I’ve been thinking a lot of about digital identities lately and all of the time that goes into crafting and maintaining them. It’s work, that is for sure. And somewhat reluctant to take on more work online than I already have, I have neglected my latest Facebook account that I recently started (again). I just don’t really want to log in to and check another online space at this time, although getting around to updating and maintaining it is inevitable.
Cole Camplese had an interesting post a week or two back about all the time it required to form new identities on new sites and how nice it would be if you could import your identity from one site to another, so you wouldn’t have to constantly recreate it. I am curious what Gen Y’s think of this option. Is it a blessing to be able to recreate yourself on different sites, especially for the younger generations whose identities are still evolving? When should permanent digital identity creation begin? During high school, during college, after both? (Harvard’s Digital Natives group has some interesting posts on this topic: see The Permanent Record and the rebuttal in The Permanent Record Part 2.)
Reading more on Cole’s blog, I stumbled upon Millis High School’s Web 2.0 and 21st Century Learning Wiki. What’s most impressive about this work, aside from the excellent content on the site, is that it was put together and is maintained by students (who also incidentally read Cole’s blog… wow!). Today’s high school students are savvier than ever about social networking, 21st century learning, and digital identities, and the generation after them will likely have a much different, more integrated experience as these technologies continue to overlap, evolve, and make their way into educational settings.
When I poll (informally, on elevator rides and in cafes) our university students here and ask them what they think of social networks and learning networks being on the same platform — say for example, your Blackboard site is located in Facebook — they are vehemently opposed to the idea. They want to keep their online social networks and learning networks separate — that’s they way it has always been for them, and that’s they way they like it. And, you’ve got to understand their point. They were the generation that explored and popularized online social networking before the rest of us even knew what was happening. (And unfortunately, most of these students have yet to experience the benefits of combined social networking and learning, at least in an educational setting.)
But the next generation, the Millennials, will be much more accustomed to learning communities and social networks being one in the same. How will this change their thinking and their creation of online identities? In some ways, Gen Y had the advantage of being able to explore this space and create themselves in their own Gen Y universe, before the rest of us caught up, understood, or could guide them in their interactions. The Millennials will have (and are already having) a much different experience.
What are your thoughts?
Digital identities are actually alienating us from one another, sadly. In fact, just using the term: “Digital Identity” is a shame. The most basic of people- to-people skills are lost through this phenomena. Just think of online dating for example. People use to actually interact face to face! This digital and often times dark, ARTIFICIAL identity should really have us shaking our heads.
Are you sure social networking technologies are not connecting us even more, or at least in useful, meaningful ways not possible before? See http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/digitalnatives/2008/03/19/finding-each-other-digital-natives-and-communities-of-interest/
Granted, online interaction is a newer mode of socialization and may seem foreign and alienating to some, especially those newest to it.
My grandmother thought in a similar way about my mother’s use of the telephone, which was very foreign to my grandmother: “Why don’t you just go visit your friend? And see her while talking to her? Spend time with her? She only lives two houses down the street!” My mother’s use of the telephone for socialization was disturbing to her. Yet many relationships, intimate ones included, develop, evolve and solidify through frequent telephone communication. Many put frequent phone contact on their top 10 lists of means of maintaining the type of communication required for a healthy relationship.
Is online interaction so different, or is it just newer?
The whole concept of a “digital identity” sounds perplexing and perhaps very alienating, but many of us already have one whether we want one or not. I can find out lots of info about almost anyone through google searches if I’m determined enough, even if that person never published anything to the web himself. The information that exists on the internet about you and the elements of your online interaction are parts of what make up your digital identity. If we all are now acquiring digital identities (whether we like it or not), isn’t it better to learn to understand them, participate in the process, and consciously craft them ourselves?