Introducing: Context Collapse

Since we are discussing Web 2.0/social media and communities/networks, I wanted to post about context collapse.  I hadn't heard of context collapse until I started doing some research with Vanessa last spring and it is very relevant to our discussions this week.  Here's the best offline description of context collapse: When you were a kid, did you ever see one of your teachers outside of school?  Maybe when you were out with your friends?  How did that make you feel?  Your "personal world" collided with your "school world."  Who you were in school was likely very different than who you were outside of school.  

Context collapse happens frequently in online spaces.  Take Facebook... You are probably Facebook friends with family, high school friends, college friends, colleagues, etc.  How do you manage your self-presentation when all of these different contexts merge onto one platform?

It is a really interesting phenomenon.  I linked an article discussing context collapse and Twitter.  If you have time, it's a good read!

Click HERE for the article.  Happy reading!