Judith S. Donath's
Being Real to appear in Goldberg, K. (ed.) The Robot in the Garden [is this out?]

" How we know each other - how we perceive and construct the identity of our fellow humans - is a difficult question, entangled in the subjectivity of our social perceptions and the many and often opaque motivations of those whom we are attempting to comprehend. It is a difficult question in the real world, where signals as subtle as the slightest raise of an eyebrow can indicate, to those astute enough to notice, a wealth of information about one's allegiances and beliefs - and where we exist amidst a cacophonous abundance of such signals. It is an even more difficult question in the virtual world, where the medium has nearly silenced the cacophony, leaving us to seek scarce hints of identity amidst the typed messages and static, stilted homepages. "

Have been considering the notion of flexibly controlling what is seen of ones-self - if you like, what clothes you wear online - in a particular place or at a certain time - from invisibility cloak (lord of the rings~harry potter) to team colours (crypts#bloods) and from brief flashes of pink plimsoles (which I saw this morning, peeking beneath an anotherwise dour suit) to the bright stripey jumper (as my post-punk *uniform*)


informed in part by my brief experiments of looking/dressing diferent/ly in Habbo