PHYSICAL IDENTITY AND DIGITAL IDENTITY IN THE ERA OF SOCIAL DISTANCING

Abstract

The “social distancing” of the Covid-19 crisis has brought to the forefront a phenomenon that has been at work since the rise of the Web: people exchange goods and services, express themselves and meet each other more and more without being physically present. The question of digital identity then emerges. What place do we occupy on the networks? What control do people have over their image? What place do writings occupy in the definition of this digital «image» of oneself? What is the understanding of the plurality of identities that the same person can have online? This article proposes a reflection on these different questions by distinguishing digital identities with and without physical persons.