Masking Yourself

[rachael]

[quote name='Raphael' date='Nov 27 2004, 12:19 AM'] I urge you to let it out.  As a person who's been on both sides of this, it feels better to receive love for the truth than indifference for falsehood. [/quote]
it's not that i don't want to....


ah! you frustrate me

[karin]

I think i am the true person I represent on pm. I used to put a mask on to certain people to impress them make them think I was someone else and it worked. But it led me to slip into sin. Once I realized what was happening I kinda stopped putting on mask and just hoped the people would still like me. I have not really ever done that on pm I did it on aim a couple times but mostly I think I am authentic.

[franciscanheart]

I don't put on a mask for pm. Many pmers could tell ya that! I try to express myself with all the emotions I have so as not to hold my phamily back from who i really am. if im depressed, youll see a thread about it prolly. i feel like its more helpful for me to post when im like that to see the irrationality of my emotions and get over it. honestly i tend to put on masks in person more than online. but even that is getting better....

[azaelia]

Well there are little quirks in my personality that people don't see online, but I don't try to hide them deliberately. I think I represent myself quite well online, actually. The only discrepancies would be that I watch stand-up comedy and South Park more than is healthy and I have been known to swear like a parrot on occassion, etc.

It all comes down to how people interpret you and what you say. When you're writing, it's hard to determine tone of voice, inflection, etc. So we assign those things ourselves and they end up imprinting our minds with this picture of the person that could be completely wrong. But Micah probably already said that

[theculturewarrior]

I'm honest, integrated, etc., but that doesn't mean I post it all to the net!

Of course, I have an ugly side that most people don't see, not even in real life. It's not a very big part of my life. I think it's just part of being human. On the whole, I'm just like my internet persona, but less concentrated and a little bit more boring.

God bless.

[Andrea348]

i am totally shy in person...i am a lot more outgoing online...i wish i was more open in real life because i come off as stuck up sometimes because i'm too quiet

[heyyoimjohnny]

For the most part, I wear a mask. Very few people truly know me... or what goes on inside my head and heart. I prefer to keep it that way, though. Those that I trust can see the real me. I have to trust them; I wouldn't feel right showing my deepest self where people wouldn't understand me.

I have my moments, though. I've been rather open before, even when it was uncalled for. It's just not many people see the real me; whether they believe it or not. I'm certainly not myself here, at least most of the time. I've had a few moments of me.

So yeah, I wear a mask a lot. Although it's not nececcarily a mask; it's a part of me that just doesn't come out often. It's certainly genuine, but it's not something you'll find as much when you look deeper. Or you will find it, but in a different form... and much stronger.

I wear a mask, but a mask of lessened reality. You see a reflection of me that is only that, a reflection. To see the real me, you must look deeper than the appearances...

But on another note, most people wouldn't care to see the real me. That's another reason for a mere reflection. To display the real me to those who wouldn't give it a second look... it just doesn't make sense. That's why only those who'll sit down and talk to me can see.

Edited November 27, 2004 by heyyoimjohnny

[Moosey]

I try not to...

Im myself everywhere I go. I couldn't care less about what people think of me.

[Carnanc]

[quote name='Andrea348' date='Nov 27 2004, 10:48 AM']i am totally shy in person...i am a lot more outgoing online...i wish i was more open in real life because i come off as stuck up sometimes because i'm too quiet[/quote]
totally same thing here. I am arguably like the shyest person in my entire class at school, its a serious problem for me and though I'm getting help for it, I'm still very alone much of the time and lonely. Because of my anxiety, in most social situations at school where I may be making new friends I completly blank out and have nothing to say. I believe I lack several basic social skills so therefore I don't really know who I am or what my personality is arround people other than my family because I have not had enough social contact.

Now when I come online, I am able to explore what I think is closer to my real personality, and indeed I have often transferred social interactions which I have had online and applied them to in-person conversations. This works very well and my online self is much more unmasked then my in-person self at school, i.e. most people at school, though I am a senior in high school, probably have very little idea than I am Catholic and about my world views. However, if they talk to me online, I immidiatly communicate this to them.

Oddly, in some ways I am most my self online. however no matter where I am because of anxiety, I always have a mask forced on me to some extent because I have irrational fear of what others think of me.
I don't know, sometimes I even feel like I am developing my personality for the first time ever online, especially on PM with like-minded people. Here, I'm slowly learning through looking at other peoples less serious conversations, how to loosen-up and improve my skills.

Edited November 27, 2004 by slywakka250

[rachael]

well i'm really outgoing in person and online.

[voiciblanche]

I think it's fair to say that I don't put on a mask. I'm the same person online as I am in person... ask the people that know me outside of PM.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='rachael' date='Nov 27 2004, 10:06 AM'] it's not that i don't want to....


ah! you frustrate me [/quote]
Sorry...you brought out one of my scary sides...the philosopher...

[rachael]

[quote name='Raphael' date='Nov 27 2004, 03:07 PM'] Sorry...you brought out one of my scary sides...the philosopher... [/quote]
:ph34r:

[LiL Kat Said]

I don't think i put on a "mask" on pm. I try to be myself and say whatever comes to my mind first,an honest response. but whenever i get on i DO feel happier because phatmass makes me happy .

[Ash Wednesday]

I understand where you're coming from, Lil Red. Sometimes I'm Little Miss Holy, and other times I've got a long ways to go.

As a person, I often wear different "hats" with different social situations. That probably includes life online. If anything I'm a little more open online than I am in person. I can be somewhat reserved in person, but then after getting to know someone, I will let my guard down. I wear a different hat at work than I do at home. Likewise people interact differently when they are out with a group of friends than when they are home alone with their spouse. My interaction is different with a class I might be teaching than it might be with my priest. So I don't view myself as being a different person altogether, but a person with many hats -- I guess because I'm a complex kinda girl.

I used to connect my handle (Ash Wednesday) to a website I had that reveals my actual name, but I've really been working to put an end to that, and asking this of others. Many already know this. I do have a couple of close friends on this board who know who I am and I correspond with via email, but I trust them.

It's not really because I have much to hide regarding who I am online, I pretty much am who I am, but on some rare occasions if I'm getting advice about family and friends, I want to keep them anonymous to protect their privacy. I come here because it's a nice sounding board for me.

Admittedly I think there are people on this board I can relate to more than others. At the same time though, I realize that internet has its limitations and oftentimes this can result in misunderstandings, so I leave it at that.

[popestpiusx]

I'm always the cheerful soul I appear to be on here. I'm never grouchy. Never! Never!!!!! :irate:

[Lil Red]

[quote name='popestpiusx' date='Nov 27 2004, 10:39 PM'] I'm always the cheerful soul I appear to be on here. I'm never grouchy. Never! Never!!!!! :irate: [/quote]
:rotfl:

[popestpiusx]

[quote name='Lil Red' date='Nov 28 2004, 01:51 AM'] :rotfl: [/quote]
You don't believe me? Is that is?????? :angry: :irate:

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='popestpiusx' date='Nov 28 2004, 02:15 AM'] You don't believe me? Is that is?????? :angry: :irate: [/quote]
Yes, that is is.

[Lil Red]

evidence right here:

[quote]I must resist the urge to think that those people deserve to have there house burn down. [/quote]