Identity

Donath asserts that ‘[i]dentity plays a key role in virtual communities’ (Donath 1999:29). Identity encompasses the features of an individual’s character and ‘what is meaningful to them’. Components of identity include social class, gender and ethnicity for example (Giddens 2001:691). Donath asserts that as communication is primary in online discourse, ascertaining the identity of interactants is central ‘for understanding and evaluating an interaction’. She argues that identity is grounded, in the physical world, by the body and this changes in a virtual setting, because information replaces matter. She asserts that online identities are multiple and varied, although she adds that there is always a link back to ‘the body at the keyboard’ (Donath 1999:29).