Are you the same person in RL as your internet persona?

I certainly try to be as transparent and honest as possible and not adopt any sort of "persona" online. I just don't think there's anything to be gained by trying to juggle multiple personalities or trying to anonymously be a dick to other people on the internet. Because even if you try to justify it to yourself by saying that that the asshole you're being on the internet isn't the real you, the truth is that on some level that monster really is living inside of you. If you act like a horrible person on the internet, you really are a horrible person, and eventually someone is going to find out how you spend your online time and call you out on it.

I know that a lot of people probably don't buy into some of Gary Vaynerchuk's motivational / marketing mumbo jumbo (I'll admit to rolling my eyes at it from time to time) and many of you probably don't even know who he is, but I agree with this to a large degree:

Maybe it's just crazy misguided optimism, but I tend to think that being nice and helpful to other people can pay dividends in the long run.

Absolutely.

I think I'm the most different when I'm voice chatting/talking on the phone. Something about it makes me significantly more awkward. But when I'm typing and speaking face-to-face I'm no different.

Fun fact, though: I'm actually neither dead nor a stack of pancakes, so I suppose that could be a tad bit misleading.

I'm not actually a doctor, or German, or a Brazilian samurai with a cybernetic arm.

My name on the site is the same name my friends call me. I'm pretty much the same person. Except in real life I'm a total liar but, on here I always tell the truth.

Don't worry guys IRL I'm just as edgy and cool as I am here.

Yep, I'm a sarcastic asshole, but also quite funny. My balls are gigantic.

Yeah, i'm too old now to cultivate a different online persona anymore.

I'm mildly sarcastic, can be pretty direct with people i find unpleasant online and off and i'm mostly just really forgettable. I mean really, i've been here a bit over 3 years and with over 3000 posts and i'm sure nobody remembers anything i ever said. Mostly because just as in real life i keep to myself and try not to attract attention.

I'd say so, yes. Actually, I'm probably way more reserved online than I am in person. In real life, I'm way more likely to call someone out on their bullshit or say some offensive joke, mostly because I don't feel like having a bunch of strangers respond to what I said (or because I don't feel like getting banned from anywhere). It's easier for what I say to be taken in context when people actually see and hear me rather than just reading words on the screen which could be taken the wrong way. On the Internet, I have an opportunity to think about my input in a discussion and be well-spoken, whereas in real life I just say the first thing that comes to my mind or say nothing at all.

You mean ignored :(

In real life I'm an introverted jerk who barely smiles or laughs when interacting with normals. I like to think I'm a lot more articulate and amiable on the internet but that's just me.

The worlds are merging.

More or less

This is pretty much who I am in real life, yea.

I live my fursona on and off line 24/7.

I don't even remember my human birth name.

Nope. I'm much more introverted in real life.

Jesus christ. This. I feel bad sometimes when people try to talk to me because I think a lot of people think I'm an asshole when really I'm just like Uh.... I just really don't know what to say to you?

To answer the question at hand though I've always had a policy of never saying anything on the internet I wouldn't say to someone's face. That's usually a pretty sound rule to go by TBH.

I'm a million different people from one day to the next.

I'm a bit more outspoken online than in real life but yeah.

Am I an asshole in real life too? Yes. Yes I am.

I'm even less articulate in real life, since I agonize over my word choice for too long. By the time I've composed a sentence, the moment has usually passed.

Personality-wise, I'm pretty much the same. I don't get as many opportunities to swear out loud, though. I do most of my actual speaking at work, which is not conducive to that sort of language.

Not really. I'm far less compromising online. In person I don't bother with half of my vocabulary, I don't talk about anything complicated and I don't try to discuss anything that requires nuance because I expect to be misunderstood. All day is spent in what feels like an intellectual holding pattern until I can open a book or go online and find something challenging to interact with.

I like online much more. Moreover, I like this format. A series of statements made by a crowd, orderly arranged, I'm not beholden to respond to anyone, no one is beholden to respond or interact with me. Don't want to be involved, leaving is easy. Want to be involved, access is easy. It's a good format.

You have all the tone miscommunications you get with writing, but after five thousand years I think we can agree the benefits of writing generally outweight the drawbacks.

I've noticed a lot of people highlighting their sarcasm; I've deliberately attempted to wind down the amount of sarcasm in my 'voice'. I feel like sarcasm is the default tone I get read with, and people assume I'm angry a lot when I feel it's more ... amused existentialist charm. Sarcasm is just how one dulls the pain of life.

I don't really have a real-life persona and an Internet persona so much as I have two different types depending on how well I know you.

On the Internet, I see everyone as a complete stranger, and I try to treat them with the utmost respect. In real life, if there is someone I know that a positive relationship with them would benefit me, I treat them in the same way.

For those I do know, however, I could give less of a fuck how I am.

I feel like asking someone to consciously compare their real life and online personas is asking the wrong person. Do I still deliberately use large words, bleed sarcasm and talk incessantly about video games that came out before the year 2004 in human space? Probably.

Really, the only thing that comes to mind is that I'm way more willing to troll people in real life than I am on the Internet, but maybe that's because I see you all as sub-human piles of opinions tied to an icon and a username instead of actual people whom I derive pleasure from messing with.

@arbitrarywater: Always troll everyone is the best approach, in life and on the internet.

What is a man? A subhuman little pile of opinions!

I sometimes narrate what's going on in my life with some over dramatic and silly phrases.

So, kinda?

It's very hard, maybe impossible, to self-analyze one's persona (in a broad sense - I don't actually deliberately put on a persona). Roughly I'd say there's three modes with me. <Real Name> Me that is for public and official purposes. That one's the furthest from what's actually going on in my head since that is how I interact with complete strangers or in a professional context: very introverted and considering every communication carefully. Then there's <Nickname> Me. The one that has no damn filter, few boundaries and is generally eccentric among close friends in comfortable circumstances. <Baal_Sagoth> Me is a strange amalgamation of the two. I always filter much more online than I'd do among friends since too much context is missing for what I'm trying to say. But I don't treat online discussions as the distant, impersonal, public affairs they might technically be either. It might be akin to my conduct in, say, a favorite night club. That's by no means an entirely public context but you're still dealing with a mixture of friends and strangers.

When I am alone and bored, I segment my brain into different personae and argue with myself.

But online, everyone else plays that part for me, so I get more done overall.

More or less, although I am more likely to voice my opinions here because I have time to consider what I want to say. In person, by the time I find the right words, the moment may have already passed.

I am the same person, but I think my extensive internet years have made my real life self communicate a bit different. I can type faster than I can talk generally, so when I speak to people I am two steps ahead of my mouth and tend to slur a bit as a consequence. Also, in real life, I am much more prone to sit back and observe things than to speak up when something catches my attention, and by the time I have worked up a good response to someone the topic of conversation is already dead. Online makes my reflective nature a lot more workable. And I can choose exactly how I want to word things because my physical self (and the instant nature of real life interactions) isn't standing in the way of what I am trying to say.

Overall though I think online me is more akin to how I am with family, friends and fun coworkers than I am with, say, complete strangers. Which is ironic since most people I "talk to" online on a daily basis are in a way complete strangers really.

Yeah. I'm more likely to get into debates online than off, but that's because I don't have to share an actual physical space with people I piss off online. That said, I don't actually try to piss people off online, but I do have a bad habit of only replying to things that push my buttons. It has led to me just not bothering to engage with people very much.

I am a cow.

Moooo.

(fuck you guys! typing with hooves is hard, ok)

No, and I know this sounds crazy, but I'm actually more patient with people online. I've learned to deal with assholes or people that think differently than me online, while in the real world I'm much quicker to judge and reject people. I guess in some way it's a different effect of the whole "distance" thing that causes some people to feel free to do whatever they want. The fact that there's lesser immediate commitment allows me enough breathing room to process things more before responding.

Like I can have a discussion with someone I completely disagree with or don't understand what I'm saying on these forums, but if we were to meet in RL and have that same conversation I would probably just say "you're fucking stupid" and leave.

Pretty much.

Creepy Uncle Claude at your service.

What I am here is the truth, nothing but the truth... but maybe not all the truth.

We share some similarities, but no, we are not the same person.

I am not the man in my profile pic.

I probably have slightly wittier and more reasoned (well, I'd like to think so anyway) things to say on the internet because I put more thought and time into making sure what I say is funny/not-dumb. The first sentence of this post, for example. I combed over it a few times to make sure what I said made sense and was as concise and coherent as possible. Even made several adjustments...

By the time you read this sentence, I will have combed over the entirety of that first paragraph at least 3 more times to make sure it's A-OK. It is, fyi. For now. Thank you edit button.

But in terms of core characteristics, I'm the same dude.

Yes and no and I honestly have no idea. All that at the same time.

I'm extremely reserved in real life. I don't talk to anyone, really. I believe my various interactions on this site are closely representative of my internal dialogue and the things I say or just might think of saying were I to actually say things in real life. I just hope I'm not as annoying as I might come across as being either in real life or online.

That's a god damned lie! You take it back right now!

Jaysus, @claude.

x

yes.

Careful guys, this line of discussion is always how boss battles start.

You don't want to pick a fight with a pole dancing satellite dish or an S&M banana or something, do you?!

Nope.

Yes, in real life I disagree with everyone or everything, tend to yell for no reason, and like to go on long rants when no one is listening.

@claude: Are you Yahtzee from the future?

No, I am even more awesome in real life, I just need to vent some of it on my internet persona. I saved a choking horse once by suplexing it. Yes, I'm that awesome.

.....I have no idea how to respond to this.

Yes I am, except the fact I am not a a horny chaos worshiper.

As with all arenas of social life, my mannerisms are probably fairly different on the internet. But any opinions I share that aren't blatantly sarcastic, reflect back to what I actually think.