Patrick Tulskie

The other day, I noticed something that sort of pertained to what I wrote a few months ago about killing off JiveMasterT.  I see a lot of people doing this, albeit, subconsciously.  I’m not sure when this change in mentality began and I believe I was actually late to the party.  What follows here is what I think happened.

Over the past ten years, the way that people identify themselves on the internet has changed drastically.  It’s not quite obvious because the change was very gradual and it has not totally affected every area of the internet.  Despite this, it definitely happened.  It’s almost like when your girlfriend asks you if you think she’s lost weight.  It happened so gradually you didn’t notice but when asked – you notice.  There was a time when someone could jump onto IRC and chat with their friends using a username that had varying value.  The username could be thrown away if its reputation faltered and it could be retained if it had meaning and significance to those that interacted with it.

And Then It Happened.

Social networks erupted onto the internet with a force more powerful than any of the trends we’ve seen in the past, on and off the internet.  MySpace.  Facebook.  LinkedIn.  Some forum and IRC elitests refuted the fact that these sites for people by people were extremely valuable and a great way to associate an online identity with yourself.  They claimed that these networks were for teenagers and emo kids.  They made fun of the pictures that people posted all the while, clinging onto their text based chat and personal blogs linked to a screen name.  In the end, the naysayers were defeated and social networks have become a very real force on the internet.  Now, a lot of those that were once against social networks probably have an account or two of their own.

Why Did It Happen?

It’s hard to pinpoint the cause, but one thing is for sure – people by nature are social.  A place to go and share you lives with your friends is immensely attractive to everyone, even if they deny it.  What’s more is, anyone could signup to a social network and begin building their online identity to mirror that of their real world identity.  The need to know HTML and have a geocities or angelfire account became nullified.  Some people still retained their text based identities on IRC channels and forums, but many people (especially those of the internet brats) had decided to get their own account on a social network.

There Was An Incentive Though, Right?

Absolutely.  The problem with screen names and text based communication is that it is nearly impossible to take credit for what has been accomplished.  With the widespread adoption of social networks came the opportunity to take advantage of your reputation to gain love, money, bragging rights, and just generally enhance your social circles.  Those who understand the concepts of branding themselves have been able to utilize social networks for gains across the board.

Hey But Like Anything, There Is A Risk.

This is true of social networking in a big way.  If one is not careful with what it is they associate themselves with on social networks, they can tarnish their reputation at “internet speed.”  A high ranking person in a Fortune 500 company who posts pictures of their half naked and drunk self will surely have repercussions in the work place.  Aside from maintaining some restraint in the content you post, it is also important to keep on top of where your identity is being used and insure that you are in control of it.  It is a real risk that someone might sign up on a social network as you in order to do and say things that ruin your brand or even exploit others using your good name.

Sort Of Like Social Network Identity Theft.

True but it is much easier to do and get away with.  One thing anyone should do, if you value their online reputation, is to run some searches for your name and make sure no one is using it badly.  You should also consider signing up on social networks that you think you might have an interest in at a later date to prevent someone from beating you to it and stealing your name.  These sorts of things don’t happen that frequently but they can happen and might also be a huge hassal to fix.  Your credit record is a bunch of numbers but your reputation is a complex web of people and stories.  Someone introducing poison to that web can be very difficult to repair.

The identity landscape is changing and we’re all participating in its evolution.  Gone are the days of your disposable screen names – now our online identities can be more valuable (and more difficult to repair) than our credit records.  Our next generation of hiring managers are going to be former internet brats and you can be certain that they will weigh your online reputation heavily when you’re looking for a job.  Protecting and enhancing that reputation should be much higher on everyone’s priority list than ever before.