Construction of identities on the web summary

We were asked to summarize a handout we recieved on the construction of indentities on the web by Daniel Chandler, a media theorist in 500 words.

The adoption of new media seems to involve burring and shifting the boundaries of public and private. The use of writing on web pages seem to take over the role of speech, so everything that is written on a web page that is meant to be seen as personal has simultaneously became public. Home pages are a medium in which conventional relationships between public and private are visible. Thomas Erickson explains that personal home pages and the world wide web are not being used to publish information, they are being used to contrust identity. The web is one of the first places where individuals can construct portrayals of themselves using information about themselves. Personal home pages are often a reflection of their maker.
The comparison for personal home pages which are used in everyday life are in the clothes people wear and the goods they possess, which can be limited, whereas the web offers potential of mass communication and is more widely accessible for self presentation. Web pages are a form of asynchronous communication, unlike synchronous communication such as the phone and face to face interaction. Home pages are often compared to face to face interaction, however whenever you visit a home page you don't meet the person you only meet their virtual self which can be misleading.
Constructing personal home pages involves bricolage which was discovered by Claude Levi-Strauss's, this is used to generate a particular format and gives you the materials that you can use to create your identity. The more complicated you make the arrangements the better the assumptions you can reflect, this is a way individuals can differentiate themselves form others and make personal statements.
Typical elements which are recognized in the content of personal home pages are, biographical details, interests, likes and dislikes, values, beliefs and friends. A persons identity emerges from whom one knows and their connections. Links that share interests can been seen as constructions of virtual communities. The web allows people to publish their ideas, even though they may sometimes be worthless they can be useful. Personal home pages include text graphics and sound, they can vary from short screenfuls to long scrolls and may vary from a single page to many pages which are connected. The contain links to other pages, some have hit counters, guestbooks, review forms, email and chat buttons and hot lists. Although people can choose what to reveal about themselves this can sometimes be misleading or have unintentional disclosures, or the intentional disclosures. The way the page is coded or looks reflects how the person is.
Sometimes the structure of web pages say as much about the person as the content does. The main use of the pages gives people a sense of escapism and is a place where they can off load feelings and emotions. It seems to be leading what might have been private writing to public writing with it being laid out for everyone to read. This publication of writing can be revealing about themselves compared to what we would expect in face to face interaction with strangers. We can be more in control of the image we present online than we can in day to day life, the option of including information and photos which tie you to real life is completely open and some can choose to adopt identities which are unrecognizable to everyone even if they know them in real life. Frustrations which come from having a page can be compared to frustrations in the real world, such as what to write about yourself and what to wear both exposing what type of person you may be perceived as.

Some of the problems are that strangers think they know all about you. Also problems with safety some people create unreal identities, so it could mean it was a completely different person behind the virtual self they've created. Home pages can enable people to think about their identity, and allow us to transform the way we think of ourselves and change to who we really want to be. They can help to let the things which may be hidden from yourself and others to be shown.
Assumptions that the Internet is allowing less and less face to face interaction, and that people will use cyberspace as an escape from the everyday world is feared by some. However it may be offering somewhere that they can work through important and personal issues which could be limited in everyday life.