Vol. 60 No. 4 (2012)
Research Article

Projecting, Exposing, Revealing Self in the Digital World: Usernames as a Social Practice in a Moroccan Chatroom

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  • Samira Hassa
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/0027773812Z.00000000031

Published 2012-12-01

Keywords

  • game studies,
  • sexuality,
  • censorship,
  • Internet,
  • coded language

Copyright (c) 2012 American Name Society 2012

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Abstract

This article analyzes the characteristics of 141 usernames in a Moroccan chatroom gathered over sixty days (September 4 2011, through November 3 2011). Analysis of the results of this study identifies eleven categories of usernames, including those using a common Moroccan first name, a first name followed by a last name, a name with a number, usernames referring to Anglo-Saxon and French cultures, and those referring to the Muslim religion. This study offers insights into the construction of Moroccan identity in the virtual world that fluctuates between a traditional local Muslim Moroccan identity and a desire to belong to the global community.

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