Image Source: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/dontpanic_1024.jpg
David Truss (Pair A Dimes) wrings his hands–figuratively–in this way:
Although Google Buzz isn’t causing my worlds to collide in such a dramatic fashion, I am keenly aware that it opens up my social communities and combines them in a way that I am not sure I’m prepared to do….
I tried linking Twitter to Facebook and all I did was infiltrate my non-twitter friends Facebook timelines with context-less tweets that really meant nothing to them… it lasted about 24 hours. Similarly, Buzz came out and I started chatting with a few people in it, then my daughter (a Gmail user who was quicker than I to figure out Buzz) said to me, “Dad you sure talk a lot about buzz with people.” And this got me thinking about how I’m normally very purposeful with my online identities. I think about where I say what, to whom and why… I contextualize my conversations to the tool.
My response, tongue in cheek certainly, follows below.
David, sorry to hear about the imminent collision (pack your towel, Hitchhiker), but this may be because you’re trying to bestride multiple worlds…as an educator, it’s important to be the same in all worlds. In fact, if I were invoking some sci-fi/fantasy archetype, maybe the Gate Between Worlds (Joel Rosenberg, Guardians of the Flame) would do it..but maybe not.
All the issues you mention really come back to transparency and better management of your digital footprint. I think schools, businesses, are having trouble with this because individuals want to be naughty but pretend they’re nice, or vice versa. In truth, we are having to decide once and for all who the heck we REALLY are and remember that no matter whom we deal with. What a refreshing challenge.
With that in mind, the importance isn’t on keeping worlds apart, but figuring out how to best align the planets to achieve confluence. For zealots and fruitcakes, planetary alignment signals end of times. For the well-prepared, it’s a once in a millennium opportunity.
What do you think?
Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org
Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure
Discover more from Another Think Coming
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Another Think Coming 
My towel is packed, though I'm not sure if I'm ready for the trip? ;-)What a great response, although I think it poignantly makes one point and misses another. Yes, absolutely it is time for a collective 'us' to 'clean up' our digital footprint. Gone are the days when someone can post their binge-drinking-dope-smoking-half-or-full-naked-photos from the weekend and then live a 'professional' life on Monday to Friday. A digital footprint is too easy to search, too long-lasting and too transparent to 'be naughty but pretend they're nice' as you mention. However, I think that there are times that we are 'appropriately different' in the way we converse and in the types of conversations we have in different contexts… and we can have different audiences in different places that we speak to… well, differently. I wore a tie, maybe 5 or 6 times as a Vice Principal in Canada, I haven't come to school without one as a Principal in China… I hate this 'noose' & would rather not wear it, but I'm in a context where it is necessary. I'll probably copy this comment onto my own blog post and share my feelings towards wearing a 'monkey suit and leash' every day… and tomorrow I'll come back to school wearing my dress shirt and tie, if not a suit! We do and say things in different ways for different contexts all the time – I'm just not sure I'm ready for this confluence at this time? (Even though I'm completely comfortable with my digital footprint.)