Week 3 Task 1

IDENTITY & RELATIONSHIPS

I wouldn't say that withholding one's identity is ethically wrong if you are just giving out your nickname or not telling somebody your full name as this is just protecting your own safety.
However withholding and changing your identity can be dangerous. For instance an older man who is pretending to be a young teenager boy in chatrooms as they are making other people believe they are something that they are not. Children and young teenagers should really no who they are talking to when they are talking on chatrooms and forums as they may start to develop a friendship or relationship with somebody who isn't really who they are claiming to be in order to be accepted by somebody who is of similar age and has similar interests.

People tend to get addicted to online networking and chatroom sites as they like the fact that they can withhold their identity and not reveal their true selves as people find it a good way of escaping who they really are because they are unhappy with themselves so they believe that by forming a new identity and reinventing themselves will help them gain new friends or relationships. People they are talking to have no way of knowing the truth and will never see what they look like anyway. In a way its like they shut themselves away from the real world and create a new world for themselves where they have control. Like saying you look a certain way when u don't.

People go on these online forums where groups of people share the same beliefs as it gives you the chance to express yourself freely as you may not feel comfortable in sharing those thought with your friends and family that are around you so they give false identity because they dont want to be recognised.
People can be often persuaded into online interaction and be influenced by others into believing things so they will often change and shape their identity to fit in with these people so they can become part of their online community.