Do you have an internet persona?

[Mac98]

There's nothing wrong with that. I just find it an interesting concept because my self perception is that I *don't* do that. Then again as Coastal-boy pointed out, our perceptions of ourselves can be a bit biased.
(...)
I'm glad you weren't offended and I hope the discussion continues. It's been very enlightening.

I don't think an internet persona is a bad thing. I see it more as something that just sorta happens. I guess it can't be very positive if you create a double life for yourself through the internet, but just skewing a little isn't really all that bad. In fact for me, it's been very positive.

 

[Tiffany_Leggs]

Not really...I'm probably as much of a tart and a flirt in real life as I am online!

 

[DarkBee]

In real life, I'm a just a quiet guy. Online I'm so much more sarcastic and snarky, especially when someone asks or does something stupid. My stupid tolerance online is virtually non-existent.
Oh, and also A LOT dirtier and foul-mouthed.

 

[littlebabyclit]

IOn lit (especially, but this applies to Live chat, Facebook, YouTube, etc.), I tend to be able to express myself rather well and tend to enjoy giving my opinion or joining in a discussion, but IRL, I'm more reserved, quiet and will listen MUCH more than I'll talk (unless you get me going on a subject that I'm very passionate about). Also, IRL I have a very hard time expressing myself. I'm always looking for words or using the wrong word to describe something. As odd as it is, I don't have that problem on the internet, therefore I feel free-er and will formulate and express opinions that I wouldn't in normal circumstances.

This makes me think. Maybe the real question isn't does anyone HAVE an internet persona... maybe some are kidding themselves that they DON'T have one. One thing communication on the internet allows for is continuous self-editing. You can edit and re-edit what comes out of your mouth i.e. keyboard, before you ever say it. If you constantly edit what you write before you say it, if you speak more coherently and brilliantly in written form, if you don't post your very first thoughts as is, then just maaaaaaybe you are tweaking how you present yourself and that, by default, is creating some kind of altered internet persona of yourself. How many of us do come or can come across as eloquent and erudite in every day life ?

Reminds me of what I've read about actor Robert De Niro. The man is great with a script in front of him... terrible for giving interviews. De Niro the actor and De Niro the man are the same person but not quite the same.

 

[Mac98]

This makes me think. Maybe the real question isn't does anyone HAVE an internet persona... maybe some are kidding themselves that they DON'T have one. One thing communication on the internet allows for is continuous self-editing. You can edit and re-edit what comes out of your mouth i.e. keyboard, before you ever say it. If you constantly edit what you write before you say it, if you speak more coherently and brilliantly in written form, if you don't post your very first thoughts as is, then just maaaaaaybe you are tweaking how you present yourself and that, by default, is creating some kind of altered internet persona of yourself. How many of us do come or can come across as eloquent and erudite in every day life ?

Reminds me of what I've read about actor Robert De Niro. The man is great with a script in front of him... terrible for giving interviews. De Niro the actor and De Niro the man are the same person but not quite the same.

I'm not sure in necessarily means you tweak how you are IRL. I'm sure if I could speak freely with no problem I'd be very similar to how I am on the internet, but I can't. That doesn't necesarily mean I'm not basically the same person. However, because I express myself more easily and get to say what I want to say rather easily, I usually end up coming off more sarcastic... but all in good fun, of course.

Your Robert De Niro analogy is brilliant. It doesn't mean he's necessarily different or that he's a moron IRL and a genius on screen. It just means that he might have a bit of trouble speaking openly and when he gets the chance to act, it's his way of expressing himself. Or maybe he just works well when he has time to read what he's going to say and not just think of it on the spot.

 

[Kaarnanyx]

In most situations online I find myself to be a bit more flirty than I am in IRL. I guess it does kind of go back to the fact that online you don't feel like you are judged as much as you are IRL.

 

[littlebabyclit]

Not true. Tons of people think before they speak. You can organize what you say in your head in the same way as you can type something up before sending it.
Invalid points.

If you'll notice what I actually wrote, I said *some* people might be kidding themselves that they don't have an internet persona. Some does not mean all. And of course people can organize their thoughts and think before they speak. However, some do that even better when typing things online and via chat programs. That's my point. Have a great day.

 

[Eilan]

Not true. Tons of people think before they speak. You can organize what you say in your head in the same way as you can type something up before sending it.
Invalid points.

Yup. If I couldn't do that, I'd be out of a job.

 

[Mac98]

Yup. If I couldn't do that, I'd be out of a job.

I take it you're a teacher or professor...

 

[bailadora]

Not true. Tons of people think before they speak. You can organize what you say in your head in the same way as you can type something up before sending it.

I resemble this remark.

 

[NestleSnipes]

I imagine we're all under internet personas here right? Few people show their face and have a username with their full name.

 

[bailadora]

I imagine we're all under internet personas here right? Few people show their face and have a username with their full name.

I see that more as a moniker than a persona. My name here is different from what the rest of the world calls me, but my personality here is fairly representative of how I interact with others in my daily life.

 

[Kikori]

I'm among those that don't have personality differences, just an easier time opening up or being able to speak. Granted some of my behaviors may be easy to exaggerate, but it's pretty much all the same if possible.

Nestle, name =/= persona. Actors are pretty much proof of that.

 

[wicked woman]

*pushes his glasses up his muzzle* Easy answer. On the Internet, I'm a coyote.

<snip>

One other thing to consider -- if someone goes away for awhile and then comes back, and nobody remembers them... are they a new person or the same person?

It's been years since I was last here...

-CT

We don't need to answer that question as far as you're concerned. I saw your reply on another thread today and squealled...'Coyote...he's back!!!' Good to see you again.

 

[CoyoteTales]

*laughs*

We don't need to answer that question as far as you're concerned. I saw your reply on another thread today and squealled...'Coyote...he's back!!!' Good to see you again.

I knew that name sounded familiar. Hullo again, WW. You're the first person from Then to recross paths with me. Nice to see you too!

Some more thoughts to warrant the topic bump....

Some of us are roleplayers. We come up with character concepts for some reason or another (I'm a big fan of improv comedy, for example) and imitation is a form of flattery -and- escapism. If you don't like who you are, sometimes when you have a chance to be someone else -- you go with it. Back in the 60s, everyone wanted to be James Dean or Elvis, or occasionally, James Brown. (I think. I can't speak to it from personal experience.) But I do know that there will always be things that are 'in' and 'cool' to be, and so we tend to emulate those things. Because it makes us more than what we are in 'vanilla' mode.

But there will always be this dilemma:
Underneath it all, behind the login name and the silly accents and the hat, we eventually end up naked. It doesn't matter if you're Mister Rogers or Mister Bond, but it's hard to hide behind a personna in the bedroom. Or in a long term relationship or friendship. People get to know you? They can tell what's an act and what's an actuality.

Be yourself! Don't give yourself a reason to have to excuse your behavior when you end up being unmasked. Yeah, it's okay to be brave and out of the box, as long as you're not going out of bounds with yourself.

In short; if you're not willing to say or do it in person, think twice before doing it on the Internet.

-CT.

 

[bailadora]

Great observations, CT. I can certainly see the appeal of taking on a persona/role, especially if it makes someone feel better about themselves.

But there will always be this dilemma:
Underneath it all, behind the login name and the silly accents and the hat, we eventually end up naked. It doesn't matter if you're Mister Rogers or Mister Bond, but it's hard to hide behind a personna in the bedroom. Or in a long term relationship or friendship. People get to know you? They can tell what's an act and what's an actuality.

In short; if you're not willing to say or do it in person, think twice before doing it on the Internet.

-CT.

This part of your post really spoke to me. I guess the reason I don't take on a persona (as far as I know) is because in the end, I'm not that good of an actress, for lack of a better term. I haven't the skills, the time, nor the patience to keep up a front and I'd be declared a fraud fairly quickly.

On a tangent: I've always been interested in people who act. Their ability to get into and convincingly (for the most part) portray a character opposite to themselves just astonishes me and makes me wonder how they do that.

 

[fire_breeze]

<snip>

On a tangent: I've always been interested in people who act. Their ability to get into and convincingly (for the most part) portray a character opposite to themselves just astonishes me and makes me wonder how they do that.

And to continue on your tangent

A lot of actors act because they need to tell a story, much like a writer writes to tell a story, the actor brings it to life. There is some who'd say that actors have an externalised locus of the self, but while an actor can be ridiculously insecure, many of them enjoy entertaining and creating a reality.

As for the how, (and I really hope that I'm not bursting any bubbles !) depends on which method the actor is trained and is most comfortable. Technical acting requires research and understanding the motivations. It's relatively objective and is approached from the outside. The actor, for a lack of better term, adapts the mantle of the character. Method acting is just the opposite and the actor becomes the character, and Stanislavski's system is a combination of the two, approaching the role directly and analysing the reasons.

Most find a combination. When I acted, I'd combine the 'mantle' approach and Stanislavski. It worked for me to tell a character's story in a particular context. However, a few true method actors lived in their character for the duration of the run, and it got really tiring to deal with them (am I talking to Joe or Hamlet?). Some actors would say it's easier to portray someone who's the opposite of themselves, because they can enjoy portraying and engaging a character that is not them. There is a comfortable distance.

I don't know if it helped, and it has been a long while since I've been on stage, but I can imagine that the techniques hasn't changes all that much!

/end tangent.

 

[User_Damashii]

I'm more willing to go off on tangents when I'm online. Here, the occasional image macro or link to a streaming video is a silly delight; providing hyperlinks to information related to a conversation is seen as a sign of good breeding.

The key is that on the internet, people can easily ignore my shenanigans if they're so inclined. As a result, I'm free to provide as much context as I can stand. It's not seen as monopolizing a conversation, since there's a preserved copy of the data-me that people can draw from at their leisure.

(That brings up a related question: who has a different persona when they know that a friend with a camera is nearby and plans to put everything on the Facebook?)

Back on topic, though, I concur with everyone who has said that they're more sexual in areas that are clearly marked for the purpose.

 

[DepravedMama]

Not I!

I am very much 'me' online, and have been told so by several RL friends.

Some of the things I share in Yahoo chats may seem far-fetched, but I'm all about honesty! I don't want to chat to a persona, I want real people, and assume others think likewise!

DMama

 

[Leotard]

My main difference is that I know a lot more on the internet. Thanks, google. It's nice to have a little fact-checking machine right there for use at my leisure. That's not to say that I'm an insufferable know-it-all (I hope). I just want to know everything

That brings up a related question: who has a different persona when they know that a friend with a camera is nearby and plans to put everything on the Facebook?

Untag. I'm not too concerned about people whom I know seeing goofy pictures of me. But if someone is just perving at my profile I'd prefer them not to see some aspects of my personality, the same way most people here wouldn't link this profile to their facebook page or vice-versa. Most of us are private creatures and self-edit in some way or another.

 

[CoyoteTales]

Is it acting if you believe in it?

I've had my hand into acting on and off for most of my life, starting with school plays when I was in second grade. I definitely fall into the mode of 'character acting' -- the ability to take up the challenge of becoming someone else for the duration of the play -- and making it believable by way of seeing myself as the character, trying to think like they might, and definitely portraying myself in that role by subtracting the bits of myself that didn't belong and adding the parts of the character that needed to be added.

Some actors, both professional and not, just don't even really try -- essentially, they're themselves on stage just saying lines. It's not really character acting when you -are- the character (cf: Tony Danza); some people are natural heroes or villains just by their personality. There's nothing wrong with that at all -- heck, just look at reality TV as a trend. People want to see real people sometimes, with all their warts and foibles, and I guess that here, because we're supposed to be ordinary folks who happen to be posting to an adult forum (some of us on the sly), we're not supposed to be something fantastic -- because the point of being here is not about being fantastic (apologies to those of you who aren't exaggerating your endowments or pursuits), but about having discerning things to say as a thinking, living person.

As far as being 'trained in a school of acting?' I guess the closest I'd come to it was the acting class I took in college, which used Uta Hagen's /Respect for Acting/ as a textbook. I can't say I remember much of it.

In the improv classes I took, the big takeway was 'learn how to say 'yes and' to any aspect of your character you can wrap your head around and become. You have to sell it to the audience as fast as possible in improv, because they have to see it in their heads, whether it's an invisible telephone, sword, or the bridge of a cruise liner. In a lot of ways, our success or failure of creating any sort of persona, be it on stage or in a forum, is how well we can shift the audience's perception of us in the limited windows we have available.

I think all of us want to be accepted when we put the keyboard to electronica; I think we all expect that our words will be approved of as we write them, for all of us who take the time to be visible in a world of invisibility. (Well, other than the flamer and troll types who just like to see if they can provoke an angry reaction, anyway.)

Is it truly an 'act' if you downplay the parts of yourself you'd rather not talk about, or emphasize the parts that you want people to notice and remember about you?

-CT

 

[littlebabyclit]

I think all of us want to be accepted when we put the keyboard to electronica; I think we all expect that our words will be approved of as we write them, for all of us who take the time to be visible in a world of invisibility. (Well, other than the flamer and troll types who just like to see if they can provoke an angry reaction, anyway.)

Is it truly an 'act' if you downplay the parts of yourself you'd rather not talk about, or emphasize the parts that you want people to notice and remember about you?

-CT

Great question. That's where things get potentially nebulous as to whether or not someone is creating a "persona" about himself or herself online. Is presenting an edited version of yourself being irresponsible or deceitful necessarily? Do others have the "right" to all information at all times about ourselves, especially our most controversial opinions and attributes ? Who doesn't edit themselves in certain company at certain times ? I'd love to hear people's thoughts on that question. And if you think you haven't ever presented an edited version of yourself... tell me that the last time your boss or your mother-in-law or a dear friend or a customer said something absolutely ridiculous, absurd, cruel or wildly inaccurate, you blurted out exactly how you felt about it. Uncensored.

It all depends on how accepted, in all quarters and facets of your life, for whom you truly are as to how much of yourself you present to others. Unless you're surrounded with completely accepting and relatively sane and bias-minimal people ALL the time... I do believe everyone edits themselves to some degree at least some of the time. There may be people who find little need to edit themselves... or at least they'll claim that... but I think they're in a rare minority. That's the minority where they have a lot of power and influence over others already or one where they basically don't give a flying fuck about what anyone thinks of them and they can live with the consequences of such a brazen and sometimes lonely existence.

 

[bailadora]

Firebreeze and CT - thanks for the insight on how drama folk learn and perfect their craft. I have zero talent in that area, so I find it truly fascinating.

LBC - I'm still mulling over your question and don't have adequate time right now to type out my thoughts, but you and CT bring up some good points.

It's been really interesting to see how this topic has evolved.

 

[yuna1981]

Who doesn't edit themselves in certain company at certain times ?

You made really, really good points about how everyone does seem to self-edit in some capacity, across different contexts. I do think that there are some people who actually wish they could edit themselves more, to be able to read social cues better. Is it that they can't develop the right persona for the situation, because they are "too themselves?"

I'm on the opposite spectrum, where I can overly self-edit and try to fit into situations. Which is why the internet is a fun place to let go of this a bit, through the anonymity is what allows for that. So I guess you could say my internet persona is both more "me" and less "me" at the same time.

 

[bronco20]

i definitely have a somewhat different persona online than in real life...in real life i am very shy and would never be as forward with sexual things as i am here....