Identity-Be Yourself

• Considering that only 7% of human communication is verbal, and we strip away the other 93% of nonverbal, tonal, and physical communication by interacting through digital technologies, what are some of the societal side effects we can expect?

Already we are mistaking digital communication by misinterpreting the sender's           message as angry, irritated, etc. This has caused arguments and long                   conversations about what message the other person truly meant to convey. 

In my opinion the loss of the other 93% of communication has caused us to suppress our feelings and sense of empathy. When we are limited to merely text, we miss out on basic human interaction. This also causes us to become accustomed to missing nonverbal cues and other types of nonverbal communication. If we continue down this path of increasing technology for communication purposes, these types of nonverbal communication may soon become obsolete.

• What key differences between the generations that have "adapted" to digital technologies and those that have grown up "native" with digital technologies does Rushkoff point out? And why is it relevant to identity?

In terms of identity, the digital "natives" (aka teenagers) are currently wrestling with the lack of privacy and loss of identity. Their social lives are consumed with social media even after they leave school for the day. 

Seemingly, they are going through the tumultuous time of adolescence and are constantly searching for an identity. Interestly enough, this quest for identity typically takes place in nothing other than the digital realm where we are faced with innumerable identities to potentially choose from.

 The author points out that the experimentation, which defines one's adolescent experience, is ultimately being robbed from teenagers today. This type of free experimentation no longer exists because of the net and the many social platforms that adolescents use. 

In this desensitized environment, we are seeing more children that are becoming increasingly narcissistic as a result of social media. The "selfie" trend has become are way for adolescents to feel noticed. The number of "likes" has begun to determine their own self-worth. 

Identity is no longer something that occurs by self-discovery in real-life experiences, but rather becomes the social media profile you generated.

• Respond to this proposal: No one should post anything online anonymously unless under threat of physical or legal persecution. And even then, the ideal behavior would be for everyone to post their similar sentiments and thus make persecution impossible.

Hiding behind anonymity while online is a breeding ground for arguments and completely uncensored and unrestricted commentary. In my experience, I have found that people that hide behind the computer screen are generally out to wage wars on the internet. 

I do agree with Rushkoff 100% when he says that we should always reveal our identity on  a social networking platform. When we are our true selves, there isn't room for negativity or brutal attacks on others. As the author points out, we have too much to lose. 

Engaging in online digital communication normally takes place on some type of social platform, and these people create a reputation for themselves. Not only would you risk losing your reputation, but your online community that you have worked so hard for as well.