Part 1 – Connected Online Identities

Step 1: Begin the exercise by having participants make a list of any Online identities they have; you may also simply ask the group if anyone among them currently uses more than one Online identity. For any participants who indicate that they manage multiple Online identities, ask them if they would be comfortable sharing their reasons for doing so with the rest of group and what they use them for.

Step 2: Building off any examples shared by the group, explain that using multiple Online identities is not an uncommon practice among HRDs offer some example scenarios:
•HRDs who use Facebook to manage Online campaigns, but don’t want to use their personal profile or identity to administer the campaign’s page;
•HRDs who conduct sensitive research Online, and want as few of the digital traces they leave behind to be traceable back to them;
•HRDs who have been documenting cases of government human rights abuses, and are planning to expose this information by publishing a major report or public statement.

Step 3: Now ask participants to gather in pairs and identify other circumstances under which it might be useful for them to create a new identity that is not linked to their personal one. Have them reflect on how much they combine their personal identities

with their activism work:
•Do they mix their accounts? Do they mix their identities?
•How linked is their personal digital life with their activist life?

What are some Online activities that could put them at risk of exposing themselves if done using their real identities? Examples of this might include:
•Requesting information from government agencies;
•Visiting government websites to gather information to share Online;
•Managing the social media account(s) of their organization or collective);