Comments on: Twitter lists and identity

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:35:49 +0000

Good point; how about a gathering of perceptions? I agree with you about the work ahead.

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:34:14 +0000

It's hard to say, self-expression does tend to encourage validation more than introversion though, it's hard to like what you don't know, I would think the old chestnut about hiding a light under a bushel applies.

By: Syamant

Syamant — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:16:32 +0000

Agreed.

Some people don’t really articulate their achievements, capabilities etc even though they are pretty good at what they do. There main goal is the new missions and goals they set themselves. People who interact with them likely share their stories.

There are others though, who perhaps like to share their stories and successes.

Do you think both kinds would follow a similar trajectory going forward?

By: socialtechno

socialtechno — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:02:00 +0000

Be careful of that phrase “the sum total of the perceptions of others”. It's quantitative language , very popular with old skool marketeers. But what we get when we add relationships together, or perceptions, is more of a qualitative change, like adding an extra horn to the brass section, or a colour to the palette or a herb to the stock. We have interesting work ahead of us discovering how social phenomena interact when we try to combine them.

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:49:48 +0000

Thanks for the comment, to answer your question, my thoughts are that identity is to some degree evolutionary, heritage and provenance create a spark and an initial starting point that's the origin but identity is also a mixture of what's fixed and what's flexible. Essentially I see it as story and a script that reflects connections of interest and experience.

In that sense it presents a compelling narrative, and all the strongest identities have this. The advantage of social media is that the narrative is written collaboratively, with less margin for error and more options for growth and development.

By: Syamant

Syamant — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:51:13 +0000

So in a sense, the many facets of a personality, capability and interests ?
The challenge though is that over a period of time, capability and interests evolve. It would be interesting to see how this gets reflected and how one draws a balance.

Would like your thoughts. Thanks!