I have been swept in the concept of persona on the web, that branding yourself and free interchange was quite a good idea. I had daily quotes, I had occasional articles, I articulated a philosophy.
I was jolted into awareness by a request on LinkedIn by someone I would not have anticipated having interest in me, someone that set me to thinking about that public persona I've created.
Have I posted anything incriminating? Not at all. But my mind suddenly wandered to some of the articles and many of the quotes that I had posted, things that while innocuous in themselves, had the potential to be abused by parties which might make use of such things other than in the spirit in which they were intended.
And so the Great Deconstruction begins. Twitter Link is down; I may scrap the whole Twitter link entirely. The website is up but that may come down as well. Essentially, I'm attempting to scrub any personal branding from associations with my name, leaving a bland placeholder in my stead.
It makes me more grateful than ever that this forum has continued to remain anonymous. I had toyed briefly with the idea of changing that, of starting to link more often to other sites with my musings. But in light of recent events, it's better this way: I can write as I please. My friends know, my readers may guess, and others can hopefully just enjoy.
It's an interesting conundrum: in a society where transparency is more possible than ever, that very transparency makes one more vulnerable than ever, thereby really ensuring that many people will become less transparent than ever due to the risk of having words or comments taken out of context.
And so, after briefly rising above the water, the iceberg sinks back down leaving only the tip - this blog - as evidence to the outside world.
One of the topics that comes around regularly with my high school students is that they grow up in a society that doesn't want to recognize privacy. Their natural inclinations run towards invasive questions that the previous generation would never have asked... and it's not because they're being "rude"; it's simply an accepted part of the world today. One of my jobs as their mentor is to assure and remind them that they do NOT have to give out every piece of information they possess... they are indeed entitled to secrets if they wish. I give them the appearance of an open book in our interactions, but I have told them (and hold as gospel) that there is a wall past which they do not, will not, and cannot see, and that said wall is a necessary part of who I truly am.
ReplyDeleteI wonder hesrdc: when they ask these questions, is it that they want to have the information from you, or that they want to share information about themselves? Is it the sort of transparency that runs both ways, or a single conduit?
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