Tanya McGinnity

Design print by newbeautiful on etsy.com

I’ve been giving some thought to how we connect with each other in the online space and after a recent offline exchange saw how easy it is to be a digital citizen who puts on the airs of knowledge in the space by being one of those folks who perpetually retweets the findings, thoughts and beliefs of other people but in person, demonstrates that they rely on the thoughts of others to prop up their identity.

I’m not trying to be a downer here. I’m not looking to call anyone out. I’m just hoping to spark a discussion or gather some thoughts from others who may have experienced this too.

The thinking behind this post might get back to my previous post on Identity Camp and how we self promote and connect online. It also might go back to my participation in communities during my “formative years” and how fearful I was of being stuck with the tag of ‘poser’. It was the ultimate diss for a skaterat to hear that word.

Authenticity is the currency of the web. It’s how we share, connect and express ourselves. Take a look at your digital presence and evaluate where you’re at.

Do you have a website? Is it listed in your Twitter bio? Do you still track analytics on your personal site or has this gone by the wayside?

Are you commenting on other people’s blogs? Are you as active as you once were or are you now spending all your time with the blue bird of Twitter?

Are you still blogging and displaying thought leadership or are you spending your time MilliVanilli-ing it up and retweeting everything that sounds remotely interesting as a link? (-50 points if you don’t bother to open the link before retweeting it and folks see that it’s obvious you didn’t read it in the first place).

One of my favourite bloggers is Gwen Bell. Sure her tweets are engaging, but it’s her blog that really gives me food for thought. Much more than 140 characters could ever lead me to. Same is true with Julian Smith and Chris Brogan. What these folks are doing is contributing to the ecosystem and bringing new perspectives and ideas to the table.

Sharing is caring.

Sadly, I missed out on the recent Identity Camp Montreal event which I was so jazzed to attend after sitting in on a WebCamp session during WebCom 09. I was really impressed with the quality of discussion and the level of exchange that the attendees had engaged in and encouraged in one another.

You can re-live the event by checking out this presentation by Sébastien Paquet that speaks to identity, weirdness and transparancy of that weirdness. As someone who considers themself kind of weird, I appreciate his take on how to find others that share your interests to help to build a community.