In social science, “Internet identity” refers to the infinitely changeable online representations of individuals and groups using words, pictures, and other images, and music and other sounds, which can be outside the control of the actual person or group being represented. Internet identities may even represent an entirely virtual person or group inasmuch as the person or group does not exist in any physical way offline or outside the Internet. While the social science concept of Internet identity is constantly evolving with the development of new technology, this entry describes some of the more salient aspects of Internet identity in terms of how these identities are constructed. It begins, however, with a more general discussion of identity construction as it pertains to both online and ...