As the organizational landscape becomes increasingly turbulent and the gig economy grows, the conventional anchors for a work-based sense of identity – a relatively stable organization, workgroup, and occupation – are losing relevance. We argue that a “network identity,” defined as the core, distinctive, and more or less enduring character of a set of social ties (e.g., “we are high-achievers”), helps fill this growing void because individuals’ networks often reflect agency and have more or less fluid boundaries and portability. These attributes enable individuals to develop or join networks that may transcend specific contexts and adapt to change. An individual’s network identity simultaneously implicates all three levels of self – individual, relational, and collective – such that it is a potentially very powerful means for realizing his or her identity motives. Crossing the dimensions of network boundary strength and network density, we offer a 2 × 2 typology of networks and discuss their implications for members’ network identities and what kinds of individuals might prefer each network.

随着组织环境变得越来越动荡和零工经济的增长，基于工作的身份认同感的传统锚点——一个相对稳定的组织、工作组和职业——正在失去相关性。我们认为，“网络身份”被定义为一组社会关系的核心、独特和或多或少持久的特征（例如，“我们是高成就者”），有助于填补这一日益扩大的空白，因为个人的网络经常反映机构并具有或多或少的流动边界和可移植性。这些属性使个人能够发展或加入可能超越特定环境并适应变化的网络。一个人的网络身份同时牵涉到所有三个层次的自我——个体的、关系的、和集体——因此它是实现他或她的身份动机的一种潜在的非常强大的手段。跨越网络边界强度和网络密度的维度，我们提供了 2 × 2 的网络类型，并讨论了它们对成员网络身份的影响以及什么样的个人可能更喜欢每个网络。