ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests there are several layers to identity construction for youth and teens in cyberspace. First, the history of the Internet as a project in the Defense Department interjects themes of danger and suspicion; second, media representations of the Internet extend, analyze, and publicize this discourse of danger and suspicion. Third, discourse of danger and suspicion operates differently for males and females; fourth, cultural beliefs about gender shape the predatory discourse that surrounds the Internet. Finally, the presentation of self online is fundamentally shaped by advertisers who target specific populations and who mine user profiles in social networking sites to create more effective marketing campaigns. While young people find ways to put themselves back together in cyberspace, to construct or remake a particular identity, and to develop the language to support that identity, the Internet has also been hailed as the best possible space for anonymity.
