Online Dating: From Taboo to 'Woohoo!'

Critical reflection:

I chose to base my module two assessment on the online dating component of the unit. Specifically, I was interested in the way that online dating has evolved from a stigmatised act to an accepted and normal phenomenon. To convey this, I decided to do a 'vlog' style speech and weave relevant material in and out of the video to break it up and keep it [hopefully] interesting for the viewer. The creative aspect of my video included recording someone Googling and clicking on the webpage for eHarmony, as well as another clip of a person toggling with the Tinder app on their phone. As neither of these people were visually identified in the video, I felt that there would be no need to obtain official written consent. I incorporated small clips from eHarmony and match.com's YouTube adverts in order to give a certain part of my speech context. After researching the 'fair use' law based on YouTube's own rules, I came to the conclusion that as it was for not-for-profit and educational purposes, it should be okay for me to use these short clips. I also decided to download screen-capture software and record my screen as I was signing up for match.com. This meant that the viewer can see me filling out details that the site prompts you for, and choosing interests and hobbies that go towards determining who ones 'matches' are. I also included screenshots I took of the front pages of online dating websites to use when breaking up large amounts of speech, such as at the start of the video.

In order to gain scholarly resources for this assignment, I based my topic off the prescribed reading 'Shopping for love: online dating and the making of a cyber culture of romance' by Sophia DeMasi. I found this reading very helpful as it provided a great foundation for how online dating has become destigmatised over the past decade in particular. Using that reading as a starting point, I looked for resources that would further my discussion about the types of factors that influenced the rise in popularity of internet dating. Thus, the findings of Stephure et. al. in 'Internet initiated relationships' and Valkenburg and Peter's 'Who Visits Online Dating Sites?' helped me further my discussion as they provided many facts, figures and insightful theories into the demographic, characteristic, social and economical changes that online dating went through since the start of the 'web 2.0' era. 

While this assignment was enjoyable to create overall due to its use of digital media, there were certain factors that challenged me along the way. As I had never edited a video in this way before- with my audio track continuing on behind other clips- I had to learn how to use the iMovie software in a way I had never experienced. Moreover, although this may sound simple, I found that trying to talk to a camera without looking down too often at my notes was difficult, as was attempting to speak clearly and not too fast. Perhaps my biggest struggle though is the emails I now get from match.com as a result of my mock-sign up in the screen recording.

Overall, my aim for the video was to quickly and clearly explain the way that attitudes towards online dating have drastically changed since the concept was first introduced over a decade ago.

REFERENCES-

DeMasi, S 2011, ‘Shopping for love: online dating and the making of a cyber 

culture of romance’, in Seidman, S and Meeks, C (eds.), Introducing the New 

Sexuality Studies, Routledge, Abingdon and New York, pp. 206-1, accessed September 9, <http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=6fa81262-93ef-4db7-a8a2-16231e8e3495%40sessionmgr111&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=cat00097a&AN=deakin.b2545033>

Stephure, R, Boon, S, MacKinnon, S, & Deveau, V 2009, 'Internet Initiated Relationships: Associations Between Age and Involvement in Online Dating',Journal Of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 3, pp. 658-681, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 September 2014, <http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/eds/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=6fa81262-93ef-4db7-a8a2-16231e8e3495%40sessionmgr111&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=ufh&AN=43227511>

Valkenburg, P, & Peter, J 2007, 'Who Visits Online Dating Sites? Exploring Some Characteristics of Online Daters', Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 10, 6, pp. 849-852, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 13 September 2014 <http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/eds/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=6fa81262-93ef-4db7-a8a2-16231e8e3495%40sessionmgr111&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=27949158>

ALC201 Module 1 exercise - Identity Online.

The prominence and power of the internet as a worldwide communicational tool provides the platform for individuals to construct and maintain online identities, identities which may or may not be far removed from their 'real life' personas. As Smith and Watson point out, "opportunities for composing, assembling and networking lives have expanded exponentially since the advent of Web 2.0... thus, online lives exist in complicated relationship to offline lives" [2014, pg. 70]. The astounding figures associated with the consumption of material available on this 'Web 2.0' -perhaps most prominently, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram- is indicative of just how incredibly powerful and, most importantly, easy it is to portray yourself in a certain way to hundreds of millions of people via this construction of an online profile or 'identity'.

As someone who regularly uses social media as an tool for communication and entertainment in my daily life, I undoubtedly shape and control my internet presence to most accurately match the type of person I want to be perceived as. 'Identity', in relation to the online world, can be seen as a fluid concept in which one can attempt to portray themselves as a particular kind of person [Gee, 2001, pg. 1] Personally, the 'identities' I maintain through my social media presence span many different platforms and are rarely 100% consistent with one-another.  For example, I have two different Twitter accounts- one which I use recreationally as an avenue to express relatively personal details of my daily life, and another which I made specifically to use in a much more professional manner that correlates with how I would like to be seen by future employers. I control and maintain these separate identities by 'locking' my personal Twitter account and thereby dictating who can access the information on it, and leaving my 'professional' account public. I was prompted to do this after it became apparent that employers use social media to investigate their potential employees. The informative graphic below demonstrates how common it is for this to occur in our digital day and age.

SOURCE

As someone who aspires to become a journalist in the future, I purposely use my 'professional' Twitter account to comment, share and voice my opinion on relevant world and local issues. I do this in order to accentuate the part of my identity that is knowledgable and interested in these topics. Examples of this are embedded from my Twitter feed below.

Gov. claims the budget "shares the burden." Perhaps someone should teach them what sharing really means? @abcnews http://t.co/yYLxP63Fjn
— Kara Ready (@kara_ready) May 19, 2014

"This budget is a cruel assault on middle Australian's" - Powerful & important speech from @SenatorWong #Budget2014 https://t.co/2GcGXzc4bz
— Kara Ready (@kara_ready) May 14, 2014

Therefore, by controlling who can access certain social media accounts of mine, I can attempt to portray myself in a particular manner to those who may be looking for an indication of the type of person I am.

However, it would be untrue to assume that this manipulation of social identity, if you will, does not correlate with ones true, internal identity. While I consciously choose and shape my social media presence based on how I want to be perceived on that platform, these projections of myself are still a part of my greater identity, perhaps just in a more concentrated form. On my public Twitter, I am merely choosing to accentuate one side of my personality that suits the public perception I am aiming for. Matic suggests that "when it comes to self-representation, the Internet users... represent themselves... in accordance with the audience expectations" [2011, pg 19]. This theory explains why I am more inclined on my public Twitter to portray myself in a professional, knowledgable manner- because I know that the majority of people who will be looking at it will be potential future employers. This can be contrasted with my personal Twitter account, on which I have an audience of mainly friends and acquaintances with whom I would much prefer to perceive me as funny or interesting.

Marshall theorises even further on this topic by suggesting that the "sites and the exchanges that develop on them are extensions in the production of the self and are vital to the maintenance of one's identity" [2010, pg. 42]. Interestingly enough, this idea seems to suggest that our online identity contributes to the formation of our 'real life' identity. When I thought about this introspectively in regards to my own social media presence online, I came to the conclusion that perhaps by identifying the personality traits you would most like to be identified by- such as knowledgable and professional, for myself- you become more likely to accentuate them in reality also. In that way, our online identities fuel the growth of our true identities, just as Marshall suggested.

Resources:

Gee, J 2001, 'Identity as an Analytic Lens for Research in Education', in Thomas, A 2007, Youth Online: Identity and Literacy in the Digital Age, Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, pg. 1, retrieved August 5.

Marshall, PD 2010, 'The promotion and presentation of the self: celebrity as marker of presentational media', Celebrity Studies, vol 1, no. 1, pg. 42, retrieved August 5, <http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/19392390903519057#tabModule>

Matic, I 2011, 'The Social Construction of Mediated Experience and Self Identity in Social Networking', International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 5, 11, pg. 19, retrieved August 8, <http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-m.deakin.edu.au/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=d9842934-f3fa-473f-8200-bfa3bd297628%40sessionmgr4002&vid=18&hid=4210>

Smith, S and Watson, J 2014, Virtually Me: A Toolbox about Online Self-Presentation', in Poletti, A and Rak K, Identity Technologies: Constructing the Self Online, The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, pg. 70, retrieved August 7, <http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy-m.deakin.edu.au/lib/deakin/docDetail.action?docID=10822251?