Identity Shift: Where Identity Meets Technology in the Networked-Community Age

Identity Shift: Where Identity Meets Technology in the Networked-Community Age

by Allison Cerra, Christina James
Released November 2011
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781118181133

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Book description

Explore the intersection of technology and identity

Does technology cause a shift in how we perceive our relationships and ourselves?

To find the answer, global communications leader Alcatel-Lucent commissioned an extensive research study. Subjects crossed geographic, generational, socioeconomic, and cultural boundaries. Hundreds of hours of documented observation and interviews with real people led to the fascinating conclusions in these pages. While technology will never define us, this study reveals how profoundly it influences the way we define ourselves.

Coverage includes:

The 3-P Model of Identity

Presentation: The Mirror Image

Protection: Exposing the Blind Spots

Preference: The (Un)Conscious Filter of (In)Finite Choice

The Universal Laws

The Law of Learned Helplessness: Failure Is the Only Option

The Law of Illusion: Lie to Me

The Law of Recall: Taking It from the Top

Rationalization: Finding Harmony in the Discord

Identity through the Life Stages

Teenage Growing Pains

Emerging Adulthood: In Search of the Ideal

The "Meet" Market

The Parent Puzzle

The Midlife Rebirth

Who Are We Becoming?

Whether your interest lies in sociology, psychology, marketing or technology, Identity Shift examines the impact of living in an age where virtually all of our personal information and interactions with others can be available with the click of a mouse.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Prologue
    1. In Search of Identity
    2. The 3-P Model of Identity
  3. Part 1: The 3-P Model of Identity
    1. Chapter 1: Presentation: The Mirror Image
      1. Worlds Colliding
      2. Look Away, Look Over Here
      3. Mirror, Mirror
    2. Chapter 2: Protection: Exposing the Blind Spots
      1. The Blind Spots
      2. The Extent of Violation
      3. No White Knight
      4. The Mind–Body–Technology Connection
    3. Chapter 3: Preference: The (Un)Conscious Filter of (In)Finite Choice
      1. The Power of Experience
      2. Are You Paying Attention?
    4. Chapter 4: Trust: Meeting at the Crossroads of Identity
      1. Living in the Intersections
      2. The Price of Distrust
  4. Part 2: The Universal Laws
    1. Chapter 5: The Law of Learned Helplessness: Failure Is the Only Option
      1. Why Bother?
      2. A Powerful Antidote
    2. Chapter 6: The Law of Illusion: Lie to Me
      1. The Threat of Illusory Correlation
      2. When the System Fails
      3. Ignorance Is Not Bliss
    3. Chapter 7: The Law of Recall: Taking It from the Top
    4. Chapter 8: Rationalization: Finding Harmony in the Discord
      1. Rationalizing the Laws
      2. Do as I Say or as I Do?
      3. The Laws in Practice
  5. Part 3: Identity Through the Life Stages
    1. Chapter 9: Teenage Growing Pains
      1. The New Status Symbols
      2. The New Idols
      3. The New Villains
      4. The Technology Conundrum
    2. Chapter 10: Emerging Adulthood: In Search of the Ideal
      1. The “Ideal” Life Stage
      2. Creeps, Weirdos, and Left-Behinds
    3. Chapter 11: The “Meet” Market
      1. The Laws of Supply and Demand—And Attraction
      2. Endless Opportunities—And Opportunity Costs
      3. Caveat Emptor (Let the Buyer Beware)
    4. Chapter 12: The Parent Puzzle
      1. Everything’s Different, Nothing’s Changed
      2. Social Development: Exposure or Exclusion?
      3. To Trust or Protect?
      4. Analog Parenting in a Digital World
      5. The Virtual Dashboard
    5. Chapter 13: The Midlife Rebirth
      1. Yes, I Can
      2. No, You Can’t
  6. Epilogue
    1. We Want to Get Away
    2. We Want More
    3. We Want to Be …
  7. Appendix
  8. Citations

Product information

  • Title: Identity Shift: Where Identity Meets Technology in the Networked-Community Age
  • Author(s): Allison Cerra, Christina James
  • Release date: November 2011
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781118181133