when online selves collide.

In the past couple of months, I've had several new thoughts about my identity online. in some ways, this exercise mirrors one i've undergone for years with my offline self: how to reconcile my various nicknames.

some people never get nicknamed; their given name follows them around, never straying too far so that when it comes time to fill out a form or choose an email address, the identifier simply rolls off the tongue. i live on the other end of the spectrum. only people at work and a few family members still call me by my given name; most others call me "boo" (and still others have developed their own nicknames for me over the years).

in my offline world, i've found ways to navigate these different names. i usually introduce myself with my given name, but it often doesn't take long to reveal that i prefer "boo." online, however, this has grown trickier, making me think that technology isn't necessarily as flexible as we purport. after all, though i could always edit my username, it seems that once i choose one, it is somehow hard-coded into my online representation. but if i have different names in different worlds (e.g. work and not-work), this gets complicated.

for example: if my co-workers don't know me as "boo," do i need to create a given-name doppelganger of online selves to maintain a web presence? a given-name facebook account and twitter profile? (i welcome your comments.)

while some laud the Internet's capability to host our splintered, idiosyncratic selves, i crave more synchronicity; i want fewer email addresses to monitor, less clutter, and a smaller set of information i have to memorize in order to enjoy the Web's majesty.