Hannah Montana, Satoshi Nakamoto and Digital Identity

In 2008 Chuck Klosterman wrote an awesome article about Hannah Montana, the TV show. The article takes a very simple show made by Disney and breaks down how it’s success was driven by a social conversation around how the internet has impacted the children of the world, and Hannah Montana (a rockstar who kept her personal life anonymous) was the perfect representation of the duel identity between being famous online, and staying private in real life.

10 years later, this “everyone is famous” conversation has spread to the far reaches of the globe, and the term “Insta celebrity” is a common moniker in addition to career choice. However, in a world that is ubiquitously connected, those who keep themselves anonymous have become a scarce resource. I’m fascinated that in todays day and age, there are still digital mysteries.

In Comic books, identity is always a hot topic. Every super hero has a secret identity, and always worries about their secret identity getting out, just in case the ones they love would get hurt as a side effect of the world knowing — which basically always happens.

• Random geek out, Superman’s secret identity was Clark Kent, where most other super heroes secret identities were their super hero counter part. (Ex. Peter Parker’s secret identity was Spiderman)

The modern day outlaw is the digitally anonymous individual. And they are staying that way to protect their ideals, their family or themselves from conflicting ideologies, groups or movements. And the consistency in making an impact privately builds a phantom mystique — which leads to marketing network effects, inspiration and impact.

This provokes a conversation about digital identity and the human psyche’s fascination with outlaws.

To the Art world, Banksy may seem like a joke. He/She paints wonderful works of art and publicly gives them away while remaining anonymous. However, by doing so, he/she has built a brand that has become synonymous with rebel, and through it they plot revenge on the art system. His latest creation was quite literally spitting in the face of the old art world. And by using their digital presence on Twitter and just having information everywhere, she/he is able to still create a conversation with the world, without anyone knowing who they truly are! By pointing out the obvious ridiculousness of the insiders art world, they are deconstructing it brick by brick, while simultaneously becoming the most notorious artist of the 21st century.

To the banking world Bitcoin, created by Satoshi Nakamoto looks like a gimmick, something that silly technologists and mathematicians can debate about in their basements. However, the ideals of these groups have seeped through the cracks of the central banking systems and have caused the one thing that the banks will fear more than anything, questions about how the system works. And while the world is transitioning towards truly globalized trade, the current banking system is hitting scale problems, and is going to fall to it’s knees at the hands of Peer to Peer technology.

The internet is a tool being used by people to unlock new perspectives. Those perspectives are powerful. They catalyze change. I’m sure people can stay anonymous on the internet… the difficult part is becoming infamous while staying anonymous. These two have created movements, there will be more.

Now, let’s speculate 10 years out. Your identity becomes your most precious asset. Six billion people are online, more people are more connected than ever. Dwayne the Rock Johnson is president of the digital world, because his Instagram account has One Billion people connected to it. Trust becomes the most precious part of a personal brand, and 100 people live on Mars. Who then are the anonymous individuals who will catalyze change?