Is your digital footprint under your control?

Topic 2: Online Identity, Privacy & Security

Discuss arguments for and against having more than 1 online identity.

“You have one identity. The days of you having a different image for your work friends or co-workers and for the other people you know are probably coming to an end pretty quickly. Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity.” – Mark Zuckerburg, 2010.

Zuckerburg’s controversial statement has sparked a great debate and has arisen from the fact that the digital world is constantly evolving and expanding around us. He believes that individuals are continuously restricting the information they share or engage in on the web depending on what social context they are in. He suggests the anonymity of the web is dying and no one can hide anymore – privacy is a thing of the past. The information you share on the web leaves traces that are accessible to your individual networks and the people you connect with. Cyber spaces are increasingly becoming arenas used for expression and as we constantly interact with the ‘social web’ we are making our lives more public. Brands, companies, marketing/data research teams are continuously using our online profiles and interactions to understand their consumer markets. Your personal information is a valuable asset and any information available online is used for strategic development or improvement. Your online profiles are increasingly becoming powerful tools for marketers.

I believe the internet is a playground – a place where we can interact, share, engage and network with the people and information we want to. Ultimately, it is up to us as individuals to present and maintain the reputation we wish to hold. With the digital age becoming increasingly important, interaction and the development of online identities in cyber space is becoming unavoidable.

We use a range of platforms on the web as different tools but I believe each platform aggregates one online identity. For example, I have two twitter accounts, I use one to tweet about relevant marketing articles that interest me and to connect with people in the business world. I have an alternative account that I use as a social network, to connect with friends and to tweet about my personal life. I think this divide is necessary because my different account followers will only see the tweets relevant to their interests. However, I do not hide my accounts and believe they both contribute to my online identity which expresses my interests in marketing and my personal contributions.

I like this diagram because it outlines how we engage with the web to satisfy a variety of needs. Do you appear genuine or fake on the internet using your different platforms? Many people believe it’s difficult to divide private life from their ‘professional sphere’ online due to the credibility of our online identities (Costa and Torres, 2011). The reconstruction of ones identity across different social networks could arouse many suspicions. Digital management is essential and could impact our activity online and offline.

Krotoski, (2012), states that an ‘authentic identity’ is desirable and ‘pretend identities don’t work very well now that the web has moved from a minority sport for geeks to a mainstream occupation’. However, is the ability to remain anonymous online important? We must consider that many people may wish to start over from past lives or use the web as a platform to express themselves creatively or confidently in a cyber space when they might not be able to do so offline.

Krotoski highlights that the web serves to provide “a single public identity that’s an aggregated version of their offline past, the online present and their combined future”. How we present ourselves, network and interact, the information we engage in and share, all contributes to one online identity. Third party information including school reports, blog comments, tagged tweets also contribute to this digi-identity. The digital world is constantly expanding and I believe that very soon it will be difficult to hide any identity you have on the web and will contribute to one wholesome identity.

References

BIOID. (2012). One Person, Many Digital Identities. Available: http://www.bioid.com/news-center/press-releases/bioid-announces-mybioid-beta-personal-recognition-service.html. Last accessed 22nd February 2014.

Costa, C & Torres R. (2011). To be or not to be, the importance of Digital Identity in the networked society. Available: http://eft.educom.pt/index.php/eft/article/view/216/126. Last accessed 22nd February 2014.

Jarvis, J. (2011). One identity or more?. Available: http://buzzmachine.com/2011/03/08/one-identity-or-more/. Last accessed 22nd February 2014.

Krotoski, A. (2012). Online identity: is authenticity or anonymity more important?. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/19/online-identity-authenticity-anonymity. Last accessed 22nd February 2014.

Zimmer, M. (2010). FACEBOOK’S ZUCKERBERG: “HAVING TWO IDENTITIES FOR YOURSELF IS AN EXAMPLE OF A LACK OF INTEGRITY”.Available: http://www.michaelzimmer.org/2010/05/14/facebooks-zuckerberg-having-two-identities-for-yourself-is-an-example-of-a-lack-of-integrity/. Last accessed 22nd February 2014.