On my digital identity (identities)

This year, you may have noticed that I have pushed a lot harder to have my academic credentials recognized and to ensure that people don’t think of me just as “a popular blogger” (their words, not mine). I’m WAY more than just ‘a popular blogger’. I self-identify primarily, as I indicate in my About Me page, as a full-time academic, consultant and researcher. So, I find it funny sometimes when people ask me on Twitter “are you in higher education?” Everywhere on my bio (on Twitter, Facebook and on all my other social platforms) I explain what I do primarily (which is consulting, research and teaching). Sometimes I wonder if people actually read my bio before following me. But I digress…

Two times this year I have been asked to be an example of proper management of personal and professional digital identities (by Kristopher Hermkens, from SFU and by Dave MacDonald, from AvidTetra). While I have been honored to be asked to be this model of personal and professional identity management, I cannot generalize the strategy I use as the best one.

My students at UBC do know for the most part, that their strict and rigorous professor of public policy and environmental politics, has another, “secret” identity where he is a social media power user. At times, I blend both worlds, particularly when I see projects initiated by students, or job searches that could benefit from the larger community that Hummingbird604 enjoys.

I am both, one and the same. But I thoroughly enjoy that many colleagues and friends recognize how I want to keep them differentiated and interact with both identities differently. My students joke and share fun stuff with @hummingbird604, yet maintain an absolutely arms-length and professional relationship with @raulpacheco (and with me, in person, during office hours, on campus and in the classroom).

Appreciating that I can be both the academic and the social media maven is one of the best gifts you can give me. And knowing how to interact with each one is one of the qualities I appreciate the most in people. I recently praised my students on Twitter saying how proud I was that they understood that both identities are separate and how well they deal with each one.

I don’t have a particular piece of advice for you. But for me, keeping my personal and professional self separate has worked, and I’ll continue to do so during 2011.

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