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

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 IdentityPresentation: 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 IdealThe "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.

CONTENTS:

Prologue: Who Are You? xvii

Part 1: The 3-P Model of Identity 1

Chapter 1: Presentation: The Mirror Image 3

Chapter 2: Protection: Exposing the Blind Spots 13

Chapter 3: Preference: The (Un)Conscious Filter of (In)Finite Choice 25

Chapter 4: Trust: Meeting at the Crossroads of Identity 37

Part 2: The Universal Laws 49

Chapter 5: The Law of Learned Helplessness: Failure Is the Only Option 51

Chapter 6: The Law of Illusion: Lie to Me 63

Chapter 7: The Law of Recall: Taking It from the Top 75

Chapter 8: Rationalization: Finding Harmony in the Discord 87

Part 3: Identity Through the Life Stages 99

Chapter 9: Teenage Growing Pains 101

Chapter 10: Emerging Adulthood: In Search of the Ideal 113

Chapter 11: The "Meet" Market 125

Chapter 12: The Parent Puzzle 139

Chapter 13: The Midlife Rebirth 153

Epilogue: Who Are We Becoming? 163

Appendix: Through the Lens of Research 173

Citations189

Index201