ABSTRACT
Personal identity constitutes simultaneously a personal internal need and an external expression. The external expression of personal identity may, frequently, reflect one's internal personal identity, and it may come into external expression through one's presented identities in social networking over the Internet. The role of personal identity in virtual social networking seems to be rather complex. The nature of online identities and their relations with offline 'real' identities has been widely debated, presenting numerous fluid and complex trends. The virtual action space for people searching for information on others is most diverse and complex, and with the use of search engines covering the whole Web, including or excluding Facebook and other Web 2.0 networking systems, it becomes truly global. The assessments of information pieces may require the use of professional services offered by information specialists in real or virtual space, notably if the collection of materials is performed within the framework of personnel hiring.
