Pros and cons of the internet's identity lab
On the Internet, we have a new laboratory for experiments, one that is far more flexible and open-ended than the one we have in real life. The possibilities for constructing and sculpting new identities, and then trying them on for size, are remarkable. Some of our new "selves" might be vaguely formed, very temporary, and barely more than "pilot" identities. Their owners might discard them quickly. Others may coalesce into richly detailed personas whose life onscreen seems even more real than real life. Many of these new identities may simply add a bit of polish or mystery to the self we already know in real life, and these experimental enhancements may lead to very positive consequences. Playing a person who is a little more outgoing and confident on a MUD, for example, could affect the individual's offline behavior, and there is much anecdotal evidence to support this. If the role player's online extraversion is rewarded by others, if he or she gets more respect and more attention, the player may generalize the behavior to real-life situations and shed some of that painful shyness.
The danger zone for this laboratory emerges when the frames of reality and role play have no clear boundaries - for ourselves, certainly, but also for others we meet online. The masquerade is no longer a consensual Mardi Gras where everyone knows a mask from a real face, and there is no illusion conservation rule in operation. At this point, some auditory alarms should go off. Role play, in that context, is just another word for deceit. The consequences and the societal outrage are evident when it is an obviously clearcut case, such as a child molester who goes into teen chat rooms, pretends to be 13 years old, and tries to collect phone numbers and addresses. Yet the Internet is an enabler for many different kinds of experiments. There is little agreement or understanding about how valuable these are to the role players, or whether they might harm the dupes in the experiment. What we do know, however, is that the lab is open for business, 24 hours a day, and a great many people are conducting experiments.