I have always been fond of the line on the original Stepfather movie poster – Who Am I Here? In the movie, Terry O’Quinn (pre-Lost!) delivers that as a line of dialogue, too, to great effect.
By itself, the question isn’t one we tend to ask ourselves very often. I mean I don’t have to check myself to see “who” am I at breakfast or at the post office or wherever.
But in social media, I think the question comes up a lot.
Before I dive into the topic on my own, I’m just curious what you all think: are you the same person on each different network?
I’m not just talking about using, say, your blog differently than Twitter. I mean do you have different personalities or personas on different sites?
And if so… is that a good or bad thing?
I think I’m consistently “me” from site to site, so I don’t tend to have to ask myself who I am or where I am. Of course, perhaps perception is that there are differences, but for the sake of this conversation, I’m talking about intent.
I hope you weigh in, particularly if you have stories where differing personas tripped you up (either your own or someone you knew/thought you knew).
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Most of the people who know me would say I’m consistent, but that’s because they know all the aspects of my personality. Like a lot of authors, I have two names I use regularly. The main place people will see a difference between the names is on my blogs. One is definitely geared towards adults, the other is a little more conservative for the simple reason that it’s associated with the YA writing name. I tend to try to keep that blog a little “cleaner” than my other one. But other than that, I like to think I’m consistent.
*waits for someone to show up and tell me how wrong I am*
You’re wrong!!!! Oh, wait. Never mind.
But I agree that we show different parts of our personality more in different places… and for different reasons.
Greg Pincus´s last [type] ..Who Are You Online
Great question, Greg.
Yes, I definitely have different personas on different networks. On LinkedIn, I’m all business. And there’s another site I’m on where if you only knew me from my persona there you’d think I was mostly into nightlife and electronic music. On my blog and Facebook I’m much more rounded: some business stuff, but also music, poetry, joking with friends, activism — kind of who I am in real life. Of course I’m also those other personas too …
Very curious what others have to say!
jon´s last [type] ..If She Ran the World She Would &8230 DRAFT
I love this post, Greg. This is why I try to be very careful to keep my online presence purely professional. Wherever I go online, and it’s not confusing because I never bring my private life out there. In a way, it’s comforting because I’m always just I Yam What I Yam!