I’m having an identity crisis.

The cataclysmic moment was creating my Bumble BFF profile. It is one thing to design your identity for dating — pick the best photos, surface a cult-classic film, link your Spotify for street cred — but when profiling for friends it isn’t that simple. Photos are part of your aesthetic but which me do I squeeze into 300 characters?! My sporty, health conscious self? My meandering bookstore self? My boozy brunch and bender self?

When they ask “write something about yourself” I end up asking “who even am I?!”

I’m a chameleon.

It is hard to answer that question because I augment around my surroundings and influences. Mostly it means I live in happy harmony with the world around me and have a kaleidoscope of friends, influences, passions and interests. But, at times this leads me to an identity crisis and I have the distinct urge to rip it up and start afresh. Purge those that reflect too brightly my old self in search of something new and appealing.

Thank god for Facebook and Google…JOKES! I have not pledged allegiance to the almighty tech gods but it did get me thinking about the simplicity of a managed identity. One where I didn’t need to think. Identity is a complex concept, it can happen unnoticed as we go through life but unfurls when given focus.

If Facebook were a person, how would it describe you? Those cheeky Instagram stalks, archived WhatsApp chats and panicked DrGoogle searches all contribute to how your friend, Facebook, sees you. This is what we call “federated identity”, whereby all the factors that make up who we are including our late night sleuthing is stored and organised for the convenience of a consolidated identity.

Now, imagine having that power back. This is what we call “self-sovereign identity”, and if we pare back the web3 chat it simply means you, not Facebook, are responsible for all that information about you. How it is used or not used is completely in your control. This means how the world sees you is more in your control than before because you are managing what is stored and how it is used. One way you do this is through a wallet. Just like your physical wallet that holds your driver’s licence, bank cards and loyalty cards but it’s digital.

This new era is akin to that wonderful time in Kindergarten, you’ve been given a blank piece of paper and asked to draw who you want to be when you grow up. You have an infinite number of choices at your fingertips to primp and prune you. Do you relish the opportunity or are you paralysed with choice; do you look around at the other kids to see what they’re drawing or do you shy away so no one can see what you’re doing; do you proudly declare your masterpiece or roll-it up and put it away?

When I was drawing my future self I looked around, drew inspiration from those around me then in my characteristically competitive self went about trying to better or improve upon it. A little for bragging but mostly for group recognition. Where I started was largely dependent on the world around me. It gave me a foundation to start my drawing by narrowing my options.

Now we are in a time of infinite others to peer over, and infinite colouring pencils to choose from.

This new found identity freedom could feel daunting if not paralysing. There is no end point if identity is in part grounded by technology because of its progressive nature. There is an exponential growth in identity variables where before your options were narrowed by what was available and accessible.

Now we can unshackle self exploration and our identity from finite, binary categories or permanency. We can explore many nuances of ourselves, we can even create different wallets that hold different types of information to not confuse the different versions of you. We are creating multiple drawings, some stick figures and others Rembrandts, some to be stuck on the fridge and others just for us to enjoy.

We are happening upon an exciting time of self exploration and I’m coming through my crisis by realising I am not finished defining who I am. As a self-confessed chameleon I have many more communities and worlds to discover. Most importantly these worlds are expanding exponentially thanks to new technologies and quite naturally won’t always overlap or interact. Life is not lived in Venn diagrams.

Building a rich tapestry of contributors to my identity has meant not any one person or passion will have outsized expectations to fulfil and that is beautiful. My meaningful relationships can blossom while I continue to discover new and different influences. For me this new found control of identity, of how I present myself and navigate the digital realm has unlocked my sense of adventure.

The idea of showing up to a room full of people who are expertly navigating a diverse range of topics makes my palms sweat — but observing via a Discord Chat is being a digital fly on the wall. Expressing yourself via an avatar can feel like wearing a fake moustache and glasses to a conversation — you are covert, unrecognisable yet reaping the full benefits of the interaction. It isn’t about hiding, it is about having access and choice and ultimately control.

There is so much discussion swirling around web3, a lot of noise about NFTs and an entirely new vocabulary branching off of decentralised. Where we will land I do not know but it is not likely to be Earnest Cline’s Ready Player One or George Orwell’s 1984 in our lifetime.

If you, like me, are suffering an identity crisis then I recommend getting out there! Create an avatar on Genies. Join a discord chat, if you’re a sneakerhead check out Adidas Originals or for a great, female-led entrepreneurial group BFF. Make pizza in Roblox and roam Decentraland. Follow Snoop-Dogg on Twitter. Get familiar with mirror.xyz journalism. Create your ENS name.

Have fun with the different ways you can be you.

It is not unreal to explore new things, it is not inauthentic to be many things. It is entirely human and more than ever technology is enabling our innate sense of exploration and expansion.

Tell you something about myself, where do I even start!