Internet Forums, 'Real Life', and Personality distortion

[Members Only]

Sorry if the below is full of spelling mistakes and such. I'm really tired, it's 04:53AM, but I had a pre-sleep thought which I felt like making a post about.

I often hear the phrase thrown about "You can not trust the Internet", more specifically "You can not trust what anybody says on the Internet", yet more specific "People create false personas through the Internet". Presumably, the assumption of the Internet being congested with false personas, leads people into distrusting the words of others emanating from the Internet; emanating through devices such as forums, message boards, blogs, personal websites etc...

Do the majority of people who use the Internet as a means to communicate with others create a false persona? Or do people use to it to realize their true personas, unbound by the everyday social rituals of engaging in conversation in 'real life', does this not lead to a freeing up of ones inhibitions, in which they feel more free to state their true opinions, to let loose their true nature? Do you feel MBTIc is loaded with false or true personas? Exaggerated personas? Less exaggerated personas?

If somebody acts out of turn, acts an idiot, if somebody is, say, what is often deemed a 'troll' on Internet forums; I often think people assume that the 'troll' has created a false persona, a persona to be an idiot, he/she has placed a mask over their true, everyday, less idiotic persona. But is the 'troll' persona, not the persons true persona, and their false persona the mask they place over themselves in real life? A mask worn to avoid the harsher repercussions of acting 'troll' like in the real world, repercussions that could include physical violence?

Do Internet forums create true or false people? Do some people become more true and some people more false? What makes one person choose to become more false and another to become more true, through the prism of the internet.

[disregard]

There was a thread over at INTPc called "Deceptive Perception", about posting anonymously and how your unique style of writing will always permeate your facade.

I think it's true that There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. You can't keep up an act, because after a while you will forget what the act was and your true colors will begin to show.

After a significant amount of internet time (given they are a regular poster), you get an idea of what the person is generally like. Sometimes you are mistaken by a first impression, and you grow to like someone you didn't like very much to begin with. And sometimes you don't want to believe that someone is truly how they portray themself, but after a while, you realise that sadly they are.

Just like IRL.

[Bella]

I think people who purposefully create a false persona on forums are the minority. Is that naive of me? I just think it is such a great oppurtunity to be able to speak your mind freely that it is unnessasary to create a false persona. I would think someone would be more inclined to do that in real life where you might be judged way more than you would here.

[Firelie]

Originally Posted by disregard

There was a thread over at INTPc called "Deceptive Perception", about posting anonymously and how your unique style of writing will always permeate your facade.

That's really true. I was part of an online writing/role-playing club as a teenager and we had about 15-20 members...it became sort of a game to introduce new characters without telling anybody, just to see if they could fool people into thinking they were a new member.

I got extremely good at picking out who was who, and people were amazed by it, but the writing style gives people away most of the time. I tried my hand at making a new persona by changing my writing style completely and it worked for a while, but eventually I'd slip back into my own patterns and give myself away.

[Victor]

In literature, authors have always used false personas called a nom de plume.

And on MBTI Central we are halfway between print media and the electronic media, so the old habits of nom de plume die hard.

But on www.seesmic.com there are no nom de plumes because seesmic has made the transition from print to electronic video.

So it is no longer possible to hide on seesmic.

So in the large cultural sphere, privacy is over.

But MBTI Central remains delightfully old fashioned.

[colmena]

For me, most anxiety is lifted. I post how I feel at the time, and assume most others do so.

[Victor]

Originally Posted by colmena

For me, most anxiety is lifted. I post how I feel at the time, and assume most others do so.

Yes, I post how I feel at the time.

It seems to release me and give me pleasure.

However I do think that most are not in touch with how they feel at the time. So essentially what they post is a psychological defence.

They clamber around like armadillos from thread to thread - their armour clanking.

[colmena]

Originally Posted by Victor

They clamber around like armadillos from thread to thread - their armour clanking.

Well this is quite like how I've been tonight. But this is the relevant way of being in accordance to how I feel.

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Originally Posted by Bella

I think people who purposefully create a false persona on forums are the minority. Is that naive of me? I just think it is such a great oppurtunity to be able to speak your mind freely that it is unnessasary to create a false persona. I would think someone would be more inclined to do that in real life where you might be judged way more than you would here.

I agree with this fully. That said, I think everyone has a false persona online simply due to the restrictions of the medium. Even if you always tell the truth and remain true to your personality, someone who only knows you online only knows a portion of you. There's too much of a person's essence that is only revealed in their physical presence.

[substitute]

I see the distinction as arbitrary. People make false personas in RL too, they also deceive, mislead and fake.