When you first meet someone, a multitude of details - many gleaned subconsciously - go into creating your impression of the new acquaintance. The same is true when you meet someone online, except that there are far fewer details to observe and the resulting impression is quite sketchy. With more and more of our social interactions occuring online, the question of how to make this virtual impression more vibrant and meaningful becomes increasingly important.

I will begin this talk by examining how identity is established online today in Usenet news and Web home pages. In these technologically constrained environments, some very interesting ways of establishing (or hiding) one's personal identity have evolved. And, for the designer, it is the constraints which are most interesting - which ones have had the most impact on the resulting culture? And which are the most important to remove? I will then discuss designs for more sociable interfaces, focussing on the design and implementation of the recent Media Lab/ Art Technology Group project: A Day in the Life of Cyberspace.