Can you spot the difference?

On one side we have a marketing genius and on the other we have the master of disguise. On one side we have talent and on the other misplaced identity. On one side there is artistry and representation and on the other play, mimicry and reclusiveness.

Can you spot the difference?

In the online, as in the "real" world, identity can be a fluid construction. There are roles that we play at work, at home, in the bar or on our blogs ... and sometimes these roles intersect or even, in some instances, cancel out the others. But each of these identity constructions are built around facets of our own personalities and the very way that they are performed for the world says something about US to the world in which we live. In fact, I believe that our "true" selves peak out around the freying edges of our identity constructions to wink at (and connect with) the rest of the world. This is why I love reading blogs and why writing one can, at times, be confronting.

When Marcus Brown announced that he was quitting blogging I felt an acute sense of loss. Here we were losing one of the most original voices in the blogosphere -- someone who constantly experimented with the blogging as a tool to communicate and as a medium in which to practise communication. He would share stories, personal archives, branding and marketing theory, activation ideas, sing on YouTube, debate the merits of various meats and generally provoke conversation. If you did not get to know Marcus and his early blog work, then I feel that you really did miss out.

And yet, like any great artist, with any loss there is also a rebirth, of sorts. While I know that Marcus has closed down his blog sites, and I was actually Twittering and watching as he said goodbye and deleted his Twitter account the other day, this has not stopped me dropping by his old blog address each day or so. It is like a toss-up between visiting a cemetary and driving past a house that you shared as a student. A little weird (especially when you find that some squatter, Julian, has moved in). I hold in my heart a small hope that maybe "Julian" is a revamped Marcus, that soon another post will signal new life in an old blog. But no. At least not yet. But then, how does one account for this?