The nature of online identity

Abstract

Online identity emerges as one of the central problems of contemporary philosophy, since without its analysis it is impossible to grasp the nature of the subject in the digital age. The article demonstrates that within a dialectical-materialist framework, online identity possesses a distinctly articulated ontological status as a form of reflection and reproduction of social relations in the digital environment. The development of capitalism radically transforms subjectivity: online identity becomes fragmented as a result of the necessity of constant adaptation to shifting economic and technological conditions dictated by market relations. Special attention is devoted to the analysis of Eva Illouz’s concept of the architecture of choice, whose content in the digital environment ceases to be a mere consequence of class determination and instead assumes the form of algorithmic control. In this process, identity itself enters the sphere of production and exchange, becoming a performative act determined by the market logic.