aka Profile Glitch

Keywords: networked, publics, collapsed, context, performance, identity, glitch.

a.k.a. Profile Glitch is an interactive online narrative about three characters, Marty, Maeve and Johanna, who meet at Harmony Village, an intentional community located outside of Ithaca, New York. The unique emotional and physical dynamics of communal life, with its own constructed social norms and rules of conduct, creates an intense interpersonal experience. Marty, Maeve, and Johanna develop a deep, unlikely friendship that is possible because of the unique social context of the commune. After several months, Marty, Maeve, and Johanna each decide to return home and the dynamics of their relationship is altered. Marty begins blogging about her experiences at Harmony Village and in the process reveals information about Johanna and Maeve that they are not comfortable with. Maeve and Johanna confront Marty through a series of online conversations. The conflict between the characters highlights issues of self-identity and self-representation in different social contexts and how new technologies of the networked public disrupt the way people perform their identity online. akaprofileglitch.org