identity migration
static to dynamic
A Tesla isn’t a car. It’s a phone.
I’ll get to that in a minute. But I need to first address the current state of Tesla as a brand, then I’ll address it as a product.
Tesla as a Brand
Any company headed by Elon Musk carries with it the weight of his personal brand and politics. But it was primarily known for innovation and sustainability as the first widely successful electric vehicle.
Tesla as a Product
Here’s why a Tesla isn’t a car… What we think of as a car doesn’t really exist anymore. A car used to be an identity. The type of vehicle you drove said much about you. Now, identity is constructed and managed online, on Instagram, TikTok, Linkedin and other social media. A car was a rite of passage in growing up. Today, that rite is having your own phone.
The functions of a car have been altered and replaced. And there is no better example of this migration than a Tesla.
Much like an iPhone, it comes in a base model color. If you want another color, you’ll have to pay. A Tesla needs to be charged, like a phone. A Tesla is controlled almost entirely with software, like a phone. It has a memory that records, indexes and reports on user activities and behaviors, like a phone.
A Tesla doesn’t do identity, outside of Elon Musk. A Tesla is a practical solution to the 21st-century requirement of mobility.
Identity Migration
The migration of identity from static (cars, clothes, objects) to dynamic (digital and social media) produces specific effects and characteristics:
Speed. Static identifiers take time to acquire or curate. And the lifespan or use time of static identifiers is also longer. While clothes and fashion may change seasonally or annually, items are worn for several weeks, months or years. Similarly, one might own the same car for 5 years or more. Dynamic identifiers may be changed instantly and repeatedly in digital. Like a skin in a video game, or avatar clothing and accessories.
Desire. The ability to change dynamic identifiers with speed increases the potential for desire. The desire for new, the desire to change, the desire to design identity for the moment. The easier it is to achieve the benefits of desire, the more desire builds according to whim.
Fluidity. Static identifiers reinforce a constant, unchanging concept. Dynamic identifiers promote fluidity, experimentation and evolution.
Identity migration accelerated, like a boat on the water. For those within the wake, the effects are not felt. For those outside of the wake, the process is bumpy, noisy and turbulent. Dynamic clashes with static identity. Eventually, the wake redefines the entire surface and the migration is complete.
This is different from what would have been referred to as a ‘generation gap’. A generation gap measures the change in values from one generation to the next, perplexing and disappointing both sets.
But identity migration is different. The rate of change and the effects of that change increase the impact of dynamic vs static identity. This is not a repeating, intergenerational process - this was a unique, one-time event window from approximately 1995-2008. 1995 was when “going online” went mainstream with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, the first operating system to ship with a browser. In 2007, the iPhone was released, further enabling the rise of social media.
Identity migration was an event locked in time as our pathway into digital deepened.
