I traded some iChat with Euan Semple this afternoon, learning how to pronounce his name and explaining mine. More importantly, we checked in about some aspects of identity in general and digital identity in particular.
Euan and I talked about DIDW, about hanging out in person with people whom we had come to know first online (Euan wasn’t in Denver, but he had met several Cluetrainers at various other points). We agreed (and check me on this if I misstate things, Euan) that it’s a mistake to make a hard distinction between supposedly virtual relationships (on one hand) and face-to-face relationships (on the other). Online relationships are very real, though they’re different. They don’t obviate the satisfaction of meeting people in physical space; but they aren’t pallid substitutes either.
Jon Udell observes that
Most of us [from the Denver DIDW conference] have weblogs into which we project a lot of ourselves. As a result, face-time is different than it otherwise would be. Our digital identities precede us, and create a rich context for live discourse.He notes that online people have a stake in DigID to the extent that it helps preserve reputation awareness; that’s very right, but I still think Doc is closer when he reaches out for the digital identity killer-app (not “identity-killer app”). We will appreciate reputation-security, but we’ll jump on board and promote the DigID app that fires our imaginations the way Napster did. (See what Phil Wolff says about the DigID Napster. . .).
I knew about Phil and Jon before I met them at DIDW, but now I have to look out for them online more vigilantly. Thank heavens they’re aggregatable.
Special thanks, also, to Elliot Noss of Tucows—partly for his restlessly persistent interest in talking through our theological differences and similarities, and partly for representing that under-appreciated online constituency group: Readers. Elliot refuses to blog for several reasons, buit one of them is that he has to contribute to keeping the ratio of readers to bloggers somewhere near a manageable proportion. This has two side effects: I have one less blog to read (phew!), but I miss out on reading what’s on Elliot’s mind from day to day, and I’ll miss that.
DRMA: "The Funky Western Civilization" by Tonio K.; "Shoot Out the Lights" by Richard and Linda Thompson; "Power to the People" by the Chi-Lites; "You Were There" by Ron Sexsmith; "The Old Gold Shoe" by Lambchop; "Kite" by U2; "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" by the Pilgrim Travellers; "Three Marlenas" by the Wallflowers.