Stagecraft

Stagecraft is a social networking system that allows a single user to control multiple online self-presentations. Most current online social systems only support a “one user to one identity” presentation. Users must create a single account and present information that reflects how they want to be perceived by that site’s entire audience. However, we feel that this one-to-one model does not adequately support the myriad of roles and associated identities that many people assume on the Internet. We are investigating and creating a social networking site designed to address the following aspects of “role-based” identities:

• Control (the creation of role-based identities)
• Interaction (the actions performed by role-based identities)

The project will include both a working implementation of our core ideas as well as a summary document identifying behaviors and exploring possible motivations for current online identity representations.