Right now, as you know, I’m in for a deep change, that needs to be accompanied – and even preceded – by a deep identity change. I have to change my identity from a nice, process-abiding corporate executive to that of a daring, weird entrepreneur.
It is funny and interesting to observe how social networks accompany the change. Whenever I push “publish” on a change of my profile on LinkedIn, or on an update on my personal website, that’s where I realize that I am deeply changing my identity. To the public I am now someone else! As I am publishing this new title, this new life, this new identity, I also need to consistently change it myself in my day-to-day behavior and how I view my surroundings. Having changed online, I must change in the real world.
In my case, the usage of social networks accelerates my identity change rather than slows it down. Maybe it is because my online identity was already much closer to the daring entrepreneur than to the nice discrete corporate executive.
For some people it might be more difficult to change their identity suddenly. Facebook will forever remember what you said a few years ago. What if it is contradicting? Worst come to worst, change identity online. Create a new self. And publish you new YOU.
By publishing easily to the world, by taking the entire world as a witness of what we are doing, social networks have the power to accelerate our identity changes. When will you use that power to change your life?
