I chose that word, “meta,” because as I see it, this growing digital identity is not simply an additional, pixelated layer to our self—it is our new greater self. When we say “digital identity” there’s a separate-ness implied. It suggests there is an actual identity—the one we carry around in flesh and bones—and another digital version. Until lately, that was a fair way to look at how digital affected our lives. But given social changes accelerated by the current pandemic, thinking of these two sides of the self as separate suddenly feels quaint.