I’m back this week from a fabulous vacation in Ontario, visiting one of my best friends and her children. She just moved from a tiny town in Northern Ontario to a bigger town just outside of Sudbury. In moving to a new city she’s been actively using Facebook to connect with friends from her past as she begins to build a new community. I mention this here because she made a fascinating connection between social networking tools and lessons she learned while living in a very small town.
She said two things:
1. Be authentic
2. Remember your persnickety aunt is likely going to hear what you’ve been up to – so be smart.
I thought this was a fascinating perspective on the world of social networking and also the frequent lack of digital literacy – check out UBC’s excellent site dedicated to exploring your Digital Tattoo.
I was left wondering whether the lack of digital literacy could also stem from disconnection with a wider, diverse community. Students who forget that their pictures can be viewed by anyone, that the awkwardness of growing up online is so open and dangerous seems to be a sign of our deep need for more types of community (online and off).
The first point – authenticity – is such a challenging one. Our identities are so prone to manipulation, especially online. Being authentic takes emotional maturity, a connection with our core, and that can take a lifetime to build.