Hey, you can't use Shawn and Gus against me! Stealing and identity is pretending to be a real person (ie me saying that I am Blake Steven) and it would also involve stealing things such as credit cards or social security numbers. I used an alias to protect my identity, which is entirely different. I don't even know who Blake Steven is lol.
Maybe I've made more alias's on this site... BUT WHO ARE THEY?![]()
People, we have here a gift from God. We are looking at a young man who obviously feels that who he is and what he has to offer are not good enough to be accepted. So, he has resorted to trying to live an imaginary life that will resonate with others.
Is that so wrong? Don't we all do something similar when we go on a first date?
So, what is wrong in giving him a chance to be himself. Shucks, as cool as some of his personas are, there might be a pretty neat person somewhere inside there.
LeonT, wanting to protect yourself on the internet is not a bad thing. we all need to use wisdom when using the internetwebs.
using someone else's pic as our avatar is being dishonest. i think that's what others are saying here. we always have the option of NOT using a pic for our avatar.
using more than one account, to me, is too much work to keep up with all of them. lol.
People, we have here a gift from God.
I was kidding about the other profiles...
Actually, the things that I posted are slightly embellished reality. I didn't want to make it too similar to myself, so I made up the timeline, but like I said, a lot of the things that I said were true. I am dating my best friend, I am looking for my first house, my accident stories were all true, my family has been paleo forever, I did move to Austin when I was six, and I DO live in San Francisco.
I might also add that I didn't make the alias's because I don't feel like anyone cares about the real me, I just don't want any person on the internet to be able to view private details and struggles of my life and know who I am. I guess that I just got a little carried away! I signed up for an account because I genuinely wanted advice on stuff. I will be back as myself in the near future, but it's time to retire LeonT and California91. They might make an appearance in one of my books someday though
Keep the faith. One thing that was never embellished was my Christianity. I take my faith seriously.
I read this in the voice of Samuel L Jackson saying 'what we have here is a failure to communicate '
Sometimes I like to play along with people's stories to see how far it'll go.
I worked with someone once who was a pretty bad compulsive liar. I didn't dislike her, but it was entertaining to hear tales of things she didn't even need to lie about. If someone called out sick, she had to one up by saying she had all kinds of disorders. One time, someone asked me how I liked a ballet I saw and she cut me off to launch into how her cousin used to be a principal ballerina in nyc and she refused to go to another show after her cousin stopped dancing. Just all kinds of stories.
For real though, no one cares about volvos.
I always find people who use "alternate" or "embellished versions of themselves" interesting because:
1. They never use ugly pictures. Only THE most beautiful and, quite frankly, unrealistically perfect pictures will do. I've gotten to a point where I never trust a picture that looks too "model-ish" or "professional". Ironically, when I've complimented people on such pictures, they'll usually say something like, "Oh, my sister/uncle/3rd cousin, twice removed, is a photographer... and can make anyone look like a model..." Um... Sure.
People with pictures that perfect always become popular, whether they claim to be in a relationship or not, and eventually word will get out that they're not really the person in that picture.
2. They never tell people they're unemployed or homeless or even have a regular job. Nope. They always allude to some kind of exotic job/lifestyle/situation that hints at being very well-off and/or having a career that's off the charts... and usually, doesn't exist.
Everything. Is. Geared. Towards. Getting. Attention.
Frankly, I'm a lot less suspicious of people with normal-looking pictures and normal-sounding lives.
What makes me cautious about people who "fudge" "a few" things about themselves if that you don't know how much else they're willing to fudge.
Not long ago, we had "someone" posing as a woman under several different "female" accounts, ranging in ages from about 18 to around 50. This "woman" also used exceptionally beautiful/exotic avatar pictures, including one that hinted at a very prestigious career.
Whoever this person was, one of the things they were doing in their time here was trying to lure young teens into online relationships. Who knows who this person really was... A man? A woman? A senior adult with an eye for teens? Thankfully, I'm told the mods handled this swiftly and with a great amount of care and sensitivity.
I'm certainly NOT implying that you're a bad person or like this in any way, Leon, but I think you can understand why it's important to maintain an internet presence that's at least honest, even if you feel you have to limit what you say.
I'd rather have a small amount of honesty than a whole heap of lies any day of the week.