With the online community getting bigger and bigger, your online identity becomes an important part of being on the Web. Aside from being the identity that other people online may know you from, an online identity can also be used for many things that may even have a considerable effect offline. Effectively managing as well as protecting your online identity may become an essential part of one's life, which may even increase to a certain degree into the future of the Web.

An online identity is simply a type of online persona that Internet users may establish online in many social networking sites as well as other online communities. Although some people may prefer having their real names as their online identities, most would generally want to have that certain amount of anonymity. That is why some people online make use of pseudonyms as a way to establish their online identity with a certain level of anonymity. This may be further maintained by providing a limited amount of personal information just enough to establish a kind of personality.

Online identities are used in various ways. People use it when going into online forums, online instant messaging, on social networks and even when playing online games. After a certain period of time, such online identities begin to develop a certain reputation that people may get to discover which they will recognize.

Depending on the person who establishes the online identity, it can either be a true representation or the opposite. Some people establish an online identity that may be the opposite of their own as an opportunity to explore that other side, so to speak. Some just want to understand how such an identity may interact with other people online which may further provide them with a better understanding of their own self.

Having an online identity can both have its good and bad sides. An online identity, first and foremost is a person's way to become recognizable in an online world that usually remains faceless most of the time. It serves as a way for other people to better know a certain individual and how he or she wants to be perceived. Having a certain anonymity may help people control the level of information on a certain identity well enough to feel safe and secure.

But that same anonymity can also work to a disadvantage especially to people who come to know a certain online identity of a person. Some people can easily hide their own personality through their online identities. Remaining anonymous or making up a certain online identity can allow some sexual predators for example from maintaining a certain personality well liked and befriend unsuspecting victims. Such is the danger side of having anonymous online identities and it is a problem that still requires a lot of work to prevent in terms of becoming a harm and a risk to other online users.