Institute For The Future

Identity Management for Kids

Reading today's article in the New York Times about potential employers and college admissions people going through Myspace and Friendster sites to get information on applicants (For Some, Online Persona Undermines a Resume), made me think how ironic it is that in the world where everyone can have a public persona, i.e. be a celeb, one also carries the burden of having to "manage" this persona just like a celebrity. The interesting thing is that kids already manage their personae when they are in Myspace--but for their friends. Most of the time what is on one's Myspace, in the case of a kid, has little to do with who the kid really is. Everywhere on Myspace are imaginary identities, identity plays, kids trying out personae for and with their friends. The unfortunate thing is when such identity play is taken out of context and is used by adults in a totally different realm. Instead of managing their personae for friends, they are now expected to manage them for a completely different realm, the realm of adults, work, resumes. Alas, such might be the burdens of celebrity that the kids will have to realize.