I LOG IN, THEREFORE I AM – AN INSIGHT ON THE CONTRIBUTION OF ‘DATA’ TOWARDS IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION IN CYBERSPACE.

This paper is based on the assumption that a postmodern man without the Cartesian mind struggles to exist both in virtual and real world. Considering our dependency on „data‟, this paper will analyze how „data‟ creates, constructs and manipulates our identity, artificial living and existence. Following the supposition that a person not „logged‟ into technology and cyberspace merely exists or does not exist at all, this paper will analyze the modes how „data‟ is becoming the single most component to survive in the virtual postmodern world. It also ventures through the concept of „identity‟ and its cybernetic aspects considering the fact that „data‟


ISSN: 2320-5407
Int. J. Adv. Res. 7(1), 128-135 129 all the people with the machine and created an organic system by linking with all the information sources. "A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system." (Gibson, 1984. p.37). It can easily be assumed that what makes cyberspace run. It is the constant flow of "data" in the shape of texts, images, videos, codes by computers, gadgets, devices or any other integrated system components. From a family picture to a confidential security code including all bits and bytes are floating around the network of cyberspace like blocks of "data". This "space" in cyberspace thus is not a concrete entity; it is as alive as the millions of users and their activities are concerned. It is more than just an imagined space.
According to Principia Cybernetica Project (PCP), the word "space" in Gibson"s "cyberspace" connotes several aspects. They are as it follows -First, a space has a virtually infinite extension, including so many things that they can never be grasped all at once. This is a good description of the already existing collections of electronic data, on e.g. the Internet. Second, space connotes the idea of free movement, of being able to visit a variety of states or places. Third, a space has some kind of a geometry, implying concepts such as distance, direction and dimension. (Heylighen, 1993) Gibson dreamt cyberspace to be global and now it has surpassed the boundaries that may confine it to the margin of the word "global". The three connotations above offer a general idea about the range and extension about the "space". Not only countries have lost their boundaries but also the concept of space has been changed so far.
Although "space" in cyberspace is no real entity, even it can function as a territory or even a storage facility and thus it is being commercialized (such as drop box). It was possible because as I mentioned it before; cyberspace is not a concrete entity, neither merely an abstract or imaginary entity. Rather it has psychological qualities. From the second connotation mentioned above, it is clear that this space connotes the idea of "space" that cannot be confined with any boundaries and it also provides the platform to ensure the full flow of information. As millions of users throughout the world sharing "data" every secondof which many of the data can be considered personal information, it is very practical to think that "data" is a crucial element for the users considering the psychological qualities of cyberspace. The behavior and existence of a user on virtual and real world now solely depend on the data one possesses, shares and how s/he uses it in a social and cultural level.

Data and Information
In the Information and Technology (IT) industries, the definition of data is very straight forward. Data, information and knowledge are the three closely related words in the IT sectors and there is a clearly drawn line between each of key words. From this point of view, data is the plural of the word "datum" and it refers to raw, unregistered facts and statistics acquired in numbers, figures and letters. Although from a structural view point the word "data" is plural, but it is used in singular form in general. Data of this sort are the figures and facts from a survey, measurement or a chart that helps to produce information. Information on the other hand, is defined as the interpreted data. Data becomes information when it is given a meaning. Knowledge is known as the ability to interpret and to give meaning in order to carry out more knowledge. Knowledge plays the key part in coding/decoding and transforming data into information in order to produce meaning and new knowledge.
According to Agnar Aamodt and Mads Nygård (1995), data are syntactic entities -patterns with no meaning; they are input to an interpretation process, i.e. to the initial step of decision making. On the other hand, information is interpreted data. It is data with meaning; the output from data interpretation as well as the input to, and output from, the knowledge-based process of decision making. Then, knowledge is learned information. It is the information incorporated in an agent's reasoning resources, and made ready for active use within a decision process; it is the output of a learning process. (Aamodt & Nygård, 1995. p.6) However, data should not be mistaken with "content". But these two are closely related terms. Computers deal contents as data in order to store, display and share. For cyber-cultural or consumer purposes content is losing its value as "content" and rather its existence is understood by the framework of data oriented software and applications exchanging data from the database.
As the definition and the role of "consciousness" have been changed hand to hand with cybernetics, data too has found varied forms to present itself. Now content is presented in a data-like form to make it presentable and usable for the users. The earlier idea about the necessity of a consciousness which will only process the raw data into information has now come into an end. Computers were designed to analyze and make use of data that has been 130 collected or gathered from independent sources and out of different contexts. Now with the technological development and the advent of artificial intelligence, the information processing methods have changed. From the stand point of cybernetics, contents do not exist, and exists only as data. Even the "consciousness" of an artificial intelligence is a data. This is a vision which William Gibson saw back at the 90"s which has now become quite a possibility.
He'd operated on an almost permanent adrenaline high, a byproduct of youth and proficiency, jacking into a custom cyberspace deck that projected his disembodied consciousness into the consensual hallucination that was the matrix. (Gibson, 1984, p.3) Here, "he" refers to Case, the protagonist from William Gibson"s cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer (1984). Case the "cowboy", a name which signifies the then hackers; is the sharpest data-thief in the Matrix. Case transforms his consciousness into data and "jacks in" to the cyberspace. To some point this makes Case himself to be a data. May be, the whole idea of transforming a human consciousness into "data" and use it in the matrix is too much to think for now, yet the function of an artificial intelligence makes us think twice.
So, "data" is no more just unrefined numbers and symbols from statistics waiting to be collected and interpreted in order to making a meaning so that information can provide further knowledge, rather it became much more than that. From personal text, twits or email to audio-visual representation of something/someone -everything falls into the category of data. The function of data remains the same, to refine it, use it in order to make a service (commercial) or to focus our attention (evolution). Although, data may itself contain the message or one can say following Marshall McLuhan -it is the medium that is the message (which I will be explaining in the next chapters). Perhaps this is why "data" is called the next big thing, it is the new oil.

Data and Identity Construction
On July 5, 1993 The New Yorker magazine published a cartoon by Peter Steiner which gained popularity and spread virally as it reflected the nature of identity in cyberspace simultaneously with humor and wit. In the cartoon, a dog while sitting on a computer table tells his companion, "On internet, nobody knows you"re a dog." This one simple dialogue depicts the scenario of how one"s "self" or identity is constructed and manipulated in online.
On the surface, the cartoon makes light of how easily online identity is manipulated, so much so that even an animal could successfully disguise itself. On a deeper level, it, like many other examples of humor, picks at the scabs of our collective insecurities. The dogs the cartoon depicts are almost conspiratorial in their misrepresentation of identity. Moreover, the label dog is not only applied to a beloved household pet, but also used to describe an undesirable person (e.g., "That dog left meat at the altar"). Perhaps without ever intending to, the cartoon "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" illustrates twin concerns associated with online identities: the playfulness they promote and the suspicions that surround them. (Wood & Smith, 2005, p.63) Wood picks up the bottom line of how cyberspace activity is associated with the construction of identities. In cyberspace the identity remains the most important but yet a fluid element. A virtual individual can be anything that user of that particular virtual individual want it to be. The representation of the cyberspace is hyper-real (alluding Baudrillard"s hyperreality) and this archetypal representation of the users allows them to cut off their link from the offline world. It allows users to abandon their real identity and opens up the opportunities to be anybody. This process of creating pretending personalities in the cyberspace is that easy and no one needs to be a cyber-warrior or techno genius to do so. In Taylor and Saarinen"s words, -"In Cyberspace, I can change myself as easily as I change my clothes. Identity becomes infinitely plastic in a play of images that knows no end" (Taylor & Saarinen, 1994, p.21).
Postmodernism denies any possibility of having relationship between the objects and their representation. Earlier in Modernism, the form of the representation was problematic, not the objects. Now, the reality itself became problematic. Baudrillard defined "hyperreality" as "the generation by models of a real without origin or reality." (Baudrillard, 1994. p.1). It is the representation of the real, and it is closer to the real, but it is never the real. It is without the origin. However, a user of cyberspace can create a virtual persona which can be as real as a living person would be in the real world. The created persona may hardly have any or no similarities at all with the real one. Even if the user who created that particular persona is different considering age, sex, location, ability, disability etc., the 131 created persona becomes a hyperreal identity. A real life incident like this will be the incident of "Julie Graham"s deception". A male, healthy and full time professional psychologist impersonated a female psyche; a mute, paraplegic suicidal victim of a car crash in order to get hold a lot deeper to female minds (Stone, 1991). However, that this persona was so real, that the male psychologist had unexpected inconveniences while continuing with his work and as a result, while turning down the persona he created a chaos and ended up with a chaos and in the process, his identity was disclosed.
But it is not just the role of virtuality that promotes or encourages users to seek anonymity, multiple identities or alter ego through virtual community. There is more to that which comes through our commodities and cultural experiences. The question is, if cyberspace is the platform which allows personalities to be known, nurtured and exist, then what helps the identities to be created at the first place? Considering hyperreal, what makes the virtual become so real that it almost takes after the real? To add to that, how our offline identities are effected even if it is said to be abundant/deprived of any connection from the virtual world?
Perhaps the answer lies in the following statement stated by Andreas Weigend; the social data guru and former chief scientist at Amazon.com. He said, "Data is the new oil," While explaining the significance he also elaborated his sentence, saying -"Oil needs to be refined before it can be useful. Big data startups are the new refineries" (Miller, 2011). In the previous chapter, I mentioned the characteristics of data. From the IT industry"s point of view, data is raw by nature. It needs to be given a meaning. Now, in the world of web, where internet and the physical world are connected via mobile communication and social technologies, the purpose of data has found new paradigms even though its nature remains the same.
Today data is both a means of identity and commodity. To comprehend this uprising, one need not actually be in the cyberspace. One can simply look at the shift of themes in the sci-fi movies since the last ten or twelve years since the Wachowskis" "The Matrix Trilogy" hit the box office. The reason "data" became such a valuable element is, it is crux to every personality or identity ever created in the cyberspace. Without providing personal data (which can be made up information or can actually be true), a profile cannot be mobile. That means, even if there is a profile without any information, it may not likely to survive. It has to be kept in mind that personal data does not only mean age, sex and location or home address and telephone numbers; the pattern how one interacts via cyberspace, what s/he prefersthese are the records that also signifies data. However, data has become a valuable asset for the industries based on communication technologies and services. Data records are collected about who we are, who do we follow, what do we tweet, what apps we use and what do we prefer -all the results from these data collection are valuable information for the gadget industries as these data gives the researchers a head up about what their next product will be and how unique it should be from others. It is no wonder that the devices made to use such apps (or vice versa), needs personal data to calculate and synchronize user"s account in accord with his/her preferences and in the process, devices and gadgets enhances our post human identities.
Digital denies boundaries and real offers us to believe in structures. Once the boundary is set loose, users get the liberty to create different versions of them in the cyberspace. In the process, users provide information about themselves which makes their identities presentable in the way the user wants. However, we do possess multiple identities in real life as we play different roles in our society. Such as, male-female, child, parents, husband-wife and also our profession plays a part in defining our identity. What makes this multiplicity different from the one in cyberspace is; in real life our multiple roles comes with a total package. On the other hand, in cyberspace users get to have the chance to deconstruct their identity and nurture a particular one or two. The users multiple identities in the real life enhance and integrate itself in the online. In the cyberspace, this role playing is done with texts, here texts produces body and avatar represents it. In offline, the integration carries identity. Kathryn Woodward defines identity as a tension working at our subjective position towards its cultural and social contexts. It is integrated, collective and shared by the virtue of acceptance and dislikes.
Identity can be seen as the interface between subjective positions and social and cultural situations... Identity gives us an idea of who we are and of how we relate to others and to the world in which we live. Identity marks the ways in which we are the same as others who share that position, and the ways in which we are different from those who do not. (Woodward, 1997, p.1) 132

Stuart Hall provides a Postmodernist Idea of Identity -
Identities are "increasingly fragmented and fractured; never singular but multiply constructed across different, often intersecting and antagonistic, discourses, practices a nd positions. They are subject to a radical historicization, and are constantly in the process of change and transformation. (Hall, 2000, p.17) Stuart Hall argues globalization deconstructed the idea of identity being an integral self; rather it is fragmented, not unified into a coherent self. People no longer possess single "self" anymore, rather possess several (either contradictory or problematic) versions of him/her.
The postmodern identity is a fluid one. Data directly and indirectly controls our representation in both online and offline circumstances. Anybody can become anyone by impersonating someone else and to make it appear legit, one must have to provide such data that makes his/her masking believable. Being somebody else or being an extension of the real self is thus carried out by cyberspace activities where body is made of keyboard conducted texts and identities are made out of information that are shown. Our offline identity depends on our dependency over electronic communication tools that we use to integrate our real life to the virtual one and in the process data becomes a commodity while creating more roles for us to play with.
Computer generated communication producing identities in cyberspace and this is a perpetual process. There is no way this cycle of producing "self" in the cyberspace will ever stop. The anonymity and liberty to become anybody gives users the opportunity to construct their identity and project their mediated self, imaginary self or constructed persona into the cyberspace. A shy and slender person in the real world can be very mild in daily actions but in the cyberspace with the advantage of the text based communication; one can suddenly replicate his/her self as an outgoing, outrageous and gigantic person. Like that cartoon "no one knows you"re a dog", user"s data makes the constructed identity to appear real and a parallel existence of different fragmented identity secures the role playing activity in cyberspace.
The most traditional and explicit example of this role playing would be Multi User Domain or MUD (also known as Multi User Dungeon and later descended as MUSHes and MOOs). It is a text based multiplayer game or environment. The name derives from a popular table top role playing fantasy war game from the 70"s; Dungeons and Dragons. Here players adventure through dungeons (which is already programmed ahead) and accompanying with other players for a common quest. Players can interact with text based screens; they can see the rooms, players/nonplayer characters and descriptions. In the original dungeon game, the game is conducted by a "dungeon master" who walks the other characters through the story and the characters by virtue of their identity and power makes their moves. The digital extension of this fantasy role playing game or activities is MUD where massive multiplayer online role playing game is played while the players interact online. The early MUDs (and also its descendants) depended on online versions of imagery battles and quests with swords and sorceries in castles marked by the original dungeon games. Then MUDs stepped into the era of social MUDs which is no more based on dungeons and dragons designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, rather into a virtual world where users (players or MUDders) can interact and adopt personalities. Sherry Turkle explained MUD as "text-based, social virtual reality…These are destinations on the Internet where individuals can participate in online "virtual communities" (Turkle, 1995, p.181).

According to David Bell -
In the mid-1990s,…there was lots of talk about how the Internet was (1) freeing users from their "real-life" identities and bodies, enabling them to remake themselves, for example on text-based interactive sites such as MUDs ("multiuser-dungeons, Domain or Dimension"), and (2) enabling new types of "virtual community" to form, linking people with shared identities or interests, people who could now find a global, networked commonality. (Bell, 2007, p.29) Withdrawing from the real world experiences gave rise to multiple fragmented units in cyberspace (which Bell stated as "endless tinny interest groups"); it means users can concern on their particular interests and join social groups which target such genre of followers. Although, "freeing from the real life" not necessarily means "deprived of real life factors", rather it means blurring the MUD life with self and the game, the role in the society and the simulation. Tim Jordan in "The Culture and Politics of Cyberspace and the Internet' (1999) argued, our online identity needs to be broken down into two components in order to be fully explored. "First, there are a number of resources through which online identities are created. Second, there is an elastic connection between offline and online identity." (Jordan, 1999. p.67) Considering the fact that MUD creates opportunities for the MUDders to remake themselves a new identity while freeing them from their real life existence, it should be understood that a user"s identity solely 133 depends on what type of informational data the users have applied to create such personae. The users are free to choose multiple identities from racial, cultural, gendered, sexed and economical perspectives, but changing a user"s (or MUDder"s) identity is a process of merely changing or editing the data stored in the description. As a result, the data stored in the database controls the representation of the user. In case, if the data is lost due to any outside force or system failure; the identity is likely to be lost as well. Hence, the existence of the users will come to an end. However, in most cases, a user"s created identity is modified from their real identity and this modification is done till the level the modification seems stable.
If we consider chat rooms of Instant Messenger (IM) software or application, the most common question that initiates a conversation is asking for "ASL", that is Age, Sex and Location. The users are not bound to give away their real identity. Choices are there. Even though the chances of receiving authentic information (through which one user will conjure up an imaginary identity about the other one) do not depend on any ratio, rather it is very much unpredictable; still users ask this question because to be virtually alive one has to least embody some of the real. Because, users tend to communicate with others on the base of their practical resources. This is the elastic connection between offline and online identity which is carried by resources or personal data. No matter how far virtuality proceeds, the offline resources will compensate what virtuality lacks to become hyper real. Communication based sites or services requires users to create an account which is otherwise known as "profile". Take mig33 as an example. It was launched in December, 2005 as a mobile application that allows its users to communicate with other users (including other IMs) around the world through limited chat rooms and private chat. It now has become a platform. A user requires to create an ID for the purpose of making a profile which is secured by a password given by the user. There were no rules or regulation to control how the id must be (as today almost all platforms define certain boundaries for the users to pick a user name) and so it served the opportunity to introduce oneself with a new light. Playing with the username is not something new as it is seen that while creating email addresses people choose a name that elevates a particular attribute of themselves (that is used in informal communication) and for formal purpose they prefer a name closer to their real name. Carmen Ardelean (2003) made an assessment of such ids with a list -1. funny namesdenoting either the user"s humoristic disposition or his/her intention to take things easily. 2. denoting a political attitude (mainly opposing mainstream politics)such examples abound lately but for obvious reasons their owners avoid being known; 3. names deriving from the owners" pride for knowing a foreign language (mainly English) 4. indifference to linguistic norms (several words put together as one) 5. poetical alter egosproving their owners" romantic disposition 6. users adopting the name of certain celebrities or famous music bands. (Ardelean, 2003. p.3) Identity construction is a different scenario in the sites or platforms dedicated to social networking. The anonymity here is not just a role playing; it can also be understood as a platform to deliver a message of a user"s alter ego. Some sites do not need any keys (password) to access and some others ensure identity with keys. This particular key or password is an important data for a user. Without it his/her access will be denied and that is the end of that particular identity. The account however may exist as long as the whole site continues to exist, but the user"s account will not be "alive" as it used to update and enrich its account through data. Social networking sites provide a good platform for the people with multiple self or the second self; known as the alter ego -Another character developed in the altered state of consciousness but in the same body. It can be said as a spokesman for our subconscious. Oscar Wilde said, "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." It is just the kind of interpretation the famous American heavy metal band "Slipknot" provides as an explanation of wearing masks every time they perform. It helps them to bring out their music from their unconscious selfthat is more intimate to music, less about who they are outside the music. The anonymous bloggers or Facebook celebrity with a pseudonym conveys almost the same stories. From Lacanian point of view, this construction of identity -the alter ego, can be understood. Lacan"s view is that, the unconscious is structured like a language (seeking ways to put into words the world of objects) that involves loss or lack (Tyson, 2006. p.29). For the symbolic order, he used two words "metaphor" and "metonymy" to describe the loss or lack. Metaphors are used when one object is used as a stand in for another. Example, "He"s the star"here "star" refers to all the qualities of star that has been associated with him. On the other hand "metonymy" is used when an object (or part of it) is used as a stand-in for the whole object. Example, "crown" as a metonym for the king. Metonymy is more akin to "unconscious process of displacement" because in both cases (metonymy and unconscious) an object substitutes another. The wholeness created at the Mirror stage in an infant about itself to "other"; it starts recognizing the other. This is the Symbolic 134 Order where one thing is substituted with another and the other is always pushed back and thus creates a sense of loss.
[…]Symbolic Order consists of society"s ideologies: its beliefs, values, and biases; its system of government, laws, educational practices, religious tenets, and the like. And it is our responses to our society"s ideologies that make us who we are. This is what Lacan means when he capitalizes the word other when discussing the Symbolic Order. Other refers to anything that contributes to the creation of our subjectivity, or what we commonly refer to as our "selfhood": for example, the Symbolic Order, language, ideologywhich are virtually synonymousor any authority figure or accepted social practice. (Tyson, 2006, p.31) As we skip past our Imaginary order and move towards Symbolic Order, we live in a world in which others have needs, desires and fear; rules, regulations and restrictions must be abide by. We now come across everything accepted and not accepted; and when we are given a choice to choose between these two under certain social norms, we repress our non-accepted desires and chose the one that is more accepted by the society. Our Imaginary Order keeps working at the background as we push back our desires into the unconscious. As a result, when the Symbolic Order is not in total control, our unconscious starts to work within our self. The mask or anonymity provides the floor to consciously bring out the unconscious.
As a Facebook celebrity writes notes and statutes considering his/her political/religious/economical/cultural view with the advantage of anonymity or pseudo name; all of the repressed part of his/her original "self" transforms into words and comes promoting/constructing another identity. Now his/her words are his/her consciousness working in the cyberspace and it is his/her identity for the followers. This identity is the other selfthe alter ego; which is the consciousness of the "unconscious". In the earlier chapter, there was an example where the protagonist from the cyber-punk novel Neuromancer (1984) -Case transforms his consciousness into data and "jacks in" to cyberspace, in other wordscontinues to live in cyberspace. Similarly their consciousnesses are transformed into "data" through their written blogs and notes and their consciousness continues to exist in cyberspace. Their "identity" in the real world and cyber world thus become a very distinct one.
Our online activities in social network sites such as LinkedIn, Myspace, Facebook etc. has become as an action of our social networking under the "surveillance" of the very people we choose to be in our friend lists. By borrowing Bentham"s Panopticon model, Michel Foucault explained the role of gaze or the feelings of being watched. For him, "[...] it is to "to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power." (Foucault, 1975, p.195) In Facebook we are being judged by the people in our "friend list" in accord to the data we produce or the content we share. We do not share something just because somebody is online; we do/do not "like" something so that it would appear in the Facebook ticker box. We form a symbolic personality about a person by the genre of data s/he shares with us (despite of knowing differently about him/her or very little about him/her in the real life) and vice versa. The trend of playing games, apps or answering questions such as "Which Twilight character are you" do form our fantasy about how we think of us and others. So, as we log in to Facebook or any other social sites, we merely remain us as we are in real lives.

Conclusion:-
Although cyberspace is a conceptual space for data to simultaneously exist and flow at the same time, its integration to our lives is inevitable. But just because this virtual space gives us the opportunity to play with the free flow of data does not mean it is only meant for a playground where identities can be manipulated and fantasies can be played out. This exchange of "data" in cyberspace is the core reason for the construction of our identities not only in the cyberspace but also in real our life. It blurs the distinction between existence and non-existence of a person and opens up the ground for fragmented/multiple personalities. Personal data is now the target of big industries and it is a possible scenario that data becomes commodity and we are offered to play with it. So possession of data then becomes an important subject matter (not only in the personal level but also in corporate cases). So the commoditization and materialization of data on a larger scale is just a matter of time to be brought upon in the broad daylight. However, from a user"s perspective data is always personal. But on a larger scale these unitary personal data is the target of the bigger corporations to carry out their products to the right direction. Thus both our online and offline activities taking part in our identity construction,defining who we are in the cyberspace and who we think we are in the real life through the presentation of our virtual life. Our identity in cyberspace solely depends on the availability and transaction of data. The technology that links us to cyberspace (which can be interpreted as an extension of our imagination according to Marshal McLuhan"s theory about new media) 24/7, are creating an offline 135 version of Gibsonian Hallucination. So, as a user of cyberspace we must bear a Cartesian mind. Our existence and representation of "self" in cyberspace, as well as events which integrates real life with virtual; are mostly our projection of data. This process is either volunteered or by our consent that is manufactured. It is important to realize what data is making of us and how our identity is constructed by the information hallucination.
A Cartesian doubt must be in our minds about these hypes of new media, otherwise we will become what we hold without any second thought. Just because our mind"s imagination has the extension of reaching the unthinkable, does not mean we should lose attributes of reasoning with the doubt. Considering data as the oxygen; as well as the extent of creating simulacra and our narcissistic stance, a user in cyberspace must possess Cartesian skeptic mind. Otherwise, to log or not to log, will remain as the question of existence.