Erika Pearson’s All the World Wide Web’s a Stage: The Performance of Identity in Online Social Networks concludes that “In essence, online performative space is a deliberately playful space. The fluidity and self–conscious platforms of performance allow individuals and networks of users to play with aspects of their presentations of self…”

So lets just ignore the number of innuendo jokes that could be made about playing with yourself and focus on the ways that we can play with our online identities.

One of the stresses of setting up a new social media account is the number of decisions that are required.

• Location Well, I live in Canada, but I’m from the US, and I don’t really know where I will end up permanently…this is just a hard time in my life to know “where” I am.
• Age Real age? How about January 1, what ever year makes me legal?
• E-mail Do I want to be contacted by your company? No…oh wait I have to verify to use the app.
• Google NO NO NO, do not link to my Google Account. No one needs to know.

So after intense soul searching, you normally get the the fun part- the part where you start forming an identity by creating a name and an avatar.

Alright, so my name for this blog was my attempt at being creative. It made me realize that for me creativity is equal to alliteration. Maybe not the best strategy. So I went on a hunt to find library blogs with great names. Here’s what I found:

Annoyed Librarian: Whatever It Is, I’m Against It

Information Tyrannosaur: Top of the Information Food Chain

Confessions of a Science Librarian

I like them because they are a bit quirky. Here’s the thing I’ve had this name kicking around in my head for when I feel comfortable starting a blog as an information professional: Turn the Paige

The part that I am stuck on is how to represent myself through an avatar. I’m not comfortable with photographs of just my face. But, I do like caricatures and I think they provide a unique way of showing a person without…showing a person. For example, here is my avatar from my Xbox Live account. She just looks so much more cheerful and professional than I do in real life.

In the future, I want the space I create to be fun and engaging. I need to provide a space which is playful to encourage and foster participation. Clearly this will be developed through the content, but I think a good place to start is with the basic aspects.