Publishing your first post under the #introduceyourself tag is a rite-of-passage for new members of the steemit community. Who am I? To put it (not quite so) simply: "I am not what I think I am and I am not what you think I am; I am what I think you think I am." Continue reading to learn more.

At some point in life, we've all felt fear and anxiety over the thought of introducing ourselves to people we don't know.

For many of us, the first time we experienced this feeling started back in our early school years. At the beginning of each academic year, the teacher would ask students to stand up in front of the class and answer basic questions.

• "What is your name?"
• "What is your favorite color?"
• "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
• "What is something unique that nobody else knows about you?"

Best-case scenario, you may have found this activity to be a waste of time ("I already know the people in this class!"). For other students, however, this game was an exercise in embarrassment. Sometimes these classroom introductions led to new friendships; other times, it resulted in teasing and bullying.

The Not-So-Simple Question

Unfortunately, this getting-to-know-you game is just the beginning of years spent trying to answer the question:,"Who am I?"

As life goes on, this same question emerges again and again in different settings.

Interviewing for a new job? Going on a first date? Meeting new people at a party?

 "Tell me a little bit about yourself."

If you're an active user on steemit, you have most likely published your own #introduceyourself post in an effort to  connect with other members of the community.

Maybe this was easy for you. Maybe it was difficult. (And just maybe, you wrote several hundred words on identity to dodge actually answering the vulnerable question: Who are you?")

Exploring the Looking-Glass Self

Because it is often difficult to genuinely answer the question, "Who am I?," we frequently rely on those around us to help answer the question.

Rather than attempting to create our identity from scratch – something that is complex, contextual, and changing – we instead choose to play out roles or archetypes. This could be a persona, such as a "nerd," "gamer," or "bro." It could be a trait, such as "awkward," "funny," or "kind."

For better or worse, identity is not so simple as just deciding what others think of us. We can't read minds to figure to figure out how the people around us expect us to think, feel, or behave. Instead, we depend on our own subjective opinion to decide what others think.

This social psychology concept is called the "looking-glass self."

"I am not what I think I am and I am not what you think I am; I am what I think you think I am." – Charles Horton Cooley

Does that statement leave your mind in knots? I was first introduced to this concept through a video called "How We See Ourselves Through The Eyes Of Others" on the Jason Silva's YouTube channel Shots of Awe. 

It is important that our sense of identity, through the "self-looking glass," is still a subjective truth. Sometimes our perspective about what others think of us is correct. At other times, it is simply speculation based on our own false assumptions.

How Blockchain Impacts Identity

One of blockchain's many use cases is digital identity management. If you are an experienced steemit user, you may already be familiar with what blockchain is. Very simply put, it's a public record that an entire group copies in order to preserve its accuracy.

Imagine that you were in a two-car automobile accident that resulted in a lawsuit to settle the damages. If you and the other driver each told different stories, who should the judge believe? It quickly becomes a matter of "he said, she said."

What if there were dozens (or hundreds or thousands) of eyewitnesses at the scene of the accident? The judge could rely on the testimony of these witnesses to help determine the truth. This is like blockchain.

Each time you create a new blog post or comment on steemit, you are creating your own digital identity. 

If you are an established steemit user, you might ask yourself:

• How have I changed since I published my first blog post? Am I different or the same?
• WilI I be proud of this blog post I am submitting? Or will I wish I could scrub it off the internet?
• Am I still satisfied with my earlier blog posts and comments? Or do I wish I could change some of them?

It is easy to apply these same questions to our own lives:

• How have I changed in the past 10 years? 1 year? month? week?
• Am I satisfied with who I am? My past? Are there areas where I'd like to improve?

These types of questions are intimidating to consider, whether it's your psychological identity or just your "internet identity" facing scrutiny. However, it is during these difficult reflections when some of the most impactful discoveries are made.

Who are you? What defines your identity?

Thank you for reading my first blog post on steemit. If you'd like to stay connected, please consider following my account! I look forward to watching our identities grow and evolve together as we participate on this innovative platform. :-)