Cyberspace and The Digital Imposter

Long before the concept of digital media, and certainly before the public internet, psychologists Dr. Pauline Clance and Suzanne Immes coined the term ‘Imposter syndrome’ (IS). This term refers to a type of psychosis where individuals feel their public personae is fraudulent. Fast forward to the current era of unbridled technology, the social persona is now morphed beyond social interaction; to where it has become powered by technological innovation via ‘digital cultures’ such as Twitter, Facebook etc.  In the ground breaking 1960’s British Television series, ‘The Prisoner’, the main character was constantly attempting to maintain his sense of self within a world usurped by technology and draconian controls. It predated the internet but its message resonates even louder today; especially considered within the context of our social media frameworks and the feigned sense of freedom they offer up. The character ‘Number Six’ was persistent in attempting to escape, as is the current day social media adherent. We cannot really see ourselves as others do, but this does not mean we cannot try to control our image – but at what costs?

Nancy Baym’s thesis regarding the domestication of technology helps underscore the concept of technology becoming ‘so ordinary as to be invisible ‘ (p. 52).  The Pommerening article clearly calls out this effect with a young girl so affianced to technology that the virtual has become the real which has become the surreal – all masked as the ideal. As Baym notes about technology in this way that we cannot imagine that it ever did not exist; it has become pseudo-biological in a way (p. 52). Yet the consequences appear – at a cursory view at least – aligned with the aforementioned IS. Only now electronically enhanced via bits and bytes, all manifested as normal social interaction. The ubiquitous adoption appears harmless, but the Pommerening article implies otherwise. The young girl strives to maintain her ‘imposter’ identity within the domain of social media and as an account is undoubtedly consumed with abnormal amounts of anxiety in turn.  There is no option, as this domestication of technology has cloaked any semblance of normalcy; this is the new normal. The young digitalized facade cannot separate itself from that which is naturally emergent. That part of the individual – like the Prisoner’s Number Six – attempts to remain distinct but, alas, has become ensnared by the new realm of technology and cannot see the forest from the pixelated trees.