So, I guess what I’m saying is that along the way to being a better person, I’m going to need some grace, and I don’t always trust that I’ll receive that from the online “public.”

Meredith
Meredith (@msstewart)´s last blog ..Klingenstein Readings

In context, however, I’m still disturbed. Let me preface this with stating up front that my online persona is pretty much who I am.

And I think my public persona, the person I am at work and in the world, be it the store, or church, or at the park or anywhere else, should be the same public persona online.

Here’s the problem, and where modeling matters. We have multiple levels of intimacy/behavior in different settings.

What I say to a colleague in an elevator may be different than what I say to her in a pew, both public spaces by your example. The database searching capabilities have smashed our online personae into an extremely public figure–one with a megaphone screaming at anyone who cares to listen.

Part of becoming an adult is learning situational awareness. Lumping our online persona into some common public space sounds great, but there is no single layer of “public” in our real lives. (It’s like “global awareness,” another impossible task that sounds so cool.)

I may hijack your post (with accreditation and links and many thanks)–this is a HUGE topic and widely misunderstood.
Michael Doyle´s last blog ..Are you too edu-conventional

Also, I agree completely with you that we need to be the same person we are in public as we are online. I liked how you said that “If I’d say it in a classroom, I’ll post it to the web.” That is such an important rule to live by!

All of this is shared with them not to scare them, but to make sure they choose their public face intentionally. For the young, their digital footprint will be a long one. They need to think about their choices long before those choices will seem relevant to who they are to become.
Lisa Chamberlin´s last blog ..An OpenPhD Wordle