I discussed ‘maturity’ in the academic sense – developing as a researcher, and how the transition between student and independent researcher can involve multiple, fragmented and potentially conflicting identities – much more complex than apprenticeship models suggest.

Digital literacies is a term I tend to avoid. I threw it in at the end for any responses as it was a literacies conference. I’m drawn to the socio-cultural aspects of digital literacies – beyond skills / competences etc. I think the concept of genre ‘knowledge’ is relevant here – in terms of how participants come to recognise how specific genres of social media practice can be utilised, or challenged, or become barriers for agency. I see genres here as more ‘traditions of use’ than categories of social media artefacts – that cultural and historical element fits conceptually with Activity Theory, and conceptualises the use of social media in context with other (more established) doctoral practices. I think Literacies Studies are engaging in these ideas too, but maybe using different terminology (though obviously Genre Studies has some overlap).

I’m assuming that most of your work was in Britain. Do you think some of your findings about identity is unique to the British or an Anglo culture or do you think they would be universal? I’m especially interested in the self-identity of a Phd student.

You mention about mature individuals and their identity. Do you think any of your findings may differ due to age? Why or why not?

Finally, do you believe digital literacies are dependent upon digital tool affordances, the environment that is created outside of an individual identity within digital spaces (in other words are there parallel environments and literacies that compete for an individual’s identity), and/or the different activity networks that digital environments create which creates wide ranging cognition and dissonance for the individual.