The virtual self as a new media object

Although representation of the self in the electronic environment uses the same strategies and procedures as traditional autobiography, it has specific characteristics determined by the nature of digital media. In brief, it follows the logic of new media based on the principles of numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability and transcoding (Manovich 2001a).

The virtual self as a form is, therefore, a new media object (or, at least, can be considered as such). It means, as Manovich explains, that, on a material level, the common modifying operations such as copy, paste, morph, interpolate, filter, composite, etc. can be applied to it. On the level of construction, it can combine different media such as text, image, video, sound etc., and take the form of hypertext or multimedia object. Moreover, in compliance with the principle of transcoding, it can be realized as a distributed system using different media or subdomains of the same media. On the level of distribution, the difference between limited and mass distribution, as well as between individual and public distribution of the self-images, are effacing. (Manovich 2001b).

The virtual self is thus a distributed system – a hypertext which elements are dispersed trough the network and can be linked to each other in a variety of ways. The primary form of existence of the virtual self, as well as other new media objects, is a database – a collection of items of different kinds; not a narrative as was the case with traditional forms of autobiography or other self-representing genres. From the database, various competing narratives or hyper-narratives can be produced. The particular forms of self-representation such as a personal homepage, online diary or a virtual character can be considered as particular interfaces to the self as a database.

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