Australian PM uses Skype

Kevin Rudd, Australia's 26th Prime Minister, spoke with Rove McManus on Sunday's show. On YouTube: part 1 and part 2.

This brings up one problem with simple IM ID's. You need multiple personae for each user account. For example, one username you can give to friends, another to work colleagues, one for family, another to strangers. 

This tool of faceted identity helps you manage social network overload. By letting you present different aspects of yourself to different publics, you contextualize relationships and shape the stream of your interactions.

Rudd would love to treat people appropriately.

Skype makes that difficult once your contact list rises above Dunbar's Number (~150 people). In Skype, everyone sees the same name, the same presence and mood, the same autobiography, the same sex/gender data, the same contact information. Everyone is managed by the same privacy rules. All 20 million Australians will see the same Kevin Rudd in Skype, even though he may to keep his mobile number hidden from most and convenient to a few.

Today's monolithic identity is baked into Skype. An upgrade would be worth it.

If only so Kev can talk with his daughter without logging in to his office and political Skype accounts.

tags: skype, australia, au, identity

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