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I have noticed that my personality is different online and the pseudonym I use as a username online is becoming its own entity. I am worried it is going to end in an identity crisis due to my split personality.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth - Oscar Wilde. This couldn't be more true for the online world. I reckon that the anonymity that comes with online forums and chatrooms etc will inevitably change you. And personally, I believe it's more the 'real you' that we see online. There's only so much (very little actually) one can say to someone's face in person before causing offence and all that you want to say can actually be said online with fewer repercussions. I know I am different online; more myself if anything, and I'm sure the same holds true for many others. Heck, I assume different personality traits according to the people I'm with. No two (real life) friends of mine know the same me.
I really like your answer. I do think that having an online personality helps to remove that mask as much as it lets you hide. Discovering which is the mask and which is the true face may take a lifetime to discover.
And OP, at least you are aware that it might create identity issues for you. That's something right there.
It's rare that I see intelligent posts on this site and yours was one of them. And I concur, I am closer to my true self online-but sometimes it's an exaggeration. Sometimes I can become more aggressive than I mean to-simply because I know I can get away with it.
But now I focus more on being nuanced and precise online and less insultive, if I'm trying to get an important point across. Though some people try my patience and I don't hold back much.
It's harder to do in real since some people really lack the cognitive skills to keep up with me and I don't like dumbing things down but often don't have a choice since I know I've simply have attained a level of understanding of things through my education and intelligence that they haven't.
Don't underestimate yourself ol'mate with words like "just". "Complete" or "absolute" are much more affirmative substitutes. Actually, I love your user name. On the use of the word "just" as a quantifyer, my ex-wife, being the sympathy seeking victim of life, pretty much always when ordering something used the word "just" to express her lack of merit in deserving something of greater value, i.e."I'll *just* have the coffee" to which I would try and turn into a positive, with a clarifying question, "what, you won't go for the cheese cake, side of pork, lawnmower or anal penetration today".
Only because I have normally drunk a bottle of vodka before I dare come on here.
I'm really introverted in real life. Here, I talk to strangers nearly every day.
I know exactly what you mean. I've noticed that in this sense I have two distinct personalities. The personality that I display on here is my real self and the personality I display offline is wearing a mask. By mask, I mean that I'm not my true self. The mask is a disguise that hides my true feelings, thoughts and desires. The mask is a metaphor. When I was a kid, I unfortunately had to learn the hard way on many occasions that I couldn't be my true self. I learned that I had to "put on a act" if I wanted to be accepted in society. The times where I hadn't realized this often had very painful repercussions which cause me to retreat further into myself, so to speak. It is at times very depressing that I can't be my true self around people. As a result, I've become very passive but on rare occasions I do speak my mind, much to the disapproval of others. However, on the internet I can be myself and roam freely. Then again, this is not always the case. On some sites I find myself feeling too intimidated to be myself and as a result I often find myself either censoring my thoughts or not participating at all.
I sound a lot more knowledgeable on line. I don't know why, I guess I'm just too shy in real life to put my hand up and add my two cents.
I'm pretty much myself as myself could get with just text and a profile picture.
Yeah, definitely. I often worry that I come across as much more formal or even "stuck-up" here than I do in real life, which isn't me at all. I'm a fun person, honest ;P
Also, when you're online you're mostly talking to people you've never met in the flesh and you often don't know what they look like or even what age or gender they are. I think not having met someone in real life means that you'll probably talk to them differently - online friendships are usually fundamentally different from offline ones (not in a good way or a bad way, they're just different because of the way you have to communicate).
There are certain aspects of my life and personality I don't talk about much here for various reasons (mostly my own privacy and other people's privacy) or only talk about in private to certain people (because they're people I trust not to judge that part of me negatively). I actually think that is the biggest difference: not whether we're offline or online, but whether we're talking in private or in public.
I don't think you come across as being stuck-up at all.:) I get what you mean, though, I feel the same way sometimes about the formal thing. At times it's easier for me to get my point across by sort of writing like mini essay type things. It just helps me get across what I'm thinking a bit better, and I think it can come across as a bit formal, which isn't me either. Although, it's not a major problem for me because I tend to write gibberish in a lot of my comments, which isn't very formal at all:P. I don't like the idea of coming across as pretentious and all arrogant or whatever, though, which I worry about ever now and again:S.
I don't think you have anything to worry about, though:). Like you said, you're fun:D!
I don't think I've ever seen you say something that even remotely made you sound arrogant. I have the same worries quite often about myself, but to me you always come across to me as very funny and smart and charming (in a good way, not a poncey way) and a great person. Nothing to worry about for you either ;P I write formally sometimes when I'm trying to get across a difficult point and I think everyone kind of needs to do that sometimes, but I also think so long as the context is right it really doesn't matter at all :)
Yes. Kind of. I'm not really myself on here anymore, which I already explained to users that it would happen sooner or later when I get bored of the site, that I will start acting differently from when I took the site more seriously, as I was myself then.
I act differently in reality than I actually feel in reality, and I express what I think and feel, or did, on here when I wouldn't in reality as people would look down upon it.
You may have seen me on this site posting all sorts of controversial and off the wall things. However, in real life, I am actually surprisingly normal and sane. On the internet is a whole other story
All I have to say is: get rid of your social media. Goodnight, ladies and gentlemen!
It's normal and yet exactly what's wrong with the Internet u can become more confident which is good but then. Some abuse that and pretend to be someone their nit to take advantage of others
While most of what I say through text is probably much more thought-out than the things I actually speak, they're also probably truer to who I actually am. Well… either that, or straight up trolling.
Even though the internet does not divide my mind, i have two different people in my head:
The real me which i also act like when i am anonymous in the internet, and the one i show to the public
yeah my problem is that I have a split personality. I am different online than offline. Its like living two lives. It happens effortlessly. I have never been self assured so this is something I struggle with. It may be easy for you to bridge that gap but it aint for me.
My online and my offline personality is extremly different, every one of them.
I have many personalitys that change with my mood, and my voice also changes to the different personalitys.
Yes, my online persona is COMPLETELY different from how I am in real life. A lot of times I use the internet to let off some steam and release some of the immense amounts of built up anger and rage inside me. In real life, i'm the nicest person you will ever meet, who will never make a single negative comment about anything.
I think people are more outgoing in the virtual world, including me. Typing is less awkward than talking on the phone or in person. Also I show my angry side more while typing, but if I'm talking face to face with someone who made me mad I'm afraid I'd end up killing them. I'm not mean at all, just temperamental. Everybody I talk to both physically and virtually don't act any different on Facebook or wherever. I want to meet as many of my virtual friends as possible, and yes I know they're legit.
when online im incredibly cool, offline im scared and want to hide all the time
To an extent. You can't completely be yourself online, because you can't reduce everything about you to just words on a screen. I am myself here, but like I said, some things won't make it online because they don't translate well I guess. Also, I'm here to make comments to OPs, it's about them, not me. It would be selfish and pretty weird to try and make every comment an attempt to be 100% myself. I'm not here to show myself off or something. Also, if I wrote like how I talk, some people might not understand me:S. It's just not necessary.
But yeah, what I write here is very much me and what I think about the topic. I don't try to be someone else. Everyone will be a bit different in real life, for obvious reasons. So, it depends how different you are. As long as you aren't pretending or anything, then I think it's understandable. I definitely see where you're coming from.