Is your anonymous self "another you"? The Proteus effect online

The shape-shifting god of Greek mythology

Proteus is an old sea god who appears in Greek mythology. He could change his form at will and become a lion, a snake, or even water. In a 2007 paper, Stanford University researchers Nick Yee and Jeremy Bailenson borrowed this god's name to label an interesting phenomenon in online spaces: the "Proteus effect."

Here is how their experiments worked. When participants were given a tall avatar in a virtual space, they acted with more confidence in a negotiation task. When they were given an attractive avatar, they moved closer to others and shared more about themselves. The look of the avatar changed the behavior of the person controlling it.

This isn't simply "playing a role." The participants weren't consciously acting. Instead, it's thought that the traits of the avatar unconsciously changed how they saw themselves, and that this showed up in their behavior. We draw conclusions about ourselves from our own appearance, and we adjust our behavior based on those conclusions. This unconscious process is the core of the Proteus effect.

An anonymous account as an "avatar"

When senders send a question in a question box, they put on an "avatar" called anonymity. They have no name, no face, and no history of past posts. How does this anonymous avatar affect the sender's behavior?

What research on the Proteus effect suggests is that anonymity does more than simply "hide who you are." By becoming anonymous, people may temporarily rewrite how they see themselves. A switch happens from "your everyday self" to "your anonymous self," and you're freed from the social roles and expectations tied to your everyday self.

Someone may be a manager at work, a father at home, and an easygoing person around friends. We play different roles in different settings. In an anonymous question box, all of these roles fall away. What remains is "raw curiosity" that isn't bound by any role. That's why anonymous questions sometimes include pure questions that people could never ask if they were worried about their social position.

The Proteus effect works on the person answering, too

The Proteus effect works not only on senders but also on the person answering. When you post answers from your question box, you put on an avatar called "the owner of a question box."

This avatar can change how the person answering behaves. Someone who's normally not good with words talks freely in their question box. Someone who doesn't show emotions face to face writes openly about their feelings in their answers. You could say these are the result of the avatar of "someone who answers in a question box" activating a self-image that's different from usual.

Text-based communication has traits that face-to-face communication doesn't. You have time to think before you write. You can polish your words after writing them. You can rely on your words alone, without your tone of voice or facial expressions getting in the way. These traits strengthen the self-image that "I can express my true self in writing," and can lead to deeper self-disclosure than face to face.

If you've ever felt in your question box that "I'm saying better things than I do in everyday life," that's a kind of Proteus effect. The avatar of the question box is drawing out the "you who is good at putting things into words" inside you.

The effect carries over into real life

The most surprising finding about the Proteus effect is that it lasts even after you take the avatar off. In a 2009 follow-up study by Yee and colleagues, participants who used a tall avatar in a virtual space also acted more assertively in a later face-to-face negotiation. The experience with the avatar carried over into real-life interactions.

This applies to question boxes, too. The experience of working up the courage to send an anonymous question strengthens the self-image that "I'm someone who can ask what I want to know." The experience of writing honest answers in a question box strengthens the self-image that "I'm someone who can put my thoughts into words."

Experiences online change your real self. This is a counterargument to the view that dismisses online communication as a "substitute for reality" or an "escape." Anonymous exchanges in a question box gradually change how participants see themselves, and that change spreads beyond the question box.

Transformation is discovery

Proteus was a god who changed his form, but none of his forms could become "something that wasn't Proteus." Whether he became a lion or a snake, it was one side of Proteus.

The self that appears in an anonymous question box is the same. It's not that being anonymous lets you "become someone else." Being anonymous lets "a side of you that normally stays hidden come out." The you who sends bold questions and the you who writes honest answers are all part of you.

A question box is a place where you take off the clothing of social roles and expectations and meet the many different sides inside you. The self you discover there isn't a fake hiding under an anonymous mask. It's a real side of you that rarely gets the chance to come out.

What the Proteus effect teaches us is that people aren't fixed beings. We're fluid beings whose different sides become active depending on the environment and context. Try looking with curiosity at the sides of yourself that a question box brings out. You may find a self there that you can't meet in everyday life.