Multifaceted and Mutable

Mirror, Mirrored: Exploring Identities in Personal Online Spaces A Multimodal Composition by Sarah Hammond

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...how are multiple realities experienced and conceptualized, when they are simultaneously complemented by experiences in virtual spaces?

"Exploring Identities Through the Internet: Youth Experiences Online"

—Mechthild Maczewski (p. 125)

Maczewski asking how online and "onground" experiences may influence and shape each other

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What I Read at University — “Goblin Market”

We must not look at goblin men, We must not buy their fruits: Who knows upon what soil they fed Their hungry thirsty roots?”

—Christina Rossetti

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~ J. R. R. Tolkien

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K. It makes me feel free, and like I’m in my own personal space which describes me. M. What makes you feel that way? K. Probably the freedom on going everywhere and learning about anything I want to and having it be available without leaving my chair…

"Exploring Identities Through the Internet: Youth Experiences Online"

—Mechthild Maczewski (p. 118)

One could say that the personal space not only describes this research participant; it is the context of herself.

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Heron Blue: Sun Kil moon

Don’t cry my love, don’t cry no more A crashing sky a rolling screen A city drowning gods black tears I cannot bear to see She lay under the midnight moon Her restless body stirring Until the magic morning hour Like poison it succumbs her Her baby skin, her old black dress Her hair it twists around her necklace Constricts and chokes like ruthless vines To sleep she overtakes her Her room is painted Heron Blue Lit by candlelight and chandelier And from her headboard perched so high A million dreams have passed her Don’t cry my love don’t cry no more It overwhelms my breaking heart A minor swell of violins I cannot bear to hear them A mother shepherds her young birds She fills their mouths and warms their souls Til they are strong and good to fly Away from her alone she’ll die Cradle on quiet old oak limbs As heaven blue her light fails A breath of soot into her lungs A life, a journeys end in one Don’t sing that old sad hym no more It resonates inside my soul It haunts me in my waking dream I cannot bear to hear it Don’t play those violins no more Their melancholic overtones They echo off the floor and walls I cannot bear to hear them

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Jeremy Hush, on Tumblr

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One could surmise that when onground experiences do not allow for a young person to feel powerful, respected and accepted with all of her or his identities, the online virtual environment provides for a further life space in which young people’s interests, self and identities can be explored in interaction with others.

"Exploring Identities Through the Internet: Youth Experiences Online"

—Mechthild Maczewski (p. 122)

Maczewski speculates that, while community interaction is important for self-growth and exploration, young people often don't feel empowered enough to do that in their daily lives. Virtual communities, however, are predisposed to overlooking certain aspects like youth that can make people feel undervalued. The very nature of certain virtual environments give more encouragement for people to explore their identities uninhibited.

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"Soon this space will be too small And I’ll go outside To the huge hillside Where the wild winds blow And the cold stars shine” Lhasa de Sela - Soon this space will be too small

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"If I Had A Heart" - Fever Ray

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However, On the internet, I feel that I can explore his [my] ideas and thoughts to a fuller extent, I can write what I want and if I want to leave someone or just not want to talk to someone, I can ignore them, a nifty function that life does not have to offer. Back to my point on how I can explore who I am, through my experiances [sic] on the internet, I have found out that people tend to be more onest [sic] with what they are feeling. They tend to express their feelings and emotions in a way that I find to be very freeing. I mean, how often do people just tell you what is really on their mind and I have noticed that I tend to do the same myself. However, that sort of attitude tends to leak into my daily life more and more often. For example, today I got into a discussion on Affirmative Action with one of the more articulate speakers at my school and I pressed my case very well because I told him what I was feeling and I was very vocal on my opinion. Reality is what you make it, to me reality is both dark and ugly as well as beautiful. Who knows, that reality might not be real to anyone else, however, to me that is what it is, the internet is just another aspect of my reality and is almost as important as the “real” world. (S. 1999)

"Exploring Identities Through the Internet: Youth Experiences Online"

—Mechthild Maczewski (p. 124)

One young person shares how the nature of their online interactive experiences have influenced their "onground" expression.

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Marina and the Diamonds - Numb

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geothebio:

Happy Birthday Benedict Cumberbatch! ♥