The Online Persona verses the Real You

hahaha im pretty much the same..my family and friends all know my views and my thought on politics and all that jazz.. no one has a problem w it..my friends actually come to me for info or to discuss .. at work is a diff story..i work for the marine corp and were not "allowed" to talk down about the government...kinda weird.. but whatever.

Im pretty much the same here online as I am in RL, but to some here I am who I really am.

I am very much the same person online and off line. The off line me might try steal your wallet though.

I am wondering why more long term members have not posted.

What about staff members?

The replies so far seem to lean more toward members who feel that they are online the same as they are in their "real lives"

I still wonder how much truth there is in that, but I only have my own perspective and the others who have posted to go on.

My questions in the opening post still stand to anyone who is willing to attempt to honestly answer.

If you dare.

I only have one user account. I think many people try to boost themselves online and do lead two separate lives, one "better" on the internet and the real one (which is usually involves pale skin, acne, virginity and a basement ).

I personally do not think it is ok to have two lives in this sense. You are who you are and nothing more.

I would discuss anything I say here with friends in the open, no problem.

Long term member here .

Originally posted by The_Alarmist2012
How many of you would step forward in a group of people, friends, peers or coworkers and freely express your thoughts or views on the topics you get involved in here at ATS?

I discuss some of the economic and topics that appear on BTS with other people . Some of the more US centric topics wouldn't hold a lot of interest with other people so I don't mention them as often .

Are you the same YOU here at ATS that you are in the real world?

Minus certain four letter words and other language I am pretty much myself . I do get struck into people a little more outside of ATS .

Can you answer the above honestly?

Yes I cant think of a reason not to answer the above questions in an honest manner .

How many of you have or would actually share everything you do here at ATS with your family and friends?

Is it possible for a person to have two completely different personalities, one that exists only online here and the other in the real world?

A person only has one real personality that comes to light eventually. People can pretend to be whatever they want to be online and beyond the keyboard .

From a psychological aspect, is it healthy to have an outlet for an alter-ego who is not as reserved, one that can say and do things the other will not?

While you should always be respectful of others it never pays to be anyone but yourself .

Do any of you have alternate user accounts which you use to express other things you would not with a primary user account?

Aside from the fact that action is banned by the T&C my posts stand on there own by merit . I have no need to resort to such childish actions .





[edit on 19-7-2008 by xpert11]

I'm a lot more diplomatic here on the forums than I am in real life. Real life doesn't have T & C after all. I would speak about anything I say here with my husband and friends, but probably not my family or my husband's family (they took the blue pill.)

i'm the same. my avatar says killer vanity..and that's exactly what i am. i'm vain about my looks, anybody who knows me will tell ya that. my mom's said to me on several occasions before "eric..get out the mirror"

i don't know..i'm just vain. don't get me wrong, i don't think i'm PROFOUNDLY beautiful or anything like that..but i do think i'm very very goodlooking.

online as well as offline..i keep ppl on certain levels. see what i'm saying? like i have a friend who i'll go and discuss the same topics that are discussed around here with. that's because "on that level" he's cool. in all actuality he's a TOTAL square and if i took him around my other friends who don't operate on "his level" it would just be awkward and vice versa. at the end of the day though, i don't even really get around many of my friends anymore for several reasons, so it really dosen't matter.


i'll give you another example of the whole "level" thing. i've been going to the same barber shop now for about 6 years. they know who i am..but they don't know me personally. i've talked to the barbers there before and whatnot...but i'm not "in" with them. one would think that after 6 years of going there that i'd form some type of friendship with one of the barbers but no. they're not my friends..they're their to cut my hair and to get paid for it. and that's the level i'm gonna keep em on.

[edit on 19-7-2008 by LordInfamous]

Originally posted by The_Alarmist2012
reply to post by Ian McLean

 

The truth can be liberating, there is no reason to feel inhibited here.

Sigh. Okay. I don't want to be rude or judgmental or seem to be trying to stand from a superior position. The reason I post at ATS is because I find the members of this forum very open-minded and particularly self-aware. If the following thesis seems off base, realize I may be projecting opinions and past self-analysis. So, in broad strokes:


The 'D-Ego' is a prison cell.

The ubiquitous use of 'online avatars', to express things you normally wouldn't, is not psychologically healthy.

It's a social sickness endemic to our modern technological world. It can also be exploited as a form of control.

In the same way that, in the 20th century, mass transit led to the decline of closely-knit physical communities, in the 21st century individual broadcast communication is leading to the decline of face-to-face intellectual interaction.

Our thoughts, ideas, and opinions are being channeled through a media that is inherently controllable and deterministic.

When communicating face-to-face with someone, there is nuance, emotion, and understanding that is impossible to capture though electronic media.

Relieving the urge to intellectually communicate via such media can actually stunt social growth in an individual, by allowing a somewhat-satisfying outlet. Just as the sexual urge goads many to find mates, intellectual boredom goads the development of social and conversational skills. Via incomplete substitute, such fulfillment is being undermined.

In a similar way to how polarized media opinions ('left' vs 'right') create barriers of understanding between people, the schism between 'real life' and 'online' personality creates barriers of social cooperation between people.

It's no wonder many 'Internet geeks' are considered social inept and loners -- the very media encourages such. It is the path of least resistance.



There. There's much more to this (I have been mentally composing a post on this for a while), but that's the jist of it.

reply to post by AshleyD


You go girl I love reading your posts ... they do show that you've given some thought to the subjects before posting ... you actually have something valid and constructive to say.

Unfortunately that doesn't seem to apply to all !

>>>>

NOTE; The following is not meant as a personal attack because it applies to ALL therapists who fit into this catergory (you know who you are) ! And I shall not be partaking in a derailing argument about it ... these are simply observations that others will doubtless have picked-up on.

The post about NLP (on a previous page and by another poster), is a perfect example and I have to say it alarmed me a little. Especially as it was written by someone who claims to be a 'trained' therapist.


(quote); 'completely unaware of the dichotomy and difference portrayed ...'

and

'not necessarily lied just ignorant' and OMG


As a fellow therapist in practices that are still viewed with suspicion by many let me be the first to congratulate said poster on setting the field back 10 paces by anyone who reads that post.

Such comments / accusations are not only offensive to people in general but might also scare-off the timid and slightly paranoid, who gain confidence in their anonymity and find a voice. To the point where they might potentially avoid posting on some future threads in case someone see's beyond there online persona.

Great therapy skills ! Maybe a course in people skills should be next on the list ? I seriously hope (for your clients sake) that you and others like you are different in 'real-life'.

Woody

Originally posted by The_Alarmist2012
I wonder if the following question will get any honest answers...

Have any of you through profiles, chat or forum posts exaggerated, distorted, somehow fictionalized the details of your real lives?

In other words, have you used your online persona to create a fictionalized version of the real you?

Good grief NO!
If anything I give out too much REAL info.

Originally posted by The_Alarmist2012
I am wondering why more long term members have not posted.

What about staff members?

The replies so far seem to lean more toward members who feel that they are online the same as they are in their "real lives"

I still wonder how much truth there is in that, but I only have my own perspective and the others who have posted to go on.

My questions in the opening post still stand to anyone who is willing to attempt to honestly answer.

If you dare.

Honestly..offline..
I SWEAR a LOT.
Once sentence from my real life would get me banned here.
Honest enough?

Originally posted by Ian McLean
It's a social sickness endemic to our modern technological world. It can also be exploited as a form of control.

In the same way that, in the 20th century, mass transit led to the decline of closely-knit physical communities, in the 21st century individual broadcast communication is leading to the decline of face-to-face intellectual interaction.

Yet another excellent post.

The 'control' you speak of as it relates to a real world individual here participating in this online 'community' is particularly interesting to me.

As in a 'real world' society is it possible for those who are involved here through the use of their online persona to not only change their online personality, but also to be influenced by the majority of their fellow users?

Example: A person who in their real life will deny the existance of extraterrestrials and UFOs, yet here they can openly state that they believe in them. Perhaps someone who in their real life would never speak of potential government conspiracies surrounding the events of September 11, 2001, yet here at ATS they openly discuss these theories, and accept some as truth because the majority of fellow users do the same. A different kind of social online group mentality if you will.

Could a person be 'controlled' by participating here in digital form?

I am the same, wherever I go, whatever I say, whether it be on the net, or in person. I have made a lot of enemies by being outspoken as I am, but I don't care. The People have an absolute right to know what is being hidden from them, and I take this seriously. The government has too many secrets.

As I work for a government agency, my "Work Persona" is professional and no nonsense. I need to do that to remain employed and support my family. Outside the work environment I feel that I am the same as my online persona, although maybe a little less sarcastic online.

reply to post by The_Alarmist2012

My Own Private Idaho

Ever mindful of the Zionist propoganda that seeks to brand every opponent of the State of Israel an ANTI SEMITE. Me I stem from the tribe of Hamm and I oppoese the apartheid system imposed on the Palestinians by Israeli forces. The double standards and human rights abuses conducted as routine business.
I say now...NO ISRAEL KNOW PEACE..before May 14th 1948....there was ..only PALESTINE...and in this the seeds of conflict began
I speak out now for injustice..and one drop of Palestinian blood is worth exactly the same as Jewish blood shed..not the way the Zionist purport that one drop of Jewish blood is worth more than the life of any child or man of arab decent. My views are not popular...and my friends and I speak openly about our thoughts..on America Israel, Iran Iraq etc..and no one is spared from the critical review. Pity the Zionist. forced to count the number of enemy's the state of Israel has around the world..his job will be never ending for daily some new atrocity is visited upon the people of Gaza either by the gun the tank or the airforce.

No Isreal -KNOW PEACE

I can voice my thoughts freely on ATS.

No I would never discuss my "true thoughts" at work, bad idea. Read this article to learn how I view my workplace. Snakes at the Water cooler: The Reptilian Presence at the Office think-aboutit.com...

Managment at my workplace, operates by pitting the people that aren't managers against each other so everyone spies and snitches on everyone else in hopes of becoming a manager. I just try to be pleasant and very superficial towards the people I work with because, sadly I can't trust any of them. Years back and at a different company that was not the case.

As far as aliens, I would never mention this subject to anyone because no one, not even my three best friends, my husband or family - no one believes we have been "visited". They laughed at me the last time I brought up the subject of ufos / aliens. Now that Larry King has begun to air stuff they are wondering. But my husband (who has a degree in Physists says going beyond the speed of light / space travel long distances is impossible).

Most people that I know at work or on a social level just don't believe in the possiblity of aliens already on earth, shadow governments or secret conspiracies. They live in a Barbie and Ken Doll world.

My husband and friends do not believe that 911 was committed by outside our government. I suspect our government was behind it to manipulate the American People into a war.

I also wonder about the possiblity of planet wide mind control of our species through the use of technology and or chemicals. I say this because somethings up, something planet wide is going on and I feel like I'm the only one that sees somethings up. I don't pretend to know exactly what that something is but most people can't or won't see that things are amiss. It has been my experience that most people believe what they need to believe.

No, I don't openly discuss my deep thoughts to people I work or live with because they have closed themselves off to the possiblities that there is more then what your eyes see.

That is why all you folks expressing your ideas on ATS are so important and stimulating to me. Food for my mind I guess you would say. I will never meet any of you but you and your ideas and the fact that most of you are open enough to the possiblities of what could be out there make you all very important to me.

[edit on 19-7-2008 by ofhumandescent]

reply to post by LordInfamous


mmm, it's cool Lordy how you can be so open an honest about how you feel about yourself on this bbs, And I totaly respect you for being able to express yourself like that

-fm

Originally posted by The_Alarmist2012
How many of you would step forward in a group of people, friends, peers or coworkers and freely express your thoughts or views on the topics you get involved in here at ATS?

I do it all the time, if the subject is interesting enough to those people I am talking to.

Are you the same YOU here at ATS that you are in the real world?

Yes, my ATS presence is an almost exact copy of myself, the only differences being that my avatar has a better combed hair and I don't speak English off-online.

In fact, I only speak English on-line.

Can you answer the above honestly?

Yes, as always, the same off-line.

How many of you have or would actually share everything you do here at ATS with your family and friends?

There is no need to share everything, only the more interesting bits. If someone asks you how was your day do you tell him/her everything that happened?

Is it possible for a person to have two completely different personalities, one that exists only online here and the other in the real world?

I think that is obvious, in the same way some people behave in a completely different way when at work or at home, some people need to do that.

From a psychological aspect, is it healthy to have an outlet for an alter-ego who is not as reserved, one that can say and do things the other will not?

As I am not a psychologist, I can only answer as a common person, and I think that all things that help us getting through our lives are welcome. I chose to live my life in what I think it's the best way for me, so I keep on living in that way either on-line or off-line.

The only occasions when I show a little different personality (although it's the same as always, it gets hold back, usually) is when I play my favourite game, Unreal Tournament 2004, as that gives me an opportunity to liberate some of my natural violence, I consider myself a somewhat naturally violent person, but I refrain from using violence because I think it's pointless and bad to my health.

Do any of you have alternate user accounts which you use to express other things you would not with a primary user account?

No, I have no need for that.

PS: a sad example of how we are not able to really know on-line how people are off-line is the case of ATS member Weise.

Originally posted by enjoies05
My real personality has flaws. Why not fix them with this online personality?

In case some people get the wrong idea about that...

In real life I don't like talking to people..on the phone, face to face, I don't like people really. I'm not a crazy hide away from the world don't speak to anyone kind of person, but I'm not a big social person. And if I don't like something or I don't want to do something, I normally keep it to myself and do it anyway. Those are the "flaws".

But here I am social, I do talk with people, I do get to know others, I do say things that are on my mind. I feel comfortable here. I don't know why.