h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One of the unique things about the internet is that you can change your persona. But why?

Maybe I should just ask Abi this one...

Taking that one step further... do you think that the researchers who attended the h2g2 real life meetups arrived as the people they normally are socially, or as their h2g2 personas? And which of these reflects who they *really* are better?

I don't know, what do you think Peregrin? I was working, so I probably wasn't attending entirely as myself, even though it was a thoroughly sociable and fun evening. I think it's maybe not that we attend as our personas, but that we're not having to act in the same way as we do in front of our existing real life friends. For instance, if say, you're normally known as a shy person, it would be a lot easier to act differently in front of internet friends, because they wouldn't have the usual preconceptions about you...

What do you think? Sound reasonable?

I think your real personality eventually shows through in your virtual personas even if you are trying to keep up an act.
Over time you can't help bits of the real you creeping in during discussions.

That certainly appeared to be true of everyone at the meetup, everyone I met seemed to be faily close in personality to how they appear here mind you trying to keep an act up after having a few drinks soon falls apart, or ends up in a heap in the corner

I don't think we have different personalities, its just that different aspects to our personalities show up more in some circumstances than others.

I know the impression other people get of me when I'm working, is quite a lot different from when I'm not.
Although all the time its still the same me they are meeting.

Some people choose to hide themselves behind a different persona as anonymity gives them a degree of security and assurance.

How does being anonymous help? I know it *does*, but how does it give us more confidence?

I think it's part of overcoming preconceived ideas people have about you. If the people you're talking to know you as a 58 year old thrice divorced accountant or a 19 year old single model then they'd have very different attitudes to you, and that's not counting your personality at all. If they have nothing to go on to start with, they build up their view of you on your personality, as that's the only thing they have access to.
And as most people aren't 19 year old single models, hiding their physical appearance and past tends to give them more confidence.

Additionally, you can be very selective about what parts of your life you allow to filter through. If I was an undertaker, it would be very difficult to conceal the fact (if I wanted to) in real life socially, as people view your occupation as a major part of you. But on an online community you can almost have a completely different occupation - drawing silly pictures, making jokes, having an encyclopaedical knowledge of smileys - and that's what people view you as 'doing'.
Of course, another thing you can do on an online community is lie about your real life - pretend to be a dancer instead of an undertaker - but I've found this completely unnecessary. (maybe because I'm not an undertaker )

I have 3 seperate personas here. The first (MoG) was just a quick response to the total surprise of finding something like this place in existence, as I was truly a cybervirgin then. So I started a character with one of the titles I have had IRL for about 13 years. And the second was something I had wanted to do for some time, and this seemed like a fun place for it. The third is one that I'll use to try things out and pay the rent here, so to speak, by making contributions to the guide.

These are all facets of MY personality, but I wanted to keep them seperate here, in order not to confuse things. I can be baffling enough IRL to the unprepared. It seems to work, to have one omnipotent opinionating instigator, one wench with an overblown libido, and one who can be a little more mundane and take care of business. They all serve different functions, and I didn't want to prejudice people against what I have to say just because some of the personas are likely to rub some people the wrong way.

Hmm, I think Peregrin covers my personality pretty well (although I'm a bit more organised online, surprisingly enough). I do have another persona which reflects my darker side. Both entities use similar humour but there are a few places Peregrin would not go (and I wouldn't want to go myself, because madless lies therein...)

The really worrying thing is when you start having conversations between two facets of your personality. I did that once but it scared me off

Even I have never gone there! Would be a little too much like cybermasturbation, don't you think?

I'd say the biggest difference between my real time personality and my on-line personality is that on-line, I actually get to finish a sentence or a story without getting interrupted!

I'm not shy, I've just got boisterous friends, with extremely short attention spans.

And sometimes on-line, I actually get to THINK before I speak.

that is definitely one of the selling points of online chat.. being able to think before you 'speak'! The different persona-thing is rather interesting. i'd say it might be fun to play someone different for awhile but i enjoy 'me' enough to not have to pretend to be anyone i'm not. i do understand that generally a person does utilize parts of their own personality when 'pretending' to be someone else, but i am not able to comprehend why anyone would be satisfied with a two-dimensional ruse/role. i like the interesting facets and quirks that make up a human being and i feel if parts of who you are offend someone then oh well, you can't please everyone.you shouldnt't ever try either! i feel that people (online or off) should share who they really are and not mere parts of their whole. if someone wants to 'play' a role they do have the 'role-play' rooms. i know not everyone agrees with this assessment of 'personas' but that is why life is sooo interesting and non-bland; we are all different! we should celebrate our differences by not being afraid of who we are and what others think of us.

All parts of my complex persona are expressible, just not all at once or in the same forms. There is truth and a big part of me in every fantasy or role.

Have Fun! !

Well all my personas are there to express different things about me and they give me a chance to be creative. Plus it is nice to be able to stop being an italic at times. You can explain the bits of the site without scaring other researchers off!!

Eek! *runs and hides from Abi*

Yes, I can quite understand the 'italics' having additional personas. And I've always wondered whether Douglas Adams occasionally visits the site as a user other than DNA... I wouldn't be surprised, I would if I was him, seeing the bombardment of answers he gets to every minor posting.

There have also been a few people anonymously creating new personas for other privacy reasons; at least one person has admitted they are gay through an anonymous persona, so they can discuss it freely without revealing their identify. (which they did eventually anyway)

I sort of think my h2g2 personality fits me pretty tightly; although, online I'm more likely to talk to people I don't know and express my ideas a bit more freely. Example: if this forum were a real life debate, I'd be the one sitting in the corner actively listening but not saying a whole awful lot. I try to stick to how I view myself normally as much as possible, but things are a bit different since I'm typing rather than speaking. Plus, being a writer, I tend to the written word rather than the spoken, so I feel a bit more free to say what I really mean.

I can see where creating an alternate personality would be attractive, though. I just don't think I personally could ever keep my personalities straight, and I'd probably end up on a psychiatrist's couch sorting though what led to these extra voices inside my head.

*stops, realizing she's said pretty much what everyone else has already said*

In my case, it's fun to be the Thunderpussy online. IRL, everyone knows the MOG side of me, but I'm so damn particular about who I let at the sexual side of me that this is a means of setting lose some of the energy without having to compromise my standards. It makes the celibate periods much more tolerable, and keeps me perky

!