Two Worlds Colliding

It's commonly acknowledged that in our everyday lives, we tend to 'wear masks' based on the situations and circumstances in which we find ourselves. When we engage in conversation with our colleagues at work, when we go out socialising with friends, when we have dinner with our partner's parents, when we attend the Opera etc., we are likely to have a different set of ways in which we will act and present ourselves. One of the key changes is in our overt personality or persona. What I mean by this is the manner in which we act is usually dependent on the way in which we want to be received.

World 1: Real Life Interactions (personality)
World 2: The Internet (persona)

In our real life interactions, we are likely to be more guarded and covert towards strangers, but more open and friendly towards those that are close to us. We tend to be more professional and formal when dealing with colleagues, customers and superiors. Since other people discuss our actions and personality traits behind our backs, most of us want to appear likeable in our interactions with others. Social standards and contracts, codes of conduct and fear of ridicule are some of the key barriers that discourage us from expressing anything other than what is deemed acceptable and tolerable.

On the internet, we are likely to be more open and honest about controversial topics and experiences since we can usually control our level of anonymity, maintain indirect communication with others and contain what we say to 'cyberspace'. The dark side to this is that people can get away with being more judgemental, cruel and less fearful of being held accountable for their commentary. The light side is that people with unique ideas can more easily express themselves without fear of ridicule or harming their reputation.

What I see today is two worlds beginning to collide: our Real Life Personality vs. our Internet Persona. Millions of people around the world sharing so much information about themselves on the internet that the two become near inseparable. I know some would see this as a good thing: we 'should' conduct ourselves on the internet as we would in real life and expect others to do the same. But the reality is that we are removing the barrier between our online selves and our offline selves and this can have dangerous outcomes.

Of course, people can limit this conflict by simply not taking part in social networking and drawling the line at how much personal information they share online. But the pressure is there to 'get with the times' or be left behind. It's not about 'fitting in and feeling accepted by others', but rather keeping up with family and friends through the technological revolution we are currently experiencing.

What do you think: are two worlds colliding, or are they merely fusing together?

what, do you mean in not a lizard in the real world?

sure people in the real world don't act like they act in internet, as in the real world there are consequence to their acts like getting fired, punch in the face or shot. what is happening now is the lost of anonymity in the internet as people you know can see who you really are, so some people start to feel awkward doing what they use to do on the web. But the web anonymity was always an illusion, as TPTB could always know who was watching or saying something all the time.

Dear DarkGhost - I was at that point - bringing my internet self together with my reality self. Didn't work.

I have had family and friends unfriend me on Facebook, I've had people at work come up to me and whisper, "So you're super religious huh?" and then in the middle of slamming something religious stop suddenly and look at me. I have said repeatedly that I'm not religious, but I am a Christian and one that doesn't put any pressure on anyone else. They apologize when they swear and I tell them again that it doesn't bother me. People have changed how they see me and how they interact with me. It's more guarded and almost with an uncomfortable atmosphere.

I've had friends at work completely belittle me over my "conspiracy" type thoughts, trying to talk about certain paranormal events (without bringing up any Christian thoughts on the matters).

What I've found is that I have to keep my personal beliefs private when in person and feel free online.

When it comes to Facebook and other similar type online social activities I have to take a step back many a time as there are only so many conversations about shoes and handbags I can handle. But that's where the mindset of people are these days. They have no clue about the big picture and they don't want to know. Sigh.