Identity Safety Week 1 Student Assignment

Welcome to Cyber Safety!

Blog Title - Who Are You Online?

Review the following Key Vocabulary...

Represent: To depict yourself to others as being a certain way or having particular characteristics
Persona: An image and personality that you show to others
Avatar: A graphic image that represents a person online
Anonymous: Without a name or other information that identifies who you are
Inhibited: Careful or restrained about your actions or impulses

Click the link to pictures by photographer Robbie Cooper that show how people represent themselves online. He took photographs of people and of the avatars they use in a variety of online worlds.

Link to avatar slideshow - http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/06/15/magazine/20070617_AVATAR_SLIDESHOW_1.html?scp=1&sq=avatar+slideshow&st=cse

Watch the slideshow, and respond to the following prompts for each slide...


Note the similarities and differences between the real people and their avatars. Go beyond physical looks, and avoid passing judgment or making fun of anyone’s avatar.

Speculate on why the people in the photos might have created these avatars.

Answer the following questions...

1. What do you think it means to be “real” or “fake”?

2. Do you think it’s easier for people to be “fake” online than in real life? Why or why not?

Watch the following video in which a group of teens explores these questions...

Ramon's Story from Mark Rounds on Vimeo.

Answer the following questions based on the video...

1. Ramon talks about how some people exaggerate or seem very different online than in person. How do you explain these differences between their online and in-person personas?


2. Are there risks for creating an online presence that is very different than the offline one? Are there benefits?

3. What are other reasons why people might feel they can act in ways online that they wouldn’t act offline?

REVIEW the Key Vocabulary words anonymous and inhibited...

4. Are there any benefits to being anonymous or being less inhibited online?


5. Are there risks involved with being anonymous or less inhibited online?