Too Big to Tweet

Not to get all existential here, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about who I am.

I’m a designer. I work with an awesome team and make awesome things with awesome clients. I spend tons of time, both on the clock and off, thinking about design, what it is and how we do it.

I (try to) speak at conferences and events regularly, not just to share my thoughts on the topic but to push others to think about certain things and share their thoughts with me. I was even once a teacher, (hopefully) helping computer science students understand the various aspects in design.

I’m an artist/illustrator. To be honest, I’m still somewhat uncomfortable calling myself this, but I’m trying to own and live up to it. I spend a decent amount of time putting together images that express an idea, statement, joke, or just something that is fun to look at.

It’s safe to say it will be a long time before this work could supplant my work as a designer as the source of my family’s income, but at this point it is way beyond hobby-dom. Being an artist has always been a dream of mine, and I’m hellbent on making it a full blown reality.

And last but not least I’m a father, husband, numerous other family roles, and friend. The work and responsibilities that come from these roles supersede all others.

So what’s the challenge?

What I find myself struggling with is how all of that is represented in the multitude of profiles, accounts and personas I maintain both online and offline.

I have never been one who agreed with the idea of segmenting myself into identities, creating separate accounts for connecting to each individual audience. I believe Mark Zukerberg was once quoted as saying, “There is only one you.”

And I myself have argued when challenged by people on the subject that, I am who I am. You get all of me or none.

I have a hard time separating myself and filtering out aspects of my thoughts and life based on who I’m talking to or who might be listening, and it’s gotten me in trouble on more than one occasion.

I’ve done my best on my Twitter account to represent all sides of myself, knowing full well that it may alienate some people, and it definitely has. I do the same with Facebook, Instagram, etc. And with my website I tried to do something similar but it’s bombed. I’ve ended up setting up a second Tumblr account that’s more focused on my art and personal thoughts. This constantly bugs me.

And lately more and more people have implied in conversations with me that they’re confused about who I am or what I do. It would seem that combining everything, rather than better identifying me, has made me less identifiable to people.

So, I’m still trying to figure out what the best way is. Should I continue as i have been and maybe even do more to merge all these personas? Or should I separate them completely?.

A number of very smart people have recommended separation, but it feels wrong and inaccurate. It also feels a bit unsustainable. The eventual collision of these personas is almost certainly guaranteed.

I’d be curious to know if others have spent time thinking about this topic as well. And if you have, on what side did you land on?

It would seem to me that as technology continues to expand the number of “locations” we can have a presence in, the more this will become a challenge for people. Just think about the number of college and high school students that are now being warned by teachers and family that the contents of their Twitter feeds and Facebook walls may impact their career options.

It’s an interesting topic and one I’m not likely to ever come to a complete conclusion on. I’d love to hear your thoughts.