Carefully Balanced Identities
Fortune Tech recently posted an article about Google+, Facebook and the slippery concept of ‘identity’ online. It was a well written, balanced take on the subject, and that was a nice surprise. But what really drew my attention was Theresa Klein’s comment:
This is one of the most concise, clear and illuminating descriptions of the issues surrounding identity that I’ve ever seen, and it makes a great teaching tool! Particularly because she used Facebook Conect to log in and post that comment, which was thus linked to SpaceVixen Klein’s facebook account.
See, SpaceVixen is a member of the SCA, and her profile picture is someone, presumably herself, twirling flaming torches in the night air - a staple image of Nevada’s Burning Man festival, an event with a significant SCA overlap.
By following her comment (posted under her real name) to her Facebook account (not her real name) we have established that Theresa likes Burning Man.
[...] what if part of your personal life involves hanging out at nudist beaches, or going to fetish/BDSM parties, or attending Burning Man. All kinds of stuff you don’t necessarily want your mom, or your conservative aunt, or your work colleagues to know everything about.
So if part of Theresa’s “example list” of embarrassing secrets actually referred to herself….
(Remember: when a website asks if you’d like to link your accounts, click NO.)