Blog 2: Digital Identity

Digital identity, according to Eric Stoller, a Social Media expert, is everything that internet users do online. This means that people’s digital identity is created by whatever they post, share, how they interact or engage online, and how they use digital tools for their own benefit as well as the people they work with (0:07-0:20). Digital Identity compare to our identity in the “real world” can be manipulated. For instance, if one wanted to create an identity that can be approved by his/her employer or future employer, he/she has a choice to create a social media intended to make him/her look “professional.” This kind of digital identity is called the professional digital identity. On the other hand, if one wanted to create a digital identity that is just carefree, she/he also has the option to create a social media where he/she can post anything he/she wants. This kind of digital identity is called personal digital identity.

Professional and personal approaches to digital identity can affect one’s use of social media. For this reason, if users are to make their professional identity online, they better make it sure to look for an online community that can help them establish their digital professional identity. Just as Karl Spracklen explained in his article titled Identity-Making and Social Media, social networks help internet users have a sense of community and belonging (94). This just means that if internet users become involved in a group of people who are also establishing their professional identity online, they will be encouraged to maintain their professional identity because they need to be part of that online community. Internet users just have to be careful of convergence of digital identities in networked publics because when users failed to make their personal digital identity private or separate from their professional digital identity, problems might occur. For example, a teacher posts a funny meme on his personal social media. Consequently, because the network is public, one of the parents of his student saw his post and commented that as a teacher he should not be sharing that kind of meme. To avoid situations like these, internet users need to be extra careful in managing their personal and digital identities.

Even if the convergence of digital identity can be inevitable in a networked public, the convergence of digital identity has nothing to do with the safety and reliability of using digital tools like digital wallet. In the coming years, more and more businesses and people will be transacting online. This just means that more and more people and businesses will have to rely on digital wallet for their transactions. In the World Economic Forum 2019, Jüri Ratas, the Prime Minister of Estonia, explained that their country is already prepared in the digitization of business transactions. This is because the country has a digital ID that helped the government secure the privacy of their citizens’ online transactions. More so, this also enabled the Estonian government to encourage small businesses to do online transactions (6:00-6:10). As a result, small businesses and common people were exposed to online transactions and it made online transactions more present and available to everyone.

Works Cited

Eric Stoller. “What is Digital Identity?” YouTube, University of Derby, 25 Nov. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0RryRbJza0&feature=youtu.be.

Spracklen, Karl. “Identity-Making and Social Media.” Digital Leisure, the Internet and Popular Culture, 2015, pp. 94-112.

World Economic Forum. “Davos 2019 – Press Conference The Value of Digital Identity for the Global Economy and Society.” YouTube, 6 Feb. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-V7lyxrOmw&feature=youtu.be.