook) or hashtags (Twitter). Each member interacts with the other members and collaborates to express their ideas and opinions. Through the C3 structure, Twitter and Facebook has changed the user by having a second identity that is under their control. With this second identity, the user can ‘hide’ from the impact of reality. Someone can be more open with their beliefs and do not have to face direct criticism because posts can be hidden. Also, the user can create an identity that is not themselves by the items that are liked, hashtaged, or posted.