I would like to come full circle within my blog and revisit the topic of identity. In Born Digital, the authors John Palfrey and Urs Gasser describe a Digital Native's identity as their "Digital Dossier." They define Digital Dossier as everything digital that defines a Digital Native from the very beginning of their existence. This made me think about what my own Digital Dossier would consist of...
I have been contributing to my Digital Dossier since my middle school days when I created my first social networking profile on MySpace. I uploaded pictures of me with my friends and family, commented on friends' photos and profiles, and uploaded videos I made with my friends. All of these things added to my Digital Dossier and my technological identity. As I grew older, I created a Facebook which now contributes to my Digital Dossier daily. Every photo I upload, every status I update, and every link I like makes up who I am in the digital world.
Though I don't consider myself to be "born digital" I do believe that I have grown up digital. As I have grown up and surrounded myself which the Internet and other digital technologies, I have significantly contributed to my Digital Dossier and defined myself as a Digital Native. The concept of the Digital Dossier really encourages you to think about all of the things that contribute to it in your own life.
Ya that is kind of crazy to think about and a little scary. I wonder what the future holds for our digital dossiers and if things that we have posted on the internet will ever come back to haunt us. I also wonder (because of how fast technology is advancing) how long it will be before we are the obsolete ones that are foreigners to technology and the next generations are the new 'digital natives.'
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of the digital dossier is an interesting one. Like you, I have been forming mine since about middle school, but I wonder how more closely tied to their dossier kids who have had one as long as they can remember are. It's also interesting to think of how we portray ourselves online. Putting only our best self out there? It can seem like it.
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty interesting how you start building your digital dossier at such an early age and how it helps shape your digital identity
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