Hyper-Connectivity and Future Identities

The last decade has seen the transition from connectivity to hyper-connectivity with respect to the Internet. Now our phones and other mobile devices allow us to be permanently connected. They bleep when a new email comes in, an ebay item we're following changes status, when Facebook or Twitter updates or when someone connects via LinkedIn. We turn them off when we fly... nor not if you are taking a flight with Internet access. My wife was thankful when the latest version of iOS allowed me to turn off alerts overnight!

We were connected to the Internet very early on in it's development and brought our kids up to not reveal personal data online. So although my name is shown on my account in Facebook, my 27 year old son still uses an alias.

We talk about online identity, but the change to online identity is only the last step in an evolving journey of identity over centuries. I think this can be seen in four basic strides. I believe we are in transition right now from the third (Authentic) to the fourth (Synthetic).

Pragmatic => Romantic => Authentic => Synthetic

Online and offline identity are linked. Way, way back many centuries ago, our identity was linked to our trade or profession. These often evolved into our surnames in the UK: Butcher, Smith, Wright or Taylor being examples of this:

...a (more) relevant starting point is Sennett (1977). He argued that in more ancient times identity is almost entirely ascribed. A person was born to a class, occupation and role. If a butcher went on the street inappropriately dressed for that role, he should be publically reprimanded. This changed with the enlightenment and new genres such as theatre. When people appreciated that a person could act out identity as a theatrical performance, the contrast was with an identity assumed to be authentic or real. A trajectory leads from this all the way to a 1960’s search for a purely personal identity found deep within. Online possibilities exacerbate this fear that we are losing real or authentic identity.[1]

Thus the pragmatic identity ascribed by trade, profession or position in society evolved into the romantic identity played out as an actor. People could mimimic an identity by dressing or behaving as they wished. This showed to in a fluidity of western culture where transition between classes and roles was acceptable.

Media today is all about authenticity -- and largely dominated by participatory media and consumers, who see right through advertising and marketing hyperbole and shut it out. Participating in these media is the only way to gain a "true" understanding of how and which work, and which don’t. Clients are demanding that their PR counsel and support teams are in the conversation, and that they themselves use the media where their content is being created and distributed.

Take, for example, the use of social media for online business networking or lead generation. As the saying goes, 'it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks'. The old dog in this instance -- baby boomers -- use traditional, in-person offline meetings as their primary source of building their business networks, while the younger generations are building their own brands and businesses more quickly, and reaching a much wider audience by leveraging new digital tools like LinkedIn and Twitter to run full-on campaigns.[2]

The son of of a friend of ours is a teenager with his own business buying and selling pallets. His clients find him via the Internet. You'd never guess his age from his telephone etiquette with clients. While being driven by his mum when a business call comes in he tells everyone in the car to be quiet and changes voice to his 'business voice'. He has synthesised an entity without anyone having any idea of the reality. Of course the pallets are very real!

Future identity? Yes, future identity.

Image courtesy of photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net