The digital convergence occurring within media, business and social stratums has spurred an increase in importance of the concept of identity. While the term takes on different characteristics within each of the afore stated spheres, it functions as an abstract representation of an individual entity. In most cases the singleton is that of a person but it can also be an organization or other group of individuals. Either way, within a steadily networked world where technology is a connector across physical barriers identity is an imperative in terms of symbolizing/replacing the corporeal presence of a concrete individual. It's already obvious how critical maintaining some kind of identity is amidst virtual settings such as Second Life, so perhaps its time to explore how it can be applied to [non-visually] virtual open source communities.
Identity also plays a major role in different types of communities. And ironically it is within the open source development process, where progress is driven by such community that identity becomes muddled. Oft times open source communities are driven by essentially blind interactions between nearly anonymous parties, where little to nothing is done to augment the connection between participating members. Something which is to be somewhat expected when mailing lists, forums and message boards are a primary means of communication. However, considering the value of collaboration and exchange within the open source software ecosystem, it is imperative to encourage the formation of more comprehensive types of identity (log-in name's and password can't cut it alone).
Identity as a representation of someone/something unknown, remains a precarious subject especially when introduced against the backdrop of Internet-driven interactions. Yet there remains significant room to expand upon the methods of incorporating identity into the open source communities as a commissioner of enhanced communication. More robust identities will make it possible to better discern, understand and interact within non-physically bounded community landscape, which is exactly what the open source development model is constructed upon. Additionally, identity has the potential to encourage participation by better associating trivial activities which might have been considered trivial, with a representation of the person behind them. For example, I'm more likely to fulfill a role as an active member when the exchange rate is returning a nice helping of recognition tied to my identity.
Furthermore, enabling identity is a positive step towards opening up open source communities to the broader spectrum of other social, business and technical networks which compose the networked economy. A move which presents an intriguing set of opportunities to expand, and at the same time connect the open source software evolution to other forces currently shaping the way we perceive the world around us. Hopefully we'll see more inroads made in this area going forward...
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