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online persona

Online Persona ~ Perception or Deception?

by Deborah Cruz

online persona

Online Persona; Who’s Really Behind the Screen?

Online Persona~ What does that even mean? What does your online persona say about you? Does online persona mean that we are not who we say we are? Does it mean that we are like the great and powerful Oz and we sit behind the cloak of our computer screens and pretend to be someone or something that we are not? Or is online persona simply a version of ourselves that we feel safer sharing with the world at large? For me, my online persona is ME…magnified.  You can ask anyone who has met me in real life, I am just as loud and opinionated in real life as I am on the internet but I am also as caring and loving.

Of course, I am also quiet and subdued when you first meet me. After all, I am a lady not some rodeo circus clown just spouting silliness to make the world laugh. I am also very passionate and I love my friends and family in a big way. The way I love my readers on here in a big way. You, boys and girls, are my tribe. You know most of my deepest and darkest secrets and you’ve seen me at my best and worst. Hell, you know things about me that not even some of the people who know me in real life know about me. I feel safe with you. This is one of the great things about blogging; my online village.

Online Persona; Who are We Really?

Then again there is a not so great part and that is the part where a writer can be taken out of context, misinterpreted or scrutinized. One post taken out of context can seem barbaric to a first time reader but if you knew me, you’d know that it was just vulnerability ( because I feel safe enough with you to be myself transparently). Writing online is like moving into a community, meeting your neighbors and making friends. You grow together, you know one another’s stories and you support one another.

But if you write at a new venue or someone comes to your blog for the first time, you are the new guy again. Of course, if they have found your blog, they are technically in your house. If they found you at a new venue, it’s something different  entirely. You’ve just moved into an entirely different part of the online universe, some place across the online world and nobody knows you. If you go in and act like you own the place with your bold and loud antics, you may turn some off. After all, these new neighbors haven’t had years to find you endearing. To them, you may be like damn sandpaper. Really loud and obnoxious sandpaper. You might be taken out of context. Hell, when you speak to them about Throat Punching, they may take offense and not know that you are trying to right the wrongs in the universe. They may think that you are a judgmental asshole because you are new and they don’t know you. Keep that in mind the next time you read a new blogger, maybe they are not so bad. Maybe you’ve only taken them out of context or they were having a bad day. Remember a blog post is just a snippet, a moment out of a lifetime.

What do you do? You want to be yourself and be transparent but you also don’t want people to want to lynch you for being taken out of context. How do you make your online persona reflect the person you truly are without leaving yourself open to being attacked for being YOURSELF?

What do you want your online persona to say about you?

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5 comments

Alexandra 2012/04/04 - 6:44 pm

I don’t think much about this. I write with my family in mind: whatever they see, I want them to never feel ashamed or embarrassed.

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Truthful Mommy 2012/04/05 - 11:39 am

I do too on my blog. THings get a little dicey when I don;t have editorial control elsewhere:)

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Cindi 2012/04/05 - 9:20 am

Often sandpaper is used to reveal a beautiful smooth surface. Don’t forget that. 🙂

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Truthful Mommy 2012/04/05 - 11:41 am

Cindi,
You made my week,truly. Thank you! XO

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How to Keep Your Children Safe Online from Toddler to Teen 2019/07/08 - 11:34 am

[…] READ ALSO: Online Persona who’s real and who isn’t? How to know the difference. […]

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