Do you take yourself seriously on the internet?

[Beowulf]

Does your posting personality reflect your personality in the real world? What aspects of your character are accentuated while posting on this (or any) message board?

Kalium isn't allowed to post in this thread, fyi

[*inverse*]

Does your posting personality reflect your personality in the real world?

Maybe... I don't really post that often, and when I do, it's pretty short. But that's typical of me because I never have too much to say.

The people who have been on Skype with me would know >.>

[Ileia]

"Is she still there? Did she drop?"

haha

[Flint the Dwarf]

Nah. I'm pretty different in person. I don't take myself that seriously online, and even less so in person and around friends. Most people can't get a feel for my humor online, cuz it's mostly dry and sarcastic, and a lot depends on the tone of my voice. Kinda hard to convey all that online without looking like a douche. Which I probably do, sometimes.

I thrive on the people around me. I'll keep quiet until I've got something to say, and I'm usually pretty sure it's good or will at least get a reaction. Don't like to drive a conversation, so I'm bad one-on-one or over the phone.

Maybe some of you will see what I mean at AWA.

[Arigatomina]

Yes. Most of it's the same. I don't take myself seriously but people think I do whether it's online or off. In realtime they think it because I talk faster and use bigger words the more interested I am in a topic - online it's because I type in paragraphs that most people skim instead of actually reading.

What I say is as awkward as what I type, though I have to rephrase myself more often in realtime. [ex: "I'd like to think so" gets a blank stare so I give a wincing smile and say "yeah, I guess"; "every so often" or "not usually" confuses a person so again with the wincing smile as I correct myself by saying "not much" or "just a little".] In type I use a sweatdropping smiley in the place of that RL wincing smile. ^_^;

I'm more bold about starting things in person than I am online. I can start and hold a conversation with any stranger I meet, but I can't start a new thread here unless I'm desperate. On the flip side I'm more likely to drop a conversation early and walk away in person, where online I'll keep beating the rotting corpse till I'm driven away with a big stick.

Personality... It's easier to be nice online. I have time to look over posts before I "say" anything, so I can add all sorts of euphemisms and nicetalk to take the edge off sharp statements. They can't see my face so it's easier to appear patient. Once they think you're patient, it's easier to be patient. The wait between posts helps, too. And there's always the option of just not responding at all. I have a better time limiting my confrontational side to debate topics rather than going off on everyone who annoys me. In real life I have a bad habit of saying exactly what I think the moment I think it, and then wishing I'd kept my big mouth shut. Online I can preview my posts over and over until I'm sure it's not something I'll regret having said later.

[Otohiko]

I consider my personality to be universally the same everywhere. The only difference is that I'm often a bit less coherent IRL than I am online (I have a tendency to mumble or speak in incomplete sentences occasionally, whereas online it just doesn't look right - so, I end up coming across clearer here). Plus I'm slightly more casual IRL. Slightly.

I think Orwell and Jasper and whoever else heard my recordings of monologues/practice sessions/talking can attest to the fact that I'm as goofy and prone to rambling/ranting in speech as I am online.

I'm also somewhat more shy, or to be more accurate, somewhat more avoidant of people who I don't really know. And, like Flint here...

I'll keep quiet until I've got something to say

One point here is that when I do have something to say, it's impossible to shut me up. Also - and this by the way parallels nicely with my behaviour online - I very rarely initiate conversation (lately this is changing), just like I rarely start threads on the forum here or rarely poke people on IM, but when I do or someone else does, I'm notorious for my ability to stretch the conversation beyond all reasonable limits.

But I should note one key thing:
Comparing how seriously I take myself online or IRL is unfair. I don't take myself too seriously in any medium

[Nessephanie]

nessie=Liz

I'm pretty much the same.

[SQ]

I have a sort of speech impediment, but otherwise pretty much the same off and online.
Although I'm less open about my gender "issues" offline, I'm just as open and TMI-y.

I tend to sound smarter on the internet, however...

[Kalium]

Kalium isn't allowed to post in this thread, fyi

To answer the question: sometimes. As far as my personality goes, it's not significantly different online or off. At least, I'd like to think that. I know I'm better at formalizing my thoughts via text, however.

[Otohiko]

What I say is as awkward as what I type, though I have to rephrase myself more often in realtime. [ex: "I'd like to think so" gets a blank stare so I give a wincing smile and say "yeah, I guess"; "every so often" or "not usually" confuses a person so again with the wincing smile as I correct myself by saying "not much" or "just a little".] In type I use a sweatdropping smiley in the place of that RL wincing smile. ^_^;

That's not awkward! That's annoying on the part of other people who apparently can't take intelligent-sounding variations on phrases.

I love using expressions like that, and people always react just as you say (blank stares). I can count several occasions just today where I ran into that. Ugh.
It's especially painful for me, coming from a Russian background where being as colorful, elaborate and vague in your expressions as possible is the socially cool thing to do.

"One would suppose" and "I should think so" are my own favoured (and much abused) variations for the first one ("yea, I guess"), "on occasion" and "somewhat infrequently" for the second one ("not much")

Personality... It's easier to be nice online. I have time to look over posts before I "say" anything, so I can add all sorts of euphemisms and nicetalk to take the edge off sharp statements

Interesting. It might be in my tone/manner, but I think IRL I find it a lot easier to be more modest/polite/nice. In fact I'm kinda too prone to 'nicetalk' and hedging in conversation - if I didn't do it with a straight face, people would probably get the impression I'm being sarcastic and making fun of them. Which I'm not.

It's so much easier to flame in online anonymity however. I can piss people off in any medium, but having had the real-life experience of being punched in the face for being a smartass, I prefer to do it as little as possible unless I'm really annoyed