As in real life, where one can talk about politics at work, about their work at the dinner table, and about their family life in a town hall, one can share different kinds of information across different social media sites. But as in real life, we are also getting to a point where we have distinct places online to bring to the forefront our civic, social, and professional identities and, at our own discretion, choose to reveal or conceal those identities to friends, coworkers, neighbors, and elected representatives as we deem appropriate.

This has been one of the promises of digital social media all along. We are finally seeing that promise realized.