But what has all of this got to do with the title of the post?

Well there is a fundamental shift I have noticed in my usage of the web over the last couple of years. I used to be known on various sites as hugatree152, getalife965 etc. But much more recently I am now known more widely as Michael Yolland. There – I said it, I came out. But more important is the fact that newcomers to the web are not creating names like needtohide666, but are putting themselves out there publicly. I am not talking about the social networking phenomenon here at all. I am talking about the small niche-focused sites that define who you are and what you are really interested in.

To me that is a major shift in and reflection of the impact that the Internet has had and will continue to have on society.

But does it matter that we are now talking to ‘real’ people and not just someone we can identify as ‘X’ via a cookie we dropped 11 months ago? If it does make a difference how will we know that Michael Yolland is interested in sailing as well as clever tricks he can do with CSS when we don’t/won’t share his identity. I want to be free on the Internet and get value from my new found freedom but, with all the walled gardens around, there are few options available to me. I get the feeling that from a business perspective we are getting to the edge of the value that can be extracted from knowing me as ‘X’ and need to move forward and embrace Michael Yolland. But to do that we need to give initiatives like this and this our full support. They may not have the answer yet, but they are going in the right direction.

Is it risky relinquishing control over ‘X’? Possibly. But without risk, there is little reward in it for Michael Yolland or your business proposition.