What is a digital identity?

Digital identity can also be defined as an online profile; any post you like, share, comment on or make will contribute to your online presence (Stoller, 2016). As you engage with online content, you create an image of what kind of person you are through your interests and affiliations. A large part of your digital identity is how you use digital resources, whether for personal benefit or professional reasons. 

How do personal versus professional approaches to digital identity affect social media use?

The way a person uses social media depends heavily on their goals. If someone takes a professional approach to their social media, they are likely to demonstrate to potential employers that they are trustworthy people who would be good employees through their online contributions. As mentioned by Stoller (2016), employers may like a person’s online profile and want to hire them. Contrarily, a personal approach to social media often involves engagement with people and topics that are entertaining for the user. However, even with a personal approach a person has to be careful how they present themselves or else they may offend others (Stoller, 2016). For both professional and personal approaches to media, users must be careful about how they present themselves.

How do digital identities converge in networked publics – what are the impacts and/or benefits?

In the Davos (2019) video, Nandan Nilekani noted that the digital identification system in India has grown very successfully over the past ten years. Indian Citizens are now able to use their digital ID to open bank accounts, travel, and receive financial transactions among many other uses (Davos, 2019). This system links people’s individual digital IDs to their ability to function in society. The benefits of this system include the convenience of having all accounts linked to one ID, an increase in financial inclusion, and a decrease in fraud due to lack of physical identification (Davos, 2019). However, Nilekani did mention that there are concerns about user privacy, data losses and data breaches with systems like this. 

At this point, so much of the world’s communication is online that I believe digital identification systems such as India’s are inevitable. Even without digital ID systems, we already deal with the risk of our information being leaked and others accessing our accounts. I do not think these risks are enough for governments to completely avoid digital ID systems, so overall the benefits outweigh the risks 

Davos.“ Press Conference The Value of Digital Identity for the Global Economy and Society.” uploaded by 

World Economic Forum, 5 Feb. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-V7yxrOmw

Metadium. “How Estonia Is Pioneering The Digital Identity Space”. Medium, 2019, 

https://medium.com/metadium/how-estonia-is-pioneering-the-digital-identity-space-4008c709fbb8. Accessed 19 May 2021.

Stoller, Eric.“What is Digital Identity.”Youtube, uploaded by University of Derby, 25 November 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0RryRbJza0