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Impersonal Identity: Enacting the Online Self Beyond Networked Individualism

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The Aesthetics and Politics of the Online Self

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Abstract

The rise of social media platforms has issued in a new configuration of the online self, where the user is interpellated as possessing a persistent personal identity. By contrast, there continue to exist various alternative enactments of online identity on sites like 4chan that are ephemeral and impersonal. Whereas the former is symbolized by the face, the latter is symbolized by the mask. Aiming to better understand the differences between face and mask as engendering two incompatible online identity formations, this chapter looks at the anon/Anonymous pseudonyms, the Guy Fawkes mask, the stock avatar, and the naked obese man image as enactments of 4chan’s impersonal identity, as undercutting the personalized and networked individualism of platforms.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Daniël de Zeeuw

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  1. Daniël de Zeeuw
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Correspondence to Daniël de Zeeuw .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. John Cabot University, Rome, Italy

    Donatella Della Ratta

  2. Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Geert Lovink

  3. Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy

    Teresa Numerico

  4. John Cabot University, Rome, Italy

    Peter Sarram

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de Zeeuw, D. (2021). Impersonal Identity: Enacting the Online Self Beyond Networked Individualism. In: Della Ratta, D., Lovink, G., Numerico, T., Sarram, P. (eds) The Aesthetics and Politics of the Online Self. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65497-9_20

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