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One of the interesting aspects of all the social and professional networking sites on the internet is the creation of an online profile. Each of these websites asks questions in an attempt for you to share information which will introduce you to the world and identify connections with others. A person has to determine what information she/he chooses to share and how to best describe one’s self. The major question which is being asked is, “Who are you?”
I find this question a bit daunting. Most of us begin to answer this question by describing our employment. We have been trained that one of the key purposes of our existence is to work. This alone is an interesting topic which is best discussed in another blog post. Once a person describes the type of employment, then the challenge is to determine where to go next. Should the next response be to talk about my marital status? Should the next mention be about my children? Should I tell about where we grew up? All part of my life, but does it really answer the question of who I am?
I struggle with this question for another reason. I struggle with it because at times I wonder if I really know who I am. Again, I can share endlessly about the factual aspects of my life. Yet, I know that a life is much more than a list of facts. I know that a person is much more than his/her career, family, or place of origin. However, if I am going to go beyond the facts, I have to spend time trying to understand who I really am.
Then there is the issue of how much personal information to share and how comfortable others may be with receiving the information. There are appropriate boundaries regarding personal information which should be observed.
So maybe this is not so much about trying to fill out the information for a personal profile on a website. Maybe that is just a catalyst to ask a bigger question of who I am. What I am truly grappling with today is if I really know who I am. What would I tell someone if I was asked for more than just the factual aspects of my life? I think this is a question which will require a much longer process than just one day. I guess I have created a challenge for myself which will take a bit of time.
What would you share if you were asked, “Who are you?”
thoughtfulbeliever 
And a very interesting type of online profile is for a dating website. It’s a great exercise to find out what’s important to you and how you define yourself. The things I remember from mine, that still hold true are: I won’t pay $300 for a paid of shoes, but I will give $300 for a well in Africa…My sister-in-law told me I act like a 4-year old, and I took it as a compliment…If you want to show me you love me, cook me dinner.