Hello – forums / cross pollination
Jul1
i have been involved in online communities since i started with bbs systems with my commodore 128. once the bastion of the nerd, the communities have evolved to the point that the term “social media” comes up in everyday conversation. currently i have three regular forums that i frequent, facebook i check occasionally and i am about to start rehab for my twitter addiction.
i have been an increasingly active member in one online community for 6 years next tuesday. it’s filled with your typical assortment of personalities you expect to see in an established community. no shortage of trolls, “first!”, drama queens, lurkers, the 733t or the ubiquitous “tits or gtfo”. and then there are real people. but who is really themselves and who presents themselves differently than they are irl (in real life)? and what about people that make up even more alternate identities for themselves for shenanigans? there’s about 11,000 registered users in the community i mentioned. the old joke is that there are really only 10 users and the rest are “alts”.
how can you tell who is real? and who is whom? is anything you read about their lives real? how would you know? i know the extent to which people will go to create a personality that seems real and distinct. i’ve been involved or responsible for a handful of alts. only one could have been considered a troublemaker but in the process of creating a well formed alt i realize the potential that any personality i interact with could not really be what they seem. a personality fabricated by someone for whatever intent or motivation they have.
any entity i interact with online is a personality. as long as it is intact and cohesive to a degree i worry not if it’s really who it says it is. i might become wary sometimes but i might do that for a “real” personality too. in the end, being a fan of social psychological behavior this is a vast playground for me to observe and interact with a myriad of personalities. i’ve met some of these personalities in person. some i have never seen a picture of and believe to be who they purport to be. others i’ve seen countless pictures of but still don’t believe in. i would call some people that i have never met in person a friend.
how many people are really their real selves in real life, really? even those of us that strive to be true to ourselves have context specific personalities. we can’t all let loose and be the same person at work that we are when we’re out with our best friends. then there are those that hide their true selves even from their self.
it’s a spectrum from the most introverted to the most extroverted. in the “real” world and online. with more and more personalities getting social online the more there is to enjoy.
for another take on online communities check here.
y’all have a great weekend and take care whether you’re online or offline.
<(((O
