“Facebook and Google do identity wrong, Twitter does it better,” is the most oft repeated soundbite from 4Chan founder’s Christopher Poole’s Web 2.0 Summit talk today. Actually the truth is a bit more complex than that, when talking about something as intangible and as in flux as the concept of identity online.

Because it’s hard to encapsulate the multi-faceted diamond of how future individuals will define themselves in a headline, we sat down with Internet vanguards Tim O’Reilly and Christopher Poole to explore the notion of online versus offline personas, discussing how to prepare for an imminent world wherein transparency is default.

Key takeaway: “The world is changing so quickly it’s hard to get anything right for long.”

Bonus: Poole describes how his newest venture Canv.as fits in to his philosophy (and monetizes!) below.