As an individual on the Net you
are a node. A node can be a computer or some
other access device—here, your person is the access
device. On a network, a node is a processing point. As a node you
have a unique network address, sometimes called
a Data Link Control (DLC) address or Media Access Control (MAC)
address. You connect to a LAN (local area network) either through
a wired or wireless connection. There are various network protocols
used to identify nodes. A widely used one is the TCP/IP protocol
which assigns an IP address, such as 1.160.10.240,
to your computer.
From this perspective, you are
this TCP/IP address. Your IP address is your Web identity.
Some users have what is called a “fixed IP address.” The
vast majority, however, are continuously supplied
a temporary and random IP
address each time they logon. Simply, you are a series of fleeting IP
address numbers on the Internet—losing and gaining Web
identity in flittering nanoseconds. (In the snail mail world, the
Post Office wants you to stay in one place. In the online world
it is more efficient for you to be always on the move.)
Cyberspace allows not just
for numerous identities but for unreal virtual
identities. In the offline world, the average person anticipates
that at some point they will be called to be who they say they
are. Someday someone will ask you for proof of identity in
real time, face to face. It is then that all these
multiple identities must form a coherent whole, “It’s
me!” or else there is embarrassment, even
possibly an indictment for fraud.
Continue—Identity
