I was reading an article describing that the “end of online anonymity is here” — and I couldn’t help but think, there’s something I’d like to share about the value of the presenting the “real” you on the Internet (these are thoughts outside of my ideas regarding Personal Branding).

Let’s take the case of Facebook. I’m a huge proponent of keeping your Facebook social graph “clean” (I could care less about MySpace, the whole friending organizations and bars really screws the idea of a social graph).

What I mean is, if you only accept true friend requests (online and offline relationships) the site holds much greater value. I truly wonder how people like iJustine, Mitch Joel, Robert Scoble even can bear to login to Facebook since they’re friends with so many random people they don’t know. Facebook truly must be a PR machine for them to utilize.

The power and enjoyment of Facebook is driven by user-created content. Therefore, logging in when you’ve only got true friends represented ensures your experience on Facebook is genuine. I’ve always told people that social networks can standup on their own. I think it’s OK to friend people you’ve interacted and have only an online context. However, when you actually know the person outside of the online context (meaning you’ve met before or are friends already) — social networks then augment the relationship. It gives you a medium to interact when you can’t be face-to-face.

Furthermore, your identity on FB is much more rigid as a social graph than all those username and passwords you toss away here and there for other sites. Much of the reason why I’m excited for Facebook Connect.

My point is that if you manage your identity online as well as you likely do when cleaning up your resume for an interview — it holds much more value and utility.
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