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Online Identities

Learn English meaning of ‘online identities’

Date: Dec 27 2017

Themes: Pop Culture, Tech

Grammar: Reflexive Pronouns

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Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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The internet! The internet changed the world so much. It is an entirely different world than real life. We can tell stories to people across the planet. Our family can see what we’re doing instantly on social media. Instead of walking to a movie theater, we can now enjoy movies on the computer.

Yes, the internet is magical. Sadly, there are still many bad things about it. Since people have anonymity, they feel like they can say whatever they feel like. They have the audacity to say blasphemous things. Sometimes, they will use hate speech. These people might be low key in real life, but on the internet, they air out their bad thoughts.

Romeo is confused about why people have online identities. Listen as he and Dominique discuss in today’s English lesson.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Romeo

Dominique

Romeo: I just have to get this out there, I hope you’re OK with talking about this. But I’m… a little bothered that people have the audacity to feel like they can be other people on social media. And… I think it’s kind of blasphemous. Like, I understand the anonymity. You know, wanting to be low key and have a low profile. But if you’re pretending to be someone else, then it’s not like you’re hiding behind a different pseudonym. It’s almost like you’re just… faking it.

Dominique: Are you talking about having different online identities?

Romeo: Yeah. I’m talking about people who… they do all this, um… like, hate speech and then they don’t want to own up to it, so they pretend to be someone they’re not.

Dominique: But people feel like they can’t be themselves in real life, so they air everything out online.

Romeo: Like an alter ego?

Dominique: Yeah, exactly.

Romeo: Hm. Yeahhh, I don’t know. I mean, I just feel like it’s better to be up front.

Grammar Point

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Discussion

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Romeo has a lot to say about online identities. He hopes Dominique is OK with him sharing his feelings. He is feeling bothered by how rude people act on the internet. He thinks people act blasphemous on social media. They say cruel things without thinking about it. He understands why people might feel hidden on the internet… but he doesn’t understand why people would lie about who they are.

Dominique asks him if he’s talking about people using fake online identities. Romeo says he is. He’s talking about people who use hate speech and don’t want to own up to it, so they pretend to be someone else. Dominique says it’s because people don’t feel like they can say what they think in real life.

Do you feel like you have a different identity on the internet? Should people own up to the mean things they say?

Comments

ola3

Ukraine

Hate speech can be subjective. For someone it’s offensive, for someone, it’s not. And it’s a freedom of speech to believe in what you believe and express it in your own way. What’s wrong with it?

The thing is, if you own it up, you can lose your job. People are afraid to speak up in real world. They say sth, and the media is the first one that will attack the freedom of speech lovers. And media is the killer, has its own insult, hate speeches, lies…

People who express themselves on the internet are fed up with being silent with bottled up feelings and thoughts. That’s why they chose Trump who is not afraid to say.

La Princesse de la vie

Egypt

I don’t pretend to be someone else on the internet. I see no point in hiding your identity to express things you can’t do in real life. I think it reflects cowardness more than audacity.

Of course people should take responsibility for whatever they say or do. However, because that happens a lot to me, you can sometimes say something you don’t really mean and you own up to that when you get things fixed and apologise to people.

ml2000

Canada

There are lots of scams on social media—people pretend to be someone and cheat others. That stems from the anonymity people have on the internet, besides, those scammers don’t own up to what they have said. If you come across someone who seems suspicious, blow him off and block him right away to avoid from being a potential scam victim.