Who is Who and Who is Real – Getting to Identity
It is getting to the point where “people” asking to connect or engage bring that uncertainty moment. A photo that looks older than their age, or looks straight out of the 2000 to 2010s stock photo collections, has odd generic postings (and very few of them). The image has AI telltale signs of touch-up or whole cloth fabrication. Is this a real account? Is this a real person? Is this a real somebody with a real identity?
I know many people who have limited, erased, or never really had an online presence. Quite a few of them are college-age age or out 3 to 6 years from undergrad. Having an online presence that is easy to find is a problem. When this is paired with questions of reality, it creates challenges.
Erasing Digital Self of a Person
In the late 00s I was talking to grad students who were focussing research on online presence and one of their questions was how easy would it be to erase a digital life that is created by the person or created through other’s capturing images and content and writing about it or them. The conversation was sort of funny as they felt I was the most difficult person to delete existence for, should they try. I can think of many more, but they are well-known individuals. I was a non-celebrity (who has had some moderate media coverage over time) who is known in some communities and academic circles. But, I have also found my work and sites have been translated to other languages and fully attributed to me. I have also been claimed to work with organizations, where they thought this inclusion was going to matter to getting money or attracting others (this at times has been quite problematic).
Now we are in a world of “manufactured” identities and “faked” accounts of real people. Where the questions of, “Is this who I think it is?”, “Is this a real person?”, “How many, not actually you(s) are there?”. But, how do you get rid of them? How difficult is it to remove the unreal you(s)?
Who is Who? I am Just One Thomas
My dad had a similar name with a different middle name, but same middle initial. Often we resorted to “older and younger” for a while. I have had a life of, “I’m not that person”. My dad went by Tom and I Thomas (getting Americans to say Thomas and not Tom when you state your name is Thomas can be a real challenge at times). I often don’t push on it, but the era of people politely asking about pronouns for a person, also has people thinking to ask what they should call you. To paraphrase Prince, “my name is Thomas”.
I also lived in a neighborhood for four or five years where in four houses in a row there were four Tom / Thomas names and a Tim. When outside and somebody calls out Tom the odds were it wasn’t me. I’d hear, “Tom. Tom. Tom. Thomas!”, and I realized when they hit Thomas it likely was me, and may have been me all along they were trying to get the attention of.
I do know around 12 other Thomas Vander Wals and I’ve had email, message, or calls with many of them, which is fun. In the last year there are one or two new ones that have a similar professional focus and I’ve not met them, but this gets messy. I’ve had people try and use my identity (personal, professional, and my (old long gone) company – I think I know who is behind some of it as they have tried it with others and I’ve know their past and it fits). So, I get wary. I still get confusion and messes around my dad and have to still prove something wasn’t me many years after he passed. Identity is tough.
Are You a You?
But, now with “crafted” and fabricated identities and backgrounds it is so much more difficult. It is to the point of a new identity I run across that wants to connect, unless I can trace back to real context I know is valid, I don’t think it is real. If I’ve met somebody in person, it is easier to some degree to know somebody is a somebody.