Authenticity, ‘being real’, being passionate as an overflow of who you are – all things I am passionate about talking about so really interested to catch this piece by @vickybeeching (about four hours late, shocking!), which unsurprisingly gets good discussion going on her Twitter – thanks for more triggers Vicky:
It’s not all bad of course. I’m a massive fan of social media and degrees of anonymity can be used really well within it. ‘Pseudonymity’ is an example; the user takes a false name but keeps it consistent, building a basis of trust and community using that persona. It can enable people to say things that would not otherwise be possible; for example those in politically dangerous situations. Wael Ghonim is an example of this. Using a psuedonym, his Facebook page became a catalyst in rallying a huge uprising in Egypt in 2011; something he could never have achieved if he had used his real name.
Read full article in The Independent, where I was looking for a mention of ‘disinhibition‘, but was pleased to see on Twitter some of a debate about what ‘being real’ means – does it require filters, and I also think … can people “market themselves” too much … when I talk about ‘brand you’, I’m asking people to truly be a part of themselves… hence the idea of a ‘digital fingerprint’ – putting part of your identity online, rather than digital footprint, which feels more like stomping all over the net! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinhibition