Virtual Identity

Virtual identity can be an outlet for many people to express their other side that many people may not know. Some people change their virtual names and sometimes create an picture that their friends and family may not recognize. I honestly don't think this is a problem, but when people include false information, this gives others false impressions. This is what really affects the people that meet online and actually meet in person and they have this picture in their mind of how you described yourself or they could have seen your fake picture. I actually have a friend that meet a guy online and they established a long relationship before meeting, and when they finally did meet up it was a horrible experience for both people because they hid their true identity, it was just something they did online and not in person.  They both expected each other to look different, he was married and much taller than what he explained. The only thing that was familiar were their voices. In many cases, virtual identities can be great depending on what you want to achieve from having this connection with others. I also believe that many people who hide their true identities online are very insecure about themselves. I do use social networking, but I never portray myself to be another person. Virtual identities can be good and bad in many ways, but I think for each person it does differ. As long as these people know it what makes them happy, it can become addictive and eventually feel like the virtual world is the real world.