Survey on on-line Identities

Hi everyone!

Im doing research for my dissertation based on-line identities. I am looking at the 'self' or your 'on-line identity' from a psychological perspective and I am mainly focusing on networking sites like Myspace/Hi5/Facebook etc.

I would greatly appreciate your time in filling in my survey.

Please copy and paste this survey into a new e-mail template with your answers.
Send to hawaiian_star84@hotmail.com

All information that you provide will be confidential and will only be used for research purposes only.

Cyberspace is realm that offers so much to the self. It's a new world that is rapidly increasing and changing before us and even bringing us more then what the real world can offer. It is also enabling us to present ourselves in such a way where we can customise and personalise how we want to be seen or known in this new world. Psychologists often see this as a tool for construction and re-construction enabling us or the self to take advantage of [creating multiple identities and/or personas] and work on this on-going identity or image we hold through such technology.

There are 24 questions in total.

You may leave out any questions if you don't know or feel unable to answer.
Please feel free to further your answers on the topic.

1] Please highlight your age range.
18 or under
19 - 24
25 - 34
35 - 49
50 +

2] How often do you use the internet? [May mark more then one]
Hourly
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Occasionally


3] How do you access the internet?
At home
At Work
At School/Coll/Uni
On Mobile
Via Television
Other
All of the Above


4] What are your reasons for accessing the internet? [social/work/leisure/boredom]



5] Do you prefer to access to the internet private or publicly?


If privately please explain your answer.


6] What fascinates you about the internet? And what kind of internet environment[s] do you prefer? I.e Chatrooms, Blogs, Bulletin boards, MSN etc.



7] Has your use of cyberspace changed and increased over the years? why? [An example could because you've joined and participate in on-line groups]



8] On personalised profiles is presentation and the image you hold of yourself important? How and why is this important?



9] On an overall observation on your personalised site what is this image that your exposing? I.e A lively wanna be character.


9a] One may conceal his/her image through graphical icons or words. If you are concealing you image. Please state why.

10] With an on-line identity- what audience[s] do you intend to attract?



11] Photographs are a good way of expressing your nature. With your careful selection what features/aspects of your identity/self are you intending to express on your selection?



12] Identities constantly change with age and time, environmentally and socially.
On-line identities are easier to maintain by just updating or making a few changes either editing your info or documenting new images, decorating your space/site with glitters etc. Do you often find yourself wanting to make changes to your on-line identity? And how frequently?


13] Do you consider your on-line presentation to be successful in terms of meeting new people or expressing who you are or want to be?


14] Do you show a specific persona or a side of you that you'd rather people know about and see? Explain your answer.


15] Do you have altered and/or false perceptions in cyberspace of people including friends? Explain your answer.


16] On a scale of 1-10. [1 being the least and 10 being the most] How conscious are you of other people viewing your personalised content?


17] When you are online viewing an offline profile- what do you reflect upon and take away with you when you then leave their profile/or personalised site?


18] On such networking sites one can put friends in order of the top 4 or top 6 etc. Do you think the relationship of people in the top most 4 etc... change to a closer level of friendship?


19] One often surfs through other on-line identities and see's something that they like which belongs to another. Do you often find yourself almost 'stealing' certain aspects of another's on-line identity? [This could be in terms of wording your profile, including new tweaks or re-designing parts of your on-line presentation]


20] Have you ever experienced some kind of paranoia in cyberspace? If yes how have you managed your paranoia? [ E.g. Do you avoid certain things in cyberspace or certain ways of expressing yourself ? Perhaps through chatting, blogging or other]


22] [ Your identity and relationships to people will have some kind of impact on you]Do you agree that cyberspace is shaping who you are? Please explain.


23] Do you have an Avatar on your personalised networking site[s]. Does the avatar really represent who you are? Or who you want to be?

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Please state how you felt about this survey and/or any general views on your on-line identity or behavioural observations on such networking sites.



Thank you