Image by gregoryperez

Can anyone honestly say that the self they project online, in blogs, on forums, etc. is truly 100% their real self? I know lots of people put on a persona on purpose, either because they want to hide their true selves or just as a gimmick, but I’m talking about [...]]]>

Image by gregoryperez

Can anyone honestly say that the self they project online, in blogs, on forums, etc. is truly 100% their real self? I know lots of people put on a persona on purpose, either because they want to hide their true selves or just as a gimmick, but I’m talking about those of us who don’t try any of that. Those of us who would tell anyone that we’re the same person in real life as we are online.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. I am definitely in the latter category, I feel that keeping up an online persona must be so exhausting, I can’t imagine having to adopt a totally different, forced personality when writing or posting on a forum, it must be quite difficult to remain consistant. At least if inconsistancies come through when I write here, I know they’re quirks of my own personality, not made-up traits I’ll then have to make a conscious effort to replicate in the future.

Still, can any of us really say, particularly when writing a blog, that everything we write depicts our personality accurately? I think the moment the editing process starts, the moment a blog post turns from a stream-of-consciousness to a thought-out piece that’s meant for an audience, a small part of the real personality of the writer, which may have existed in the words, is lost. I don’t believe this is necessarily a bad thing, people are unpredictable, flawed beings and I know I often say stupid things in the moment that I wish I could take back. As long as a conversation isn’t recorded however, then the odd slip-up us unlikely to permanantly damage one’s reputation or relationships. A mistake like that on a blog post, even if later deleted, may be archived and one day when the writer is rich and famous (I wish) it may well come back to haunt them. Or in a more likely turn of events, someone with good Google-fu and a grudge can use it to cause trouble long after the writer has forgotten the comment completely. If there’s even the smallest chance that a blogger will ever find his or herself working in the corporate world, for example, then there is no point in taking the risk and posting unedited comments that could later cost them a job.

More “real-time” services of course are a different matter. Chatrooms and IRC channels don’t make headlines anymore, but there, although the capacity to edit still existed, people were far less likely to do so as they strove to make their comments within a conversational timeframe. I’ve made some very good friends through IRC channels that I regularly see in “real life” now, because when you remove everything but words, I think as long as the person you are talking to isn’t putting on an act, you can really get to know their personality without factors such as looks or fashion sense clouding your judgement.

I don’t know about you, but the most real-time method of online communication I use now is probably Twitter, and since tweets tend to me more like announcements than parts of a natural conversation, they tend to be very considered and edited, particulary since they have to be within 140 characters. Everywhere (online) that I write, I edit, and I wouldn’t have it any other way – I’m terrible for making typos! On my blog, and I’m sure on many others, I believe readers get a genuine dose of my personality, but it’s controlled. Free from hasty, stupid comments I may later regret, words I over-use replaced with similes, it’s still my voice, but prepared for public consumption.

This post was written entirely without editing. I haven’t spell-checked it, I haven’t gone back to change things that don’t “sound” right. How real do you think you are when you post online?