User:Lidia.Pereira/GRS5/NTS/NWC

"There might be three ways to counter the self-promotion machine:
1. Disrupt its self-evidence. Talking about the dark side of positive thinking is the first step to recover from the mass delusion of smile or die.
2. Dismantle the consumer desire that drives the self-promotion machine to begin with. (...) Affluenza - the bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from keeping up with the Joneses; an epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness; an unsustainable addiction to economic growth." 3. Revisit anonymity in today's context."

"Facebook, Anonymity and the Crisis of the Multiple Self"

• The Internet is conceived by many as an exchange of arguments and files
• 2003/04 -> Rise of the blogosphere, of the self-promotion machine, of the policy of self-disclosure -> social networking -> 'identity management'
• Facebook -> Who are we and how should we present ourselves online? (True Self) -> "But this is not soul searching (...) it has turned into a massive self-branding exercise: 'it's awesome to be me'. But who exactly am I?"
• "The public face seems to gain importance, as if it is an instinct to put it on, an evolutionary development in order to survive" (Rineke Dijkstra)
• Pressure to "be yourself" clashing with social conformism
• Fading of barriers between real/virtual and online/offline - no more alternative identities?

"What is 'the self' anyway in a society where millions aim to be unique yet are steered by identical desires?"