Drawing from the actor-network theory applied by Engestrom to online social networks, I think it is critical to analyze the connection between the user and the online social-network personal profile. Users seem to recognize the separation between "real-world" identity and the profile judging from the common language on the topic: you find a friend's profile on MySpace not the friend; the construction of a profile is seen as a creative act. This is a recognition that the tie between user and profile is not a direct correlation, but is rather a selective projection of identity. The presence of sub-networks of "fake" profiles (examples: 1 2) shows that there isn't even necessarily a logical correlation between the user and the projected identity. Though as this LiveJournal discussion shows, often some connection is still assumed.

What is the effect, then, of this projected identity, existing as a semi-autonomous counterpart to the real-world entity? One aspect to keep in mind is the dual function of social-networking sites: creating connections to strangers via their profiles and creating connections between people already connected in the non-web world, again via profiles. The link between user and profile acts as the link between two distinct networks: the non-web relationship/object-centered network and the network of social-networking site profiles. The connection between them lies in the act of creation: a one-to-one interaction between profile and user, each representing the other, to varying degrees, in the two parallel networks. It is necessary to draw the distinction between these two networks since profile and user can not be viewed in the singular. The two networks operate in very different modes, having separate sets of etiquette and interactive norms. Because of this, the link from user to profile can be as much a process of translation as it is of projection.

Anatomical terminology, the profile as sensory organ, almost seems appropriate for this relationship. Stimuli are received and translated from the profile to the user much in the same way the eye receives and translates stimuli to the brain. The user, like the brain in this comparison, is otherwise blind to the system which the eye/profile translates. Additionally, the profile differentiates itself from a tool, such as a phone, which may also translate stimuli: the individual connection between user and profile (through specific login-names, passwords, as well as the perceived likelihood of personal connection through projection) creates a relationship more akin to eye-brain than to phone-ear in that we all have a certain amount of (perceived and actual) exclusive access to our eyes that we do not have to a phone.