Rachel asked, “Is there an authentic self through mediated comm? e.g. Facebook?”

Media is so integrated into our daily lives, so much that, it’s not something which “hides” our true selves. Instead, social networks such as Facebook has simply evolved to become a facet that displays another side of us.

Imagine being in a venetian mask ball: your partner’s face is hidden but you understand the kind of person he/she is through the choice of colours and patterns on the decorated mask. The mask also informs you of one’s identity; the identity that he/she wants to be recognised by.

Now imagine interacting with everyone in your life, individually. You’d realise that how you react from one to another varies. This is because you want to be identified differently by different people. You have always had an assortment of masks at your disposal, even if they are only slightly different (word overkill) to each other. How you present yourself depends on who you’re communicating with – family or friend, elder or younger. In this way, you have multiple “identities” and facets of a whole person. So, there is no “true self” or “authentic self”. There is only you, who chooses how to react to whom or what.

Communicating via media simply allows one to take charge of shaping your own public image. It is merely one of the many aspects of you.

I think it is more important that we do not obsess over people’s perception of us. How we communicate, physically or digitally, is not the issue.