13. Facebook – family members (inside pages)
Mutual Friends – association by access
Snapchat – no common links
Whom do you belong to?
Followers – unrestricted in the open network
20. Facebook’s ‘name’ policy
messes with usernames
Stark shift from decade
old Facebook and
Twitter to newer
platforms.
What’s in a
name?
Name over twitter handle/usernames
21. You do talk about work!
And education
Bios usually
feature work
Dedicated fields for work
and education
(Facebook and Tinder)
22. I AM what I AM
Bio/Intro/About Me allow to
project your identity your way
23. You assert your views, codes of engagement
and celebrities drop the formality.
But Snapchat doesn’t
even have a bio !
24. With no profiles, ‘bio’ or
‘about me’ your posts
became your identity.
The birth of short stories.
25. Transient identities
allow us to re-invent everyday!
Millennial ‘switching’ behaviour morphing
onto design?
Life of a Shape-shifter !
Whiter
than
Thou
Monday
Big Fat Indian joint family …. Family and where it comes from – also brings along a package of identities – those you’re born with – caste, class, socio-economic
1st – joint fam – family name, location and family work
2nd – nuclear – education and work along with family name
Chosen identities over Given identities
Fatalism of given identities – the tacit restrictions upon us – repeatedly reminded of being bound by outside .. By something we are just born into
But the virtual world has changed our sense of identity.
That we’re moving to a more isolated or a connected world is a different discussion.
From a We culture we’re moving to a Me culture.
Here’s a snapshot of how this change is fed into design…
… which has fed back into us!
Our identity by association ! We’ve gotten rid of this identity –
We are no longer identified by anyone else – no family, no friends.
Even within technology, the change can be traced –
Facebook was one of the first social networks – an account required innumerable fields to be filled in ….
Including marking family members..
There is still mutual friends as an identifier.
Lost in newer apps.
In fact Tinder that allowed it till a while ago – has delinked FB mutual friends.
The other big identity marker is location ..
When you were earlier identified by city/location .. It is fast vanishing.
Facebook has city.. Hometown is buried inside
Twitter has – both decade old networks
Newer ones –
Instagram offers no field/column to fill in this marker of identity
Snapchat has no column – you can put your live location on and people from across the world can see what you post!
Tinder – works on live distance – doesn’t say where you belong to
Snapchat has no column – you can put your live location on and people from across the world can see what you post!
Tinder – works on live distance – doesn’t say where you belong to
Age – how old are you?
Facebook changed tweaked its design from displaying the year of birth to only the date and month! Now you can even choose to hide that.
Twitter gives that as an option – a non mandatory thing
Instagram doesn’t even have that option
Snapchat needs it only for registratio – it is never displayed.
When facebook started – the name you punched in on a particular email address – it couldn’t be changed.
Twitter still gives it more prominence over the twitter handle/username
Instagram – you could fly with the username, name is optional!
And the same with Snapchat
What’s making our identity then?
Profession is more or less there
It was the family profession earlier (you were a part of it or it came in by association)
It still holds valid.
Facebook – features it right at the top, … also closely along with education!
Other than Facebook and Tinder, no other platform gives space to work or education.
What has increased is – a space to introduce yourself the way you deem fit.
Added much later on Facebook - into – their endless fields – films/TV shows/books / music - was lengthy. Probably that triggered one to fill in bios later
Bio – twitter
Bio – instagram
About Me – tinder
But Snapchat doesn’t even do that !
Transient identities – are stories from FB, Instagram !
We do not want to be tied to a single identity – My Friday evening identity could be very different from my Monday morning identity – just what millennials want !
Impermanent through our stories.
Multiple identities – within the same platform.
Now this is an expression of the self morphing on design ! The switch generation, the generation of dichotomy!
Chosen identities over Given identities
Fatalism of given identities – the tacit restrictions upon us – repeatedly reminded of being bound by outside .. By something we are just born into
Freeing ourselves – to be what you want to be…
Transcending age, barriers of class/caste/gender … you can script your life !
