Would Multiple Identities on Facebook be a Good Thing?

One of the more interesting threads from Tuesday's Tech Policy Central privacy panel was started by almost a throw-away question about whether you would someday be able to have multiple identities for your multiple audiences someday soon on Facebook (for example, your work face for your work colleagues your personal face for your close friends and so on).

Sonia Arrision was at the event and picked up on this thread today:

(Facebook's Chris) Kelly also said that Facebook was trying to give its users more control over their profiles using privacy settings.

Currently, 60 percent of Facebook's teen users have implemented privacy controls, compared with only 25 percent to 30 percent of adult users. This is an interesting statistic, given the common assumption that members of the younger generation don't care who sees their data. It is probably also a sign to entrepreneurs that there will be greater demand in the future for people to do more with their profiles, meaning more than one. That particular question brought up more controversy than one might expect.

If people could have more than one profile, argued Facebook's Chris Kelly, the user experience would break down.

"It is important to have a single identity, and you may want to show different parts to different people," he said.

Not everyone was convinced. Indeed, as Dempsey pointed out, in real life people often showcase very distinct identities in different situations.

When at work, for example, people have a career persona. When at a spouse's event, they don their spouse persona, and when picking up their children from school, they show their parent persona. Many people like to keep these personas separate. Now, of course, people often tell coworkers about their kids, but they don't necessarily want to be defined that way in the context of their workplace. Being able to keep these identities apart in a more convenient way may very well be the next big social network innovation that consumers can't wait to embrace.

Comments

[freelance writer]

True mercy - is a desire to benefit others, not thinking about the reward.

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[Halloween]

Microsoft is engaging in unlawful predatory practices that go well beyond the scope of fair competition.

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very useful message.......

[xl pharmacy]

I don't like to have that kind of thing. I am the same and I don't need more account only if i have something to hide