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The Unofficial Opie & Anthony Message Board - Personalities: Online VS Reality

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Posted ByDiscussion Topic: Personalities: Online VS Reality
Kid Afrika
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 1:06 AM      
Hanger-On
Registered: Jan. 70
Ever wonder why people seem so much different in person than they do online?

In "Human Identity Part 1: Who are you," Paul Kelly states, "On the Net, we find, people are using different new media to reveal both more and less of who they are (or who they think they are). In both cases the question of self, what it is, and how we should think about it becomes something of an issue." Kelly states that the new medium, the Internet, allows us to approach the way we define our identity. On homepages, people share information about themselves that would not normally be shared with strangers. On IRC and MUDs, people create and lead a fantasy life that is dramatically different from the real life they lead. Kelly states, "We construct identity in these forums and perhaps live out fantasies we are prevented from airing [in real life]."

If, through a new medium, we are able to create a new identity, then what is one's true identity? Or does it even exist? Are we wearing different identities for different mediums or occasions? I believe that people have one identity and one identity only. Through different mediums, we are able to portray that identity in a different manner. Role-playing and fantasy games that people participate in MUDs and online forums are merely a source of entertainment and cannot be seen as a construction of a new identity. A good example of this can be seen at unstability.com, a homepage of my best friend from high school, Shaun Kelly. The style and layout of the pages suggest a rather gloomy and dark character behind the creation; however, Shaun is one of the happiest people I know. Unstability.com is his expression of himself, in his own ways. Does that change his identity? I don't think so.

In "The Cross-Dressing Psychiatrist," Allucquere Stone presents the case of Sanford Lewin, a New York psychiatrist who posed as a disabled female neuropsychologist named Julie Graham. Lewin created this persona to be able to speak to women online on a whole new level, which he found out was possible when he once signed on as "Doctor," a gender neutral alias. He found that women were willing to let their guard down and have an open conversation, which Lewin had never had before. From that point on, Lewin spent many hours creating and living the persona of Julie. What had started as an attempt to help other women online became an identity crisis for Lewin. Stone explains, "What had happened instead was that he'd found himself deeply engaged in developing a whole new part of himself that he'd never known existed" (Vitanza 433). Stone even states that he was developing a "parallel" identity. Julie "had her own emergent personality, her own ideas, her own directions" (Vitanza 433). Through the online medium, in this case CompuServe, Lewin was experiencing and developing an identity not of his own. Could this be considered an identity crisis?

The idea of a parallel persona that Lewin managed to develop is an interesting one. However, I believe it still stems from Lewin's true persona or identity. One of the women that became friends with Lewin after the unraveling of Julie's identity states, "whether he's Julie or Sanford, man or woman, there's an inner person that must have been there all along" (Vitanza 436). The "inner person" that she speaks of is what enabled the creation of Julie in the first place. Stone states, "the societal imperative with which we have been raised is that there is one primary persona, or "true identity," and that in the off-line world-the "real world"-this persona is firmly attached to a single physical body, by which our existence as a social being is authorized and in which it is grounded." Though people may create these parallel identities or personas while online, it is merely an extension of the true, inner identity.

Check out the site, if you're interested.



This message was edited by Kid Afrika on 2-28-01 @ 2:06 AM
hornygoatweed23
I've Got A Vagina With Teeth.
G.O.O.F.B.A.H.G.S.
Dragoon Battalion
My friends call me Weed
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 1:08 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jan. 01
Goddamn Kid, had to post this at 1AM?

Interesting though - I generally consider me to be myself online and in the "real world" - it's kinda scary to think there are people out there that actually might or have the potential to think they live two lives because they chat or post online. Anyone on this board maybe??


"Groupsex - it does every-body good"
Proudly Adopted by Doughboy
James T. Kirk
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 1:12 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Oct. 00
Well I think I have everyone fooled online.They really don't know I'm a serial killer who eats his victims inners and keeps thier bodies in a freezer.Opps!!! I wasn't suppose to post this damnit!!I've been exposed!!


Sean Cold 3:16
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 1:21 AM      
Hanger-On
Registered: Jan. 70
good job kid! I wonder if anyone gets a fuckin clue!

And Kirk, I had you pegged you sick sadist Ftard!

And Thats The Bottom Line.....


E-Mail Me


Girl, don't go away mad, Bitch just go the fuck away!!!!


Angelo from da Bronx
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 1:38 AM      
Psychopath
Registered: Dec. 00
So what your sayin, K1D, is that people that go online become crossdressers?

Dam, i gotta get some money together for a new wardrobe.

-j/k, but I too consider myself to be the same online as I am in person.

--------------------------

GonzoStyle
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 1:49 AM      
Hanger-On
Registered: Jan. 70
yeah well k1d we all know that everyone on this board is actually the same in person.... who am i fuckin kidding?


Do you know how pale & wanton thrillful
comes death on a strange hour unannounced,
unplanned for like a scaring over-friendly
guest you've brought to bed
Death makes angels of us all
& gives us wings where we had shoulders
smooth as raven's claws
--Jim Morrison (An American Prayer)
Mi1o Yambag
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 1:58 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Oct. 00
I'm gonna let you guys in on a little secret, ok?
Ready?
Are you sure?




My name's not really Milo Yambag


Smoke Weed Everyday

This message was edited by Mi1o Yambag on 2-28-01 @ 1:59 AM
Kid Afrika
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 9:11 AM      
Hanger-On
Registered: Jan. 70
You people fucking kill me. Yes we would all like to think that we really are the person that we portray online. But let's be honest here, there are a lot of us here that completely hide our frailties. Yes the personality you embody online is made up of you, but it is still not complete. There are parts of you, inflections and such, that just don't come across.

Follow this logic... In the Matrix, Neo had no hair in the real world, but inside the Matrix, he had a full head of hair. Now, I know we don't have bodies online, but the whole "residual self image" idea still holds. We are able to put our best traits forward online, and hide whatever we want. It is that ability to withhold information that makes us different online.
Cap'n Fudge
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 9:15 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Oct. 00
K1d,

Isn't that the charm of the internet? People aren't limited by their actual personality or apearance. Avatars take the place of the physical form. Look at your sig pic. I think people clearly tailor their image online.

Just so long as FBI agents don't bust you for it, you're fine.


Ventriliquist Detective
capnfudge@opieanthony.com

FollowThisLogic
Nay. We are but men. ROCK.
The man with the plan.
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 9:18 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Oct. 00
quote:

In the Matrix, Neo had no hair in the real world, but inside the Matrix, he had a full head of hair. Now, I know we don't have bodies online, but the whole "residual self image" idea still holds.


Damn, Kid... gettin' all intellectual... I do completely agree with that statement, though... not only that, but I wouldn't doubt that perhaps the guys who penned Matrix may have been thinking along those lines too...

Click here if you're bored enough to email me.
Angelo from da Bronx
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 9:26 AM      
Psychopath
Registered: Dec. 00
I am Italian, My name is Angelo, I am from the Bronx. And at the board i talk bout the O&A show, sports, wrestling, comment about certain chicks being hot, and throw in some sarcastic remarks along the way....Pretty much what I do in real life.

--------------------------

Grumpy
SAGILLID The Midget Message Board Mauler rides his trusty mount Wilbur once again!! Internet Idiots beware!!
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 9:33 AM      
O&A Board Veteran
Registered: Dec. 00
I don't know. Meeting people at the parties, you pretty much can filter out the reality versus online. For example, I use Sean and Gonzo. Gonzo really is sick bastard who fuckin hilarious. The kid touching and philipino's I have yet to confirm. Sean is as mean in person as he is online. Myself? Both of them will attest, as you will also, that I'm as much of an asshole in person as I am online.

All kidding aside, the nature of the internet allows for that anonymity. It also allows for alter-egos to come out. In essence, alter-egos are very much part of the person, but it's never been expressed by that person. I enjoy my anonymity. It's my decision how much of me I reveal online. When you throw a beer or two in me at parties, well...., then all hell breaks loose. ;)

BTW - JTK, I have tapes of what you do with those bodies. What are they worth to ya?


Proud staller of Gary Coleman
Have you seen the dash button?

skuttlbut
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 10:14 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: May. 00
as you may or may not know, on the board i mostly
post shit about pot and drugs and shit i've
done... in reality i'm a wallstreet business
tycoon who lives vicariously his youthful dreams
through this message board.


Kid Afrika
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 11:39 AM      
Hanger-On
Registered: Jan. 70
Skutt, do me a favor...

Get high (like you're not high already), and read this again.

Cap'n Fudge
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 11:43 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Oct. 00
How pathetic...

I just realized that you are writing in the APA style with your notations...why do I remember this?


Ventriliquist Detective
capnfudge@opieanthony.com

Sean Cold 3:16
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 11:48 AM      
Hanger-On
Registered: Jan. 70
Hey skutt, you mean you are not a male prostitute?

Fuck, you are fucking up my pimping agency!

And Thats The Bottom Line.....


E-Mail Me


Girl, don't go away mad, Bitch just go the fuck away!!!!


I decide who lives or dies



This message was edited by Sean Cold 3:16 on 2-28-01 @ 11:52 AM
skuttlbut
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 11:50 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: May. 00
damn you sean i thought we were keeping that a
secret... but hey, if there's any takers... ;)

and refering to k1d... on further analysis, i'm as
real a pot head as you can get... down with hope,
up with dope people!


src="http://www.skuttlbut.com/opie_anthony/d_c_sku
ttlbut.j

This message was edited by skuttlbut on 2-28-01 @ 11:53 AM
Kid Afrika
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 11:54 AM      
Hanger-On
Registered: Jan. 70
I posted this to make people think, but also to point out that some people here took their online persona to an extreme, only to be foiled when the two worlds collided.

As for the MLA style... I read this paper when I was in school. The website I quoted is someone's paper, undoubtedly for a college course.

Grumpy
SAGILLID The Midget Message Board Mauler rides his trusty mount Wilbur once again!! Internet Idiots beware!!
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 12:04 PM      
O&A Board Veteran
Registered: Dec. 00
quote:

took their online persona to an extreme, only to be foiled when the two worlds collided



why does that sound so familiar? hmmmm......

Kid, you're making my head hurt lately. I now have to think after I read posts. Takes all the fun out of it. ;)


Proud staller of Gary Coleman
Have you seen the dash button?

spitfire421
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 12:20 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Dec. 00
yes, I am a chick who does not like "normal girl-y things" (that's why it's so easy to be myself here)--o&a, wrestling, buds, baseball, metal & good guitar players, PS RPG's (shhhh, and my boyfriend even once convinced me to play D&D w/ him a long time ago & it was actually pretty amusing, but don't tell anyone!!!), sex, etc. etc.

oh, yeah, and I'm a total sarcastic bitch who's ALWAYS bored at work and like to flirt...ok so I laid it all out on the line, anyone surprised??


Let's see if I'm hearing this right
Is it just I should take
And never endings are glad
To carry out the dead
Your idols burn in the fire
The mob comes crawling out (take us down and out)
I'm reclaiming their minds
Destroying everyone

There's no one here
And people everywhere, you're all alone
pinknips
posted on 02-28-2001 @ 1:08 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 00
I think i am the same in my "real" life as i am on the board well there are some instances in which i may go beyond anything i would actually do... for instance, realistically i wouldn't have anal with K1d to get him fired but it's fun to talk about and that's how i am in real life so it's not fake it's just me. I know EXACTLY what you mean though Kid... people create somewhat of a character on the board when it is just easier to be yourself. My feelings are i guess if you suck that much that you have to pretend to be someone your not than carry on with your pathetic life... people will catch on. ;)

Kid Afrika
posted on 06-25-2001 @ 10:23 AM      
Hanger-On
Registered: Jan. 70
Top, I found this thread interesting in light of recent happenings.



"What's with the Mission Impossible III shit, Milo?
You're a geek!"



njstrawberry
posted on 06-25-2001 @ 10:33 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Feb. 01
Well, to throw my two (TWO) cents in, I have never felt that my online identity differs from my "real" one. They are very much parallel and very much the same. However, Kid I understand where you are coming from. Good Topic - I WONDER IF THE PERSON I AM THINKING OF WILL FINALLY GET THE FUCKING HINT !!!!!

danked
Dankarella!
posted on 06-25-2001 @ 10:33 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Aug. 00
what? you're cross-dressing now?


Proud adopter of SeeYouNextTuesday and VeronaFD264... they must report to my home to walk my dog and pick the stems and seeds from my weed.
Buttmunch
USA
Autoban


Head Slap... Swim Move...
posted on 06-25-2001 @ 10:35 AM      
O&A Board Veteran
Registered: Oct. 00
What happened?



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Displaying 1-25 of 68 messages in this thread.