Quite a lot actually, if you like to observe the exact wording of expressions AND if you are Danish. A lot of the words and phrasing of a good old fashioned scolding in Danish makes a lot of sense when talking about portfolio – and self-presentation in general. But maybe only in Danish, so for the first time I shall write this post both in English and Danish.
I grew up on the western coast of Denmark – and here you were not supposed to show off, which in Danish is to “show oneself”. Neither were you supposed to carry on about something, which in Danish would be to “create oneself”. And I realized recently that one of the things I was told most often as a child was to “control myself”. The Danish language has the exact equivalent of this expression.
But this is exactly what new media like Facebook, Tumblr, Google+ and portfolios for educational means are asking of us. Firstly we should show ourselves. Secondly through this we do create ourselves – or versions of ourselves – personas or whatever you want to call them. Thirdly, one of the big questions of present day existence (in western Europe etc. etc.) is how we control ourselves, or if we should. The many diverse and maybe contradictory versions of me out there, can they, should they, will they be controlled? I am no longer the only voice talking about me – I get tagged, linked, referenced to, @’ed on an hourly basis. What does this mean for identity? For portfolios?
So the next conference – I plan to arrange on identity construction in new media – will have the title: “To control oneself”. It will take place on June 6-7 2012 in Odense, Denmark, at the University of Southern Denmark. Stay tuned for more information.
