“Tools that are designed to make intelligible something alive, the life of the network.” Interview of Hugues AUBIN, ICT Project Manager, City of Rennes (France)
Grégoire Cliquet: You mention the use of other pseudos. Without disclosing them, how many identities do you have? Would you say there is a difference between a pseudo and an identity?
Hugues Aubin: Yes, without a doubt. I use roughly three identities, with one being labeled as “top secret.” To me, a pseudo is not an identity. Identity is not only what is conveyed through digital identity, reputation, traces, etc. There’s a lot more to it than this. Identity is not how you showcase yourself, but who you really are. When a police officer asks me to identify myself, I reply “Hugues Aubin.” In response to a less neutral speaker, I think twice before answering because what this person really wants to know is “who I am.” One of the main issues arising from this is that each person is a single entity having learned to divide him/herself up into fictitious, code-based identities. This is what I do naturally when splitting up my civil identity, intended for more formal use, and personal identity. I think we all have a self and then several more or less strategic characters. The mere act of getting dressed is proof that we constantly resort to identity strategies. And it is getting much easier to handle these identity strategies with the dedicated mechanisms now available on the Internet. We realize that character strings have a real impact on search engines. With a Google, Liberty, Alliance or Yahoo account, I can create up to 15 or 20 accounts linked to different services. This state of things brings about strategies, but if the tools worked otherwise, then these strategies would be different. One thing is certain: Choosing or being given a pseudo is not only quite significant and symbolic, but also volatile. Some resort to “upside-down” strategies, which means that they focus their activities on their birth name, and use a pseudo to subscribe to online services they want to test, for instance.
Grégoire Cliquet: Speaking of multiple identities, do you monitor your e-reputation? Are you careful about keeping your different identities separate before going online? Do you google your name afterwards? How do you tackle the issue of who you are on the web, Hugues Aubin? What steps do you take toward assessing this?
Hugues Aubin: Yes, I’ve been “googling” myself systematically for the past eight to ten years, almost unwittingly. Since you have very little control over your digital identity on the web and very few ways to free yourself from a tight spot, you must, first and foremost, make sure nothing gets out of hand as a result of your own doing. In other words, post cautiously. That’s how you must proceed before you even go online. Then, once online, it’s extremely simple. You can use keyword-based alerts on Google news, Google web, etc. You can also enter your name on Google regularly, every ten days or so. I’ve been scoring my name three times a month for quite some time. I’ve come across some very funny findings. I know other guys go by the same name as I do. These namesakes with whom I share the third or fourth page of results evolve. I get to see what someone who types my name into big search engines would see, and this is very interesting to me. I am also aware that other “Hugues Aubin”s are floating about on social networks, such as Facebook. It goes without saying that, even though I’m not a Facebook regular, I created an account under my official name, Hugues Aubin. That way, at least, I can claim the page as my own in the event of a dispute. So, I’d say “yes”, you can very simply monitor your digital identities, if not for anything else, to avoid unwelcome surprises like realizing a namesake has taken an extreme political stance, and that you’ve been unknowingly slandered.
Grégoire Cliquet: Are you concerned at all about this?
Hugues Aubin: No, but what would bother me the most is not having the necessary tools on-hand to check what others have access to and could see. Having these tools handy and being fortunate enough to work in a field that requires a thorough knowledge of digital tools, I am, on the one hand, aware that I cannot control everything because you can hardly tone down misuse and abusive behavior of that kind; but, on the other hand, at least I am informed. That said, I can raise awareness among all members of my community by either launching a counter-buzz or having a say in the matter.
Self exposition in 3D massively multiplayer environments
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