When worlds collide

Continuing the (vague) theme of when real world meets digital world, here are a couple of my favourite things on the subject.

The first is an article I came across a few weeks back about the emerging battle between the 'real-life' socialites (as charted by socialiterank.com) and the 'digital' celebs of MySpace. It's a good read, includes a great definition of digital fame courtesy of the New York Post ('if you have your own Wikipedia entry, been downloaded more than 50,000 times on YouTube.com, crucified on three gossip sites, and boast more than 10,000 MySpace acquaintances, then you've made it onto the virtual A-list') and has links to the 'top' digital celebrities like Mahir Cagri and geriatric1927.

A few months I ago a saw a piece in the New Scientist describing the rise of crime in the cyberworld and how it's spilling out into real life. That's old news now, but since then the story's developed: if there's crime, there are criminals and criminals need to be tried...so now you can hire a lawyer trained in the real world at Harvard Law School to practise in the virtual one. Weird.

My inaugural post

So this is my first time publishing on the web, and it is a strange feeling knowing that my thoughts can be read by anyone in any part of the world. What image of myself does this blog create? What image do I want to portray? I've struggled with this, wondering if I should be accurate and true to my 'real' self or whether I should create a digital identity which reflects how I would like to be and how I would like others to see me. Some psychologists will tell you that it is only when we are freed of the social rules and conventions that normally influence our behaviour that we reveal our true identity. If this is the case, I'm interested to know how the web will influence the cultural aspects of identity. Countries like China or India are traditionally described as collectivist societies where individual differences are suppressed in many social situations and the individual aims to modify his/her behaviour in order to emphasise the similarities between themselves and those around them. Consequently, societies both accept and encourage each individual to have several 'selfs' that are portrayed in different situations as appropriate. In more individualistic societies like the US and UK, individuality is cherished and encouraged. A practical example of the difference between the two different types of society is in the way that school children talk about themselves. Ask a child from the UK or US to describe themselves and typically they will talk about the features of their appearance that set them apart from others (e.g. 'tall, red-headed, wear glasses'). In contrast, school children from a more collectivist society will emphasise what they have in common (e.g. 'a member of x school, a Hindu'). See here or here for the really scholarly stuff on this). This being the case, how does blogging - when the act itself is a demonstration of one's own individuality - impact on an individual's sense of self? With the opportunity to express your own unique take on the world, does blogging strengthen your image of yourself as a unique individual? Ultimately, what impact could this have in the 'real' world, where stronger senses of personal individuality could undermine the social conventions governing many collectivist societies?