QOTD: Race and Internet Identity

[atlasien]

The physical marker of race is obviously missing on the internet. In some social situations it's more useful to communicate without any physical markers - gender, race or whatever - but often we re-communicate our identities. If someone assumes something about my identity that isn't true, I feel like i need to correct them and communicate my racial identity.

Here's a really loosely-designed poll about how you communicate your racial or ethnic identity on the internet.

ETA: The poll is anonymous and multiple choice

[lycheng]

I also find Internet identity markers to be an issue sometimes. At a minimum it serves as a possible indicator of where one might be coming from. Of course, for racial or ethnic specific websites like ours, it's pretty much a given that one has to supply a racial identifier just to keep things honest.

Going off topic a bit, in addition to race, I find age is another one of those markers that sometimes is useful in understanding a point of view. I feel that it's the one marker that impacts all threads because we all draw on our life experiences when we enter into the discussion . Clearly a 40 year old has more life experiences than an 18 year old.

But I can also see age being used to set up a patronizing tone of voice. This can stifle the on-line conversation. I guess the burden is on the older folks not to come off as patronizing.

[little mixed girl]

i said that i use an identifier in my name.

personally i don't think that having someone know my race or gender or eye color is the most important thing.
but i am not ashamed of being mixed, and i am mixed so why not put that in my name?

[Vetrean]

I don't use an outright identifier, but I usually end up explaining my race at one point or another. It's not as important if you never discuss issues that concern race, imo, but if you do get into that, it's probably best to establish your racial identity first if you're defending a position, just to prevent misconceptions.

[Scowl]

I picked:

I prefer to discuss the issues from a neutral standpoint, communicating identity rarely

For me, it's not a matter of preference. Rather, it's something that just doesn't come up.

[Anansasem]

Amen to Vetrean.

Though, my screen name is a partial indicator. Anansasem is a derivative of Anansi who was a prominent figure in western African mythology. I'll only go into the Norwegian/Japanese/African American multiracial jargon to ground a point or express my perception.

[Candide]

I don't conciously communicate my racial/cultural identity on the Internet. I don't care enough to make it a point to let others know, although I do show it through parts of my alias (not this one obviously, but on other forums) - I never use Asian or Azn or something similar though - links in my signature or hobbies and passions that I mention in my posts. I only mention my racial identity or nationality if it's relevant to the point I'm making.

[awong]

i dont really mention it, but some forums I am on they are overseas, so I usually have say I am in usa or not from there, like a few of the tech forums I read from malaysia and singapore, where I can get past the singlish being used, but I do find those forums much less hectic than similar forums from north america.