Identity issues in the world of Web 2.0

I came across a really interesting article on personal identity recently, and it had me thinking – who am I? I guess like the author of the article it depends on where you are when youre asked. When I'm in the USA I am English first, then British, then European (if really pushed though I prefer irritating neighbors to the French and Germans though this isnt always positively received). When I am in Canada I am from Oxford (as my experience with Canadians is that they never confuse my accent with that of an Australian and assume I am from England as they are very aware of the regional dialects – what with the majority of Canadians being first or second generation Canadan-Brits). When I am in the UK I am from Oxford first, south Oxfordshire second, and from Grove third. When I am in Grove, I am 'originally' from Grove but I 'escaped' relatively young (the subtleties of this point of difference for anyone from Grove or who has ever visited Grove will surely not go un-noticed!). When asked by someone 'who is Neil Hair?' I would point towards personality traits. I am a red head, I am married to Rose, I am genuine, I am friendly and outgoing, enjoy long walks in the park and toast world peace etc etc… but the point of this entry is: 'Who am I online?' Am I the same lad from Grove with all the usual traits? From the point of view of the marketer trying to know me this is of course the answer they want. But how do people change online – if they do at all? What differences can be seen in world of Web 2.0? I am personally a believer that your online identity is in most cases a truer depiction of who you really are (and there are lots of interesting studies on this that prove it). You tend to hold back less, you express your true intentions more clearly (unless of course youre trying to be tactful), it's you in the raw so to speak. Or is your online persona simply an extension of your existing off-line personality? More touch points for the marketer means we're ever closer to really understanding our consumers psychology. One wonders what 2007 will bring in terms of new tools and new techniques for peeling away the layers of our targets. Interesting times…

Dr Hair is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the E Philip Saunders College of Business at RIT.

© 2007, Dr Neil Hair. All rights reserved.