Some quotes which have to do with online interaction and role-play... somehow... but which I didn't put to use in the chapter I just finished... (yes, you read finished!)



Dramatic realisation; "For if the individual's activity is to become significant to others, he must mobilize his activity so that it will express during the interaction what he wishes to convey." (Goffman 1959:30)

Thus, when the individual presents himself before others, his performance will tend to incorporate and exemplify the officially accredited values of the society, more so, in fact, than does his behaviour as a whole. (Goffman 1959:35)

Such considerations about power, discourse, and domination have been the province of social theorists. The experience of the internet, that most ephemeral of objects, has made these considerations more concrete. Of course, people have known for decades that each time they place an order from a mail-order catalogue or contribute to a political cause, they are adding information to a database. ... But people are isolated in their reflections about their electronic personae. On the Internet, such matters are more likely to find a collective voice. (Turkle 1995:249)