The concept of Digital Identity is still considered nebulous. Despite this, Eric Stoller, a Social Media expert, simply defined Digital Identity as oneā€™s presence online (University of Derby, 2016). Also, it could refer to how one, shares, interacts, and utilizes digital tools for his/her own benefit. In other words, oneā€™s Digital Identity is basically his/her digital footprint. One could know a lot about a certain person by looking at his/her digital footprints. This is actually the reason that some companies would search for their applicantsā€™ digital footprints to know if they are going to hire a certain applicant or not. Just as Eric Stoller said, looking into the applicantā€™s digital footprint is like an initial interview. Moreover, oneā€™s Digital Identity could also be viewed as the product of a personā€™s interaction in the internet. In fact, Spracklen (2015) explained that the internet helps people create their identity. Ā This explains why one is likely to engage in political activities if he/she belongs in an online community composed of people who frequently share posts and videos on social activism.

The Digital Identity can be changed according to oneā€™s intention. For instance, if one created his/her social media for personal reasons, he/she can share anything that he/she likes. In addition to this, he/she can follow pages and people that simply caught his/her attention. However, if one needed to create a social media because he/she wanted to reach his/her clients or boss, he/she needs to establish a good Digital Professional Identity (DPI). According to Jawed et al. (2019), DPI refers to the personal identity that professionals create online through internet-based interaction. In creating this identity, the professional carefully uses online platforms and communication tools to appear professional. Unlike the personal approach to Digital Identity, the professional approach is more constrained. This is because as a professional, one needs to create an image that will please his/her employers and clients. Hence, in creating Digital Professional Identity, online users leave their ā€œrealā€ identities behind and create Digital Identities that can best fit their profession.

In networked publics, the personal and the professional identities can converge. For instance, Teacher A has two Facebooks accounts, one for his professional account and the other one is his personal account. It is possible for the friends of Teacher A in his professional Facebook account to find his personal account especially when Teacher A did not strategically hide his personal Facebook account. In this case, Teacher Aā€™s friends can check his personal Facebook account, send him a message, or even send a friend request. When Teacher A accepted his students and employers in his personal account, he will have a hard time deciding what to share, what to post, and who to follow in fear of not appearing professional to the clients and students who invaded her personal Facebook account. On the other hand, the good side of this is that Teacher Aā€™s employers and students will feel that they would know Teacher A on a personal level. In connection to this, problems like these will always be part of our daily life. In the World Economic Forum (2019), the economists said that over 60% of the global GDP is expected to be digitized by 2022. This only means that world gets more digitized each year so we need to know how to responsibly create and handle our Digital Identities.

 

References

Mahboob,Ā U., Jawed,Ā S., & Yasmeen,Ā R. (2019). Digital professional identity: Dear internet! Who am I?Ā Education for Health,Ā 32(1), 33. doi:10.4103/efh.efh_232_17

Spracklen,Ā K. (2015). Identity-making and social media.Ā Digital Leisure, the Internet and Popular Culture, 94-112. doi:10.1057/9781137405876_6

University of Derby. (2016).Ā Eric Stoller – What is digital identity?Ā [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0RryRbJza0&feature=youtu.be

World Economic Forum. (2019, February 5).Ā Davos 2019 – Press conference the value of digital identity for the global economy and societyĀ [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=326&v=1-V7lyxrOmw&feature=emb_logo