As the American sociologist Charles Cooley put it: “I am not who you think I am; I am not who I think I am; I am who I think you think I am.” He dubbed this phenomenon “the looking glass self,” and the evidence for it is diverse, encompassing the everyday experience of seeing ourselves through imagined eyes in social situations (the spotlight effec
... See moreIn digital spaces, brands can have personalities and influencers with whom one has never met can feel like close friends. These are consequences of the same thing. The parasocializing force that humanizes corporations also serves to abstract the individual, collapsing individual identity into something more synthetic and structured
Koji • Spheres of Self: Performativity and Parasociality in the Metaverse
The Era Of Multiple Identities: We Discover, Embrace, & Express Our Multiple Selves -> From networks like Discord, where users are represented by whatever name and avatar they choose, and ItsMe, where people connect in real-time using a creative avatar of their choosing, we’re seeing huge growth in willingness to engage, transact with, and befriend... See more