#online identity

[jesidres]

Had an argument with a colleague that people (at least used to) keep their online and offline lives very separate from each other, and want to keep these separate. While I realize we're all gremlins here, I was curious to see what people here treat 'living online'.

Please reblog for a larger sample size.

(Yes, I do realize snowball sampling is piss poor researching, but I am curious.)

[incoghanto]

Didn’t think I’d be back,

but the internet got too personal,

and I’ve always been better at being slightly anonymous.

Less of a presence, more of an echo.

Less of a person, more of a collection of thoughts left unattended.

Somewhere along the way,

existing online started to feel like a performance.

I think I’d like to sit in the audience again.

[greatwyrmgold]

was wondering where I recognised your username and now I realise you're the guy in the pale comments! you have good takes so far hope you're keeping up the good work 👍

Thanks! I work hard to keep my takes as good as I can.

One of the wonders(?) of using the same username on most websites for about half of my life is having people say "Oh, are you the GWG from [X]?" I'm pretty sure more people know me as GreatWyrmGold than by my legal name, which is a weird thing to think about.

[callipraxia]

The Internet itself seems to be encouraging this new tendency toward disclosing one's real identity, and I don't like it. When I signed up for my very first email account, back in the Dark Ages (aka, 2003), it didn't even ask me for a recognizable first and last name (legit or otherwise), or much of anything except to check the box saying i was thirteen or older. Emails from AOL just referred to me by my screenname, same as anyone else. When I registered the email account I use here, it wanted a full name and a birthdate just to sign up. It accepted "Callipraxia Author" as a first and last name, fortunately, but...do not like where the trend is going, to put it mildly.

I quick-googled "surnames that mean writer," and came to the conclusion that if gmail ever stops allowing me to refer to myself as "Callipraxia Author," I could make up the more realistic-sounding "Callie Shriver." A second quick-Google even revealed that there are multiple people who have or have had that name IRL. None of the ones who pop up remotely track onto anything vaguely resembling me, but it's a real name - indeed, I've now noted "Cal Shriver" down on my list of potential pseudonyms, in the unlikely event I'm ever a) formally published and b) am published from behind the screen of a pseudonym. It's not, however, my real name, or anything even vaguely resembling it. I suppose noting "this is not my legal name, just my gmail name/oddly realistic writer pseudonym" on a profile would technically be as effective as using an online handle, but...maybe I'm just elderly-by-internet-standards (33), but representing myself in fandom and social spaces with an obvious screen name just feels like a much better balance between honesty and not being an idiot than the thought of presenting myself as Callie Shriver does, somehow. It's more authentic and safer to be Callipraxia for the most part.

i think kids online should really get back to making internetsonas instead of whatever fuckshit this is with putting their entire real faces, names, ages, and such everywhere. you're not gonna realize how nice internet privacy is until you dont have it anymore and no chance at getting it back. make up a guy and a name and just be that online. make up conflicting details about your completely made up backstory. make a fursona or something

[rhifler]

This article is about how social media is transforming communication, from politics to personal relationships. It made me consider how websites like Facebook and Twitter influence not just what people talk about, but how they do it. Do people have more substantive conversations, or merely more arguments?

[lucidcrown]

I'm Lucid or Lucidcrown

I am an artist. I make art. I don't post my art that often, because most of the art I make is practice work. there are others I've noticed recently posting under "lucidcrown" which is a name I've gone by online for years. I haven't been the most active, but I still use this name actively and post under it various places.

I will not change it.

I've gone by this name since 2017 or 2018. It's basically my online identity, and a lack of posting should not denote inactivity of a certain online identity. especially if one person uses the same url across multiple platforms and (was) the only person with this url when I made it. (I googled my name to make sure nobody else went by it!!)

If the people who used my name after me don't like it, I'm not obligated to change my online identity or branding just because they picked it up.

[taelweaver]

So my pfp is a point of contention for me. When A few years back, my grandfather shared his genealogy obsession with me, proudly sowing me a family tree tracing as far back as the late Renaissance. This included a black and white heraldry. Since it had color descriptions, I asked for help colonizing it and now it's my pfp. Fast forward many years, and I realize that side of my family is shitty. Like, incest swept under the rug and trumper cult levels of shitty. Now, this pfp leaves a distaste whenever I see it.

I really want to decide on a new pfp. To me, my pfp is as important as my online handle, and it dictates my virtual identity. I don't know where to begin to replace it, since it was so fundamental. Should I make a new heraldry? Sonething else? I haven't a clue.

[laidbackmarco]

Faith in the Flaws: Creating with Authenticity

“People want to judge you based on what you’ve done before, but they don’t know what you’re capable of down the line” Tyler the Creator To Create is to Believe in One’s Vision There’s a well-worn saying that ‘seeing is believing,’ in my quest for not just a good life, but a truly exceptional one, I’ve discovered that some people embrace a different kind of vision. Looking at the legends that…

[blondeanonymous]

I'm in the process of unlearning my natural, modern urge to obsess over and perfect my online identity as if it defines who I am in the physical.

I am finding it difficult to be comfortable with the idea of being perceived as imperfect or undesirable.

Who am I if not someone you want to be or be with?

The pressure feels comfortable and natural, who would I be without it?

It's all I've ever known.

[techdriveplay]

How to Manage Your Digital Footprint

In today’s interconnected world, our online presence is more significant than ever. Every click, share, and post contributes to our digital footprint, shaping how we are perceived both personally and professionally. This comprehensive guide on how to manage your digital footprint aims to equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to take control of your online identity, ensuring it reflects…

[gabbberson]

My Opinion

I felt our overall theme of this week's modules was to get our opinion on online activity at the core. As said in one of this week's videos, there has never been a digital "us" before. This week has spoken a lot to me about my online presence, my identity and the things I choose to share. Although, the things I choose to share with strangers/family/friends are more surface level. Meaning I'll never go into opinions or political things, I don't choose for our government or companies to have my data. Yet in a way I do when I sign onto this kind of life in terms and conditions. I hope that these terms and conditions change in a way that our physical self and digital self die away. Some motion needs to be set in place for this. Some suggestions of this were, after a certain period of inactivity, reading into algorithm of close ones, the allowance of a trusted person with their profile. All ideas these big companies should consider.

Overall, I loved this week's discussion and the places it took my brain to think.

[chaerrycat]

life’s hard but I’m lowkey harder

[zeropro]

got anymore Sunstorm headcanons?

In my au, a mech's designation is part of their spark coding, they online with a unique designation. Of course, bots can change their name later, and it happens often. The headcanon is that Sunstorm, being a clone of Starscream, has a near identical spark signature, resulting in a bunch of copied coding. Shockwave is not amused.

[poniescanterover]

Okay it's like who am I, you know? Like, I am Ponies. But I am also Sean. And Sean has a last name and a face and a family. And there are things I do and say as Ponies that I don't want my family to see. So, just post everything as Ponies right? Well, maybe it's not that simple. Because Sean needs to exist online too. I can't put my whole presence into my internet persona and neglect the socials that have my government name and face on them. Which means I have to split myself between two places. Which means there's only half as much of me in each place. The internet is hard.

[batsyheere]

Bruce tries to adopt Ellie, who is immediately against it. She keeps throwing him off her trail and he keeps tracking her down. She's honestly concerned, and normally she would handle her problems by herself- but this is Batman.

So when Bruce gets a little too close and Ellie is just so tired... she calls for Danny.

"Mom!"

Cue college student, perpetually tired and overworked Danny "High King Phantom" Fenton appearing from the very shadows Batman normally does himself, seeing the situation and going off at this "clearly older man" chasing his daughter in the middle of the night.

Cue the most elaborate "stop trying to adopt my kid before I adopt yours" series of battles