the shifts, convolutions, and problems of social identity. The reliance of computer scientists on intuitive understandings of identity, rather than nuanced theories that view identity as enacted, infrastructural, and imaginative, has resulted in software that at best ignores opportunities for empowerment, and at worst results in perpetuating longstanding social ills of discrimination and disenfranchisement. We can do better. Improving upon this situation is not a technical issue alone. Using the case of computational identity representation as an in-depth motivating example, because it is laden with social and technical complexities, as elaborated above, this paper is meant to demonstrate a developing type of practice called critical computing argued for in my article "Toward a Theory of Phantasmal Media." [6] The next subsection describes the meaning of the critical computing concept and explains how the concerns about social identity as mediated by computing technology raised above are an excellent case with which to exemplify the idea. Section 2 of this paper describes a theoretical framework for analysis and design of computational identity systems. Section 3 uses this theoretical framework as a basis for analyzing computational identity in several gaming applications. Section 4 describes ongoing research under the rubric of the Advanced Identity Representation (AIR) project that I have pursued. Section 5 provides concluding remarks. 1.1 Critical Computing Critical computing refers to the potential for using algorithmic processing and data structuring as a basis for expressing commentary about, and making impactful change upon, the real world -- especially to engage disempowering hegemonic norms