Different Identities for Different Situations?

As soon to be graduates searching for jobs, we are advised to make our online presence expansive. Adding into this mix is that we have spent our formative teenage years online in one sense or another and have posts from school and university days (DiMicco, 2007, p.384), therefore, we as young adults are likely to have developed and changed in the past 5 years. As such we can say whilst that in itself is a good argument for having multiple identities, it also show that we talk about our personas when discussing identities (Warburton, 2010, p.11).

It’s advised to have separate Twitter accounts (and thus identities), as private views and opinions are not compatible with job roles and opportunities. Though, it is important to ask why one needs multiple identities, which could raise notes of suspicion. Much like airport security, why have that simmering anxiety (it could just be me…) when there’s nothing to hide?

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With Twitter, it is known that there is a need to remove doubt from readers minds as to what a tweet or retweet could suggest or endorse, in the form of a disclaimer.

This shows that whilst Twitter has many active users, people feel the need to add a disclaimer, removing the inevitable liability of their identity. Additionally, whilst it’s great to be expansive with your online presence it can be difficult to keep up with maintaining your online identities which could increase the risk of fraud, which whilst unlikely, is an argument against having your identity on different networks.

There many arguments for having separate online identities. They stem from personal preference, convenience or for preparing for potential job opportunities. Whatever perspective you see it from, there are likely to be different answers. It does seem however, that the “just in case” argument prevails – the risk of bringing oneself or employer into disrepute is one that could force the use of having separate online identities if you’re a heavy user as an exercise of risk reduction, or one professional identity if you’re a lighter user. As Neil Richards from the Washington University says “…technologies we have…are enabling all sorts of new uses, there are a whole bunch of…things that are possible…we don’t have rules for them yet.” Clearly, it is difficult to be conclusive, as users are not universally clear on what your online identity truly represents.