a COPs Identity

In a Community of Practice (COP), there are many different levels of participation.  People can be engaged members, periphery members, non-participants, etc.  Participation is directly linked to identity and belonging to a community.  We choose to participate and belong in certain ways and that belonging helps to create our identity in that community.  Wenger's three modes of belonging further explain identity.  1. Engagement or active involvement.  2. Imagination or seeing connections in our lives through past experiences. 3. Alignment or choosing where to use our energy.

Do we have an influence on our identity?  Yes!  Sherry Turle describes identity as the sameness between a person and his/her persona.  More on Turle's ideas can be found in the post "Neo's Internet Identity Crisis" from February 4, 2008.    Etienne Wenger describes identity as negotiated through social interaction and that by yourself, you don't have an identity.  More thoughts on Wenger's discussion of identity can be found in the post AND comment in "After class Identity Discussion" from April 17, 2008.  We have an influence on every social interaction we are involved in, whether it be our demeanor, appearance, words, or creations.

I feel that the biggest question from CI 597 this semester dealt with one's online identity.  Is it really your identity if someone is unable to see your demeanor and appearance?  The answer is yes.  No matter how little of a presence it is, you DO have an online presence that people associate with you.  This creates your identity.  More on this is found in the post and comment in "After class Identity Discussion" from April 17, 2008.   

If we have a good grasp on what makes up a COP and how identity is created and formed, can we design a COP?  The answer will come in my next posting, "designing a COP."

All links used in this post:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/mdm392/blogs/ci597/2008/04/finding-identity-and-networkin.html
http://www.personal.psu.edu/mdm392/blogs/ci597/2008/02/neos-internet-identity-crisis.html
http://www.personal.psu.edu/mdm392/blogs/ci597/2008/04/after-class-identity-discussio.html