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In the last few years the concept of a parasocial relationship has been widely discussed as the long term psychological effects of social media have become more apparent than in the early 2010s. What is less frequently discussed however is the psychological effect a person's online persona can have on themselves rather than on others.
For the average social media user who uses Instagram with their real name as their handle and a photo of themselves as their avatar, the online persona is simply an extension of their real self. Their persona could be exaggerated or beautified but always remains tied to the way they normally see themselves. This gets complicated when people adopt pseudonyms and use avatars. While using a separate persona, users may think they are disconnected from their online profile but will typically personally connect to their persona on some level. An example of this is person's username being separate from their real name. Unless your username is a random string of letters, you recognize your username references you, even if you have no emotional connection to it like your real name.
Since people believe that there is at least a small disconnect from their online persona (their avatar isn't literally them for example), people don't seem to realize that personas affect the way we view ourselves in real life. In the same way there is scientific evidence that playing a tall character in a video game makes people more confident in real life, I believe that internet personas can shape self perception both positively and negatively.
Taking this into consideration, are men becoming more feminine because they have waifu avatars that they unconsciously project onto themselves? How do retarded usernames affect the way people view themselves? Do shitty usernames have the same effect on people as last names that start with letters towards the end of the alphabet? The internet might be messing with our self perception in ways we don't even understand.
What is your opinion on all of this? Am I schizo rambling or are anime girl avatars scientifically more gay than other users? What about playing as a female character in all your video games because "I'd rather be looking at ass for 60 hours instead of a man bro"? Is this effect negligible or should we pay more attention to it when using the internet?
For the average social media user who uses Instagram with their real name as their handle and a photo of themselves as their avatar, the online persona is simply an extension of their real self. Their persona could be exaggerated or beautified but always remains tied to the way they normally see themselves. This gets complicated when people adopt pseudonyms and use avatars. While using a separate persona, users may think they are disconnected from their online profile but will typically personally connect to their persona on some level. An example of this is person's username being separate from their real name. Unless your username is a random string of letters, you recognize your username references you, even if you have no emotional connection to it like your real name.
Since people believe that there is at least a small disconnect from their online persona (their avatar isn't literally them for example), people don't seem to realize that personas affect the way we view ourselves in real life. In the same way there is scientific evidence that playing a tall character in a video game makes people more confident in real life, I believe that internet personas can shape self perception both positively and negatively.
Taking this into consideration, are men becoming more feminine because they have waifu avatars that they unconsciously project onto themselves? How do retarded usernames affect the way people view themselves? Do shitty usernames have the same effect on people as last names that start with letters towards the end of the alphabet? The internet might be messing with our self perception in ways we don't even understand.
What is your opinion on all of this? Am I schizo rambling or are anime girl avatars scientifically more gay than other users? What about playing as a female character in all your video games because "I'd rather be looking at ass for 60 hours instead of a man bro"? Is this effect negligible or should we pay more attention to it when using the internet?