What is a digital identity?
In my opinion, digital identity means that everyone’s personal information (name, date of birth, gender, contact information) and biometric data are stored in an online database and cloud databases, which can be quickly queried and accessed by units with access rights, such as the government, police station, and hospital.
How do personal versus professional approaches to digital identity affect social media use?
For individuals, most people use social media as a platform to share and record their lives and experiences, mostly in the form of personal opinions, hobbies, and achievements. Some people may not want to make their content public, in which case they will choose to set access rights, which is a very common situation.
However, a professional digital identity is very different from a personal account. Professional digital identities are usually owned by a company or government, such as Apple, Amazon, and the Victoria Police Department, which are large corporations and local official administrative units. Most of the content shared by such accounts is to promote products and services and to advertise new policies and goals. Let me explain a clear example of the difference: Elon Musk’s tweets are mostly his personal opinions and thoughts, while SpaceX’s official tweets represent the entire company, including Musk, but you won’t see Elon Musk using SpaceX’s official account to post personal content even though he has full access to the account.
How do digital identities converge in networked publics-what are the impacts and/or benefits?
First, I believe that everyone has the right to access legally compliant websites and social media, in the context of which people can learn and explore more knowledge and information online. At the same time, people can communicate and share experiences with others who share their career goals and personal interests through the web, which greatly enhances connectivity as it is not influenced by geographic and time factors.
meganhales May 29, 2023
Hey Yuzhuangtian! This is a great blog post, I found it very informative and appreciate how well you differentiated between professional approaches to digital identity versus using it for social media purposes.
I agree with you that digital identity involves storing personal information in online databases, that can be accessed by larger entities, such as the government, the police, and healthcare institutions. However, I think one really important thing to discuss when considering digital identity is the limitations that come with protecting this sensitive data.
Privacy settings play a huge role in letting users protect their privacy on social media platforms, and they should not be forgotten. It is really easy to have data and information leaked therefore we must remain aware of what we are putting online and where we put it.
I like your example of using Elon Musk’s tweet to describe the difference between personal and professional online accounts, that helped me understand your explanation.
Thanks for your post I really enjoyed it!
yuzhuangtian May 29, 2023 — Post author
Thank you for your reply! I think the blog post should be interesting so that it can increase its validity.
yachenghou June 3, 2023
Wonderful blog you post! You made your point clearly and your disucssion is perfectly logical and easy to understand. You well defined the different between the personal account and professional network. And we also share the same opinion toward the pros and cons for the internet.
Looking forward to see your next blogs! 😀
yuzhuangtian June 4, 2023 — Post author
I am posting BLOG4, thanks for the comment.