Sunday, November 21, 2010

Who are you? Myspace Identities 8/10/08












You've probably noticed that I changed my default picture today-I am now represented by my car! She's clean and gorgeous and her top was down yesterday-I just couldn't resist! This brings me to a blog-MySpace identities.

If you are not intrigued by how people present themselves on Myspace, then you should stop reading right now. I've been spending some time thinking about this subject lately and need to express how my feelings have changed in the time I've been hanging around the 'Space.

When I first came here in earnest (first blog Oct 07) I didn't think much of "fake" profiles-if someone didn't have real pictures on their page somewhere I really wasn't interested. At that point MySpace was about expressing the real life ups and downs-that's why I loved Kate's blogs so much (still do actually, but at the time her blogs were as regular as clockwork-when I went to Chicago I'd wake up and enjoy my "Kate in the morning").

After reading some blogs and interesting comments for a while, I realized that there were those who did not want to reveal their real selves, but still wrote a very entertaining blog. I still didn't quite understand them, but softened my opinion about these "fake" people, because, after all, MySpace is all about entertainment! So if these fake profiles could and did make me laugh in my hotel room in Elmhurst, IL, and got me through the tedium of that job (and subsequent other road trips), I gave them a pass.

Some people seem to have more than one persona though, and although sometimes I try to figure out who's who, and in some cases I think I know, it takes too much time and effort to puzzle it all out, so again, they get a pass. It could be that they have one profile that is really them, and some "fake" ones to have fun with. Then there are those that have no "real" profile and never reveal ANY information. I have some empathy for this because my job requires me to work with and keep safe lots of confidential information, so even though I spill my guts about much of my life here, I don't talk about work or the people I work with. (I also need to keep my profile pretty vanilla; I never want to hear any shit about it from anyone at work who might stumble on it.) I never worry about covering my tracks because I don't talk out of both sides of my mouth, and try to stay neutral when it comes to drama.

So-as you can see I've changed my opinion since being here-my one requirement from "fake" people and profiles is that they entertain me-funny blogs are one of the big reasons that I am here, although some of the people on my friends list have become real friends, and I treasure them. The most interesting development is that I've also become friends with some of the "fake" people-something I never thought could be possible!

I have a penchant for photoblogs-I love to take pictures and making a blog out of them forces me to show the best and tell the story. Many of my friends, with profiles both real and fake, show up and comment on those blogs, and I appreciate all of you-thanks! (Sometimes some of my friends with "fake" profiles give away a little of themselves geographically; that is, they identify so strongly with the place I'm describing that they give me just a peek into who they really are. Don't worry if you are one of those people-please keep coming to my photoblogs and commenting if you are inspired-I promise I won't press you for any additional info, and if I do I'll just be pulling your chain LOL.)

I'm happy that I can entertain you all in some small way; I certainly don't have the imagination to come up with blogs like some of those I read- my photoblogs are my way of trying to reciprocate for all the amazing stuff I get to read!

Just for the record, I do have two other profiles out here. Yes-you read that right. One of them is my cat Beamer-Stone inspired me to create a page for Beamie that he shares with his sister Lexie. It's a little bare still but I hope to add more to it as time goes on. Check it out if you like kitties.

I also have a profile that I just recently made public-this is my secret hiding place-where I write some things I wish to keep private. I'm not going to link here, but I will say that I am my only friend so far, other than the ubiquitous Tom, of course. I created that profile as an outlet for some of my deepest secrets, both past and present, and so far all the blogs are just for me. They serve as a kind of therapy and really help me get through some of my thoughts and feelings that otherwise don't see the light of day.

So-there you have it-my take on MySpace identities-

What do you think?

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