A Morning Thought on Identity

Identity

IDentity

iDENTity

idENTITY

identITY


Definition (from American Heritage, by way of Dictionary.com):

1. The collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known: "If the broadcast group is the financial guts of the company, the news division is its public identity" (Bill Powell).
2. The set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group.
3. The quality or condition of being the same as something else.
4. The distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity; individuality.
5. Information, such as an identification number, used to establish or prove a person's individuality, as in providing access to a credit account.

We are people. We identify as part of a group and as individuals. Consequently, we are unique and relate-able, simultaneously the same and a persisting, separate entity.

Part of our identity can be summarized as our relationship with our surroundings, our engagement with our surroundings.

In anthropology, it is said that people are uniquely social animals. Let's not forget the I in socIal (media)--the I is how we identify with the larger group and ourselves.