Betsy and Tib are joyfully reunited in Milwaukee. Two weeks in Christmas with Tib’s family is a perfect time for her to reinvent herself, Betsy decides. She wants to return to Deep Valley different somehow. Perhaps she can become more worldly and sophisticated, and maybe even attract the interest of Phil Brandish.

Most of the trip flies by before Betsy gets started on her reinvention. She enjoys becoming immersed in German-American culture: roving groups of singers and musicians, a visit to Grosspapa and Grossmama’s, the arrival of the Christkindel, the painting of the seven dwarf statues. Between the customs and all the parties, she hasn’t had the time, and isn’t particularly inclined, to execute a dramatic life change; in fact, she realizes that she is being more like herself than ever! New Year’s Eve, though, proves the perfect time and opportunity, and Tib agrees to stay up all night assisting with the project.

In the digital age, social media is often used as a means of self-expression and experimentation. Some people “try on” different personas for different spaces and audiences online, although it is common to do this offline as well. Digital technology makes it relatively easy to visually hide, and to play around with identity. Of course, this is not always a playful endeavor. Our modern digital age has seen a dramatic increase in technology-assisted identity theft, deception, stalking, scams, and other dangerous acts.

Betsy and Tib approach her experiment jovially but with an element of seriousness as well. When Betsy plans something, she expects results. She selects a new target personality (Dramatic and Mysterious, as opposed to Ethereal and Intellectual), hairstyle (pompadour), perfume (Jockey Club), color (green), walk (a stoop), and voice (low and sultry) to go along with it. She even changes the spelling of her name from Betsy to Betsye. She and Tib plan how she to introduce the new Betsye upon her return home. Tib reveals the possibility that her family may move back to Deep Valley someday, and the girls devise a silly persona for Tib as well.

Unsurprisingly, Betsy will find it difficult to pull off this transformation. She tries valiantly, and attracts Phil Brandish’s attention, but tends to slip back into her own ways when in the comfortable company of her family and friends. “Betsye” will complicate her burgeoning relationship with Phil, and teach her a thing or two about authenticity in relationships and in life.

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On the transformation of identity in digital spaces, and some of the dangers inherent in digital communication, see: Mary Chayko. 2021. Superconnected: The Internet, Digital Media, and Techno-Social Life (3rd Edition, SAGE) https://collegepublishing.sagepub.com/products/superconnected-the-internet-digital-media-and-techno-social-life-3-259314

and

Mary Chayko, 2018. Portable Communities: The Social Dynamics of Online and Mobile Connectedness. (SUNY Press) https://sunypress.edu/Books/P/Portable-Communities2