Luxuriant Exposure

Lately, I've been ruminating on something: that some of us have the luxury of exposing all of our lives online--warts and all--while others do not have the same luxury. And that if we choose to demonstate parts of ourselves online, we may not have control over how we are perceived by others. The demonstration of one character trait or one emotion could end up being what *brands* us one way or another in the eyes of one particular Public or another.

I've been thinking a lot about this as I've thought about how much I can say about my Anger--or about anything that I've gone thru in the past. I've been thinking a lot about this in relation to what I say about the various activities I engage in--both off-line and on-line.

Essentially, I have to think about what my "brand" is saying about who I am.

Awhile back, Sean Coon and I had a discussion about "personal brand" in relation to our blogs. I found (and still find) the concept of "personal brand" rather distasteful. However, Sean's been a web designer for some time, and, being around 8-10 years younger than me, and having started his career in this realm, he has a clearer grasp of the intersection of commerce, the internet, and how we present ourselves out here.

This is especially important if working out in the open in this space, in something related to how this space will run or develop. In those instances, even the personal becomes part of the personna.

There are lots of arguments out there for more acceptance of what the individual exposes of oneself out here--more encouragement for "transparency" of identity. Now, if we all lived in a world where there were greater degrees of forgiveness or of tolerance, what we say on our personal spaces wouldn't be such a bad thing. As it is these days, when everyone is not on the same Web 2.0 page, degree of trasparency has to be subjective and contingent on one's understanding of community, profession, and maintenance of reputation.

Or, management of one's personal brand.

I have always been fascinated by people who are able to build a personal brand that is very wart-y--people like Hunter S. Thompson, or some of the Beat authors, or these days, the guys whose work is published by McSweeny's. There are a few women in the group. Some expose their incest ("The Kiss") or their mental illness ("Prozac Diary" or "Prozac Nation".) But these folks all seem to have been elevated above the rest of us, as if "talent" channeled thru a good editor, redeems them and puts them above the rest of us...

Or is it that they just deal (and deal well) with a personal brand attached to outre behavior? They cultivate the resources and the community that will support them thru their luxuriant exposures.

I often feel straight-jacketed--unable to be the kind of person who can have the most humorously scathing fits of rage and then turn around and be a very generous and loving soul. Where I'm at in the World, this kind of behavior confuses people, gives them the impression that I'm "unstable"--even while being raised to believe that unstable behavior (see the group above) is somehow an idication of talent.

Or is that all a lie? Are those unstable creatives building and maintaining a particular personal brand that helps to sell their work?

I wonder.

It's all so very confusing at times.

So, I'm left often puzzling over it, remembering that exposure--if I'm not at that at that particular special level--is a luxury. And if I'm not there, best keeping all that exposure under wraps lest I damage that "personal brand."

Who knows...maybe it's "damaged" already....and I just don't know it...