Does your online "Persona" actively reflect who you are in your everyday life?

Even though I have always wanted to present a better self online than I am in real life, I have always shown myself as the person I am in real life. All lies are usually found out, and when they are - there will be bad consequences (loss of trust, humiliation). I, for one, don't like pretenders and think they have insecure personalities. However, I also think that little lies don't count (e.g. saying that you went to Pizza Hut when you actually went to McDonalds).

No, there's enough of me that I can express it without worrying about my anonymity to the point where I'd have to lie. I'm multifaceted, I have depth, therefore everyone gets to see the part of me that's there when I'm "around" them online. I'm always me. That said, my socializing in real life's just slightly less personal than when it's online and just slightly less as frequent because in general -- I am definitely NOT a social person. For those whose relationships are solely over the internet, with no desire of getting it off...for some, yes, that's unhealthy, for others it's not. As for online relationships, well, technically speaking...it's not terribly different from offline ones. Most offline ones you won't really know a person until years later, and if you're willing to do things properly...it's the same online too. Especially if you're observant. There's one thing human nature is, it's reliable. There are good liars, bad liars, people with consciouses and those without them, but all in all...if you do things properly and put years into your interactions, you'll sooner or later see their true colors. And I am speaking from personal experience. Most of my romantic relationships started on the internet...most of my best friends I met on the net, too. Generally speaking, all my relationships have the tendency to crash and burn...but I've learned alot, more than the offline ones, from the online relationships and interactions. Maybe the nature of anonymity is to teach who people really are. I'm not sure. More paradoxes than that are true. For what it's worth, we all spend time on stuff that isn't real. Games, movies, tv shows, works of fiction...these things are expressions of the trends of thought, collectively, nationally, globally, and per specific local areas too. Taken all in, it's not so baffling...but of course alone, it makes no sense whatsoever -- but that's life for you, it's not supposed to make sense. Anyways, I'm going on now. xD

Being on the net allows you to be more selective and to express yourself almost easily with more people than in other ways. Its very interesting and you can cross borders with a tab key. That is probably why this is. It is also much cheaper in the sense that you don't need to go anywhere or buy drinks or anything like that. It can be done from home if you like. You can also lie to others, of course, but that's your choice always.

I am exactly who I am both online and off and I make no exucses for that or try to present myself as something that I'm not. I'm female, I'm over 50, I'm educated, I drink socially, I smoke, I own a motorcycle shop along with my husband, we're bikers, we like to fish, we're parents, we're grandparents. I have religious beliefs, political beliefs and other beliefs that I'm not shy about expressing and they don't change according to who I'm communicating with. No, I don't believe it's health for such a large portion of someone's social life to be confined to the internet. I have made some friends over the years who originally online friends but we met in real life and our friendships have continued to this day. I believe that ones online life should be balanced with a real one. As with anything else, moderation is the key.

I am always very careful about how I present myself online but I am also very honest. Vague about the details (names, location etc) but honest about who I am, experiences etc. So many people create a totally different persona online or change details about their lives and events to better suit them. It really bothers me that people do that. Not everything in my life has made me look like a saint but I wont lie about things that happened or change my role - I may not talk about them but I wont change the story. I guess essentially fabricating a life just makes some people feel better about themselves. I agree with you on the online relationships and how it can get out of hand. Having a balance between online and real life is important, personally I think it should be more like 90% real, 10% online. People get so wrapped up in chatting and gaming that they seem to forget about the world beyond their computer screens. I don't think it's healthy when it becomes your life. I guess for some people it's just easier and more comfortable to have an online social life - one where you can be whoever you want to be and no one is the wiser.

Well, in my case I set limitations. I mean if the person seems interesting then I may be the real one but not 100% but most of the time I'll prefer to be different in a way that I don't usually enjoy such thing. I know how to balance the real me and the person I am online,hehe..sounds weird but that's me. When chatting online you can be a different one but when it comes to social networking like this you can speak out the real you without setting any limitations because there's no harm in it compare to meeting someone through chat. I've tried once to be in that kind of online relationship but I never hooked to it until one day I found myself rejecting that idea and finally escaped to that situation.

I think certain people live the way they feel comfortable. As for me I have some awesome friends on line BUT I also have awesome friends off line too! I do have to say Im the same person with the same personality, on as well as offline. What I am is what you get either way! I think the online games is alot different then having a relationship on line or anything like that thou. For me I play games on line and they are just a way to relax and enjoy some time. Unless you are talking about the one that I read something about .. ummm second life or something like that? I heard about it but that is all, I dont get that one if that is what you are talking about. If it is SL or cards or any other normal game I dont see the harm. Well as long as it doesnt take over your life totally. I do think that some hide online as they think it is easier then dealing with the "real world" and you know in some instances it probably is however I like a challenge, so real life it is for me with a stop in the internet to make money or relax sometimes.

I used to like using the computer and talking to people over the internet. I used to lie as well but I stopped doing that, then I was very truthful, with a few lies, then I stopped doing that. Well Now I'm just cautious and quiet. I'm online for the most part to make money or I doubt I'd have much to do with online. I'm trying to get into reading more books. Right now since we're making money online, I'm hoping that it will give us enough money to save to buy things that entertain us instead of being corrupted by the internet, which is very possible. Plus I'm a greenie, so that's part of the reason I want to stay away from the computer.

i am the same person on the internet that i am in real life i just find myself being a little more vocal about my opinions because i know that i will never meet anybody i talk to on the internet. As for the online dating i think that it can be good for some people to make them feel more confident about themselves but in most cases i dont think it is the answer for people that do not want to be single in the aspect that you do not really know the person on the other end of the internet. they can tell you anything and everything that you want to hear and then really end up being a psychotic serial killer that is trying to draw you in. The internet seems to take over some peoples lives and some people end up confusing the internet world with the physical world. the internet and internet communities can be a great thing if used in moderation.

I don't really think that it is healthy to base your life on the net. I do like to log off and live a real life, although, I am around a lot and if I didn't have kids, I may be around more..lol Um, yeah. I pretty much and myself on the net though. I belong to mom groups and this is about the most interesting place for me. I belong to autism groups, so a little boring.

This is an interesting topic you have posted in here =). I started having an internet life in 2004. Since it was new and I was pretty amazed, I got addicted to chatting, meeting people from different cultures online, sharing things and so on. Because of my naivete, I was always truthful to all information I put in my profiles or give to my friends on line. Fortunately, I haven't encountered people who would take me for granted except that my office friends tried to play a joke on me by pretending to be someone else who wanted to chat. It became a tease in the office for awhile because they have discovered that I give my true identity, to which I was surprised because I never thought of faking any of my personal information. So a friend explained the danger of doing it. Two years have passed and the online communication has radically changed. Online relationships aren't bad all the time. I have friends who got married to their online partners; of course there were some relationships, which did not work. As for me, I prefer a guy who can be around and can just hug me especially in times that I need it the most =).

online persona doesnot reflect who u are in personal life. but when u talk to the personal about different aspects of life...their thoughts,attitude and views about about life,frindship,relationship,moneyetc.thier inner feelings come out and tell a lot about their personality.

All I have left is my online persona. But yes, it's me, on or offline.

I am the same person, but I probably don't express that self in the same way. After all, online, ppl can't be influenced as much by surface appearances. We must rely more on a person's words and ideas than such things as choice in clothing and style, weight, or skin color. The real question I have is, what does it say about a person by the aspect of themselves they choose to express online? Especially, when they don't have such barriers as those above to influence others and get in the way? And perhaps, your online personality is a more accurate reflection of who you REALLY are when most barriers are removed?