You pose such an interesting question. It can be read from different directions. I will be thinking about this quiet, introspective question, and will try to come back with something substantive (or perhaps even silly - it is Friday, after all!). Thanks, Tijo.

This might pose a problem for catamitebastard.

I'm good with that.

I was tooling around at work the other day and thought about what an opportunity Os presented for us to be anyone, anything etc. and then began to wonder about peoples choices. What if their blogs were a tangible reflection of who they are which in some ways they are. But what if you had to have your blog as your room mate. Would you be on the phone with your best friend saying, "Jesus christ she only ever talks about herself." or "oh my god if I have to hear him read one of his depressing poems again I'm taking us both out with a shot to the head. Would you find their insight uncanny? I'm interested in why people do things. And I'm even more interested when the possibilities are so open.

Owl, I'll look forward to that either way.

Inc- and I have been talking to you in hopes of getting a glimpse of the porn star penis. Now I'm disappointed.

I don't know eternity as a catamite might have its perks.

M. a.h. sure that's what your persona says...

Honestly, I think I'd much rather live with the OS me, than the "real me"...I'm much too mercurial, and in real life, it's harder to ignore me if I get too obnoxious!

blue- that's kind of what I think. Some people come here and are their best selves, others may see it as anonymity lets me be bad in a way they normally wouldn't- not right or wrong either way but interesting since it is our choice.

If ONLY I could be as cool as my online persona.

In reality, I'm a dork.

;-)

deep thoughts ...makes me go Hmmmmmmmmm

Well my OS persona is different from my Yahoo! Answer persona, which is different from my real persona, in real time, I watch Ghost Whisperer.

:)

But seriously, interest take, The Internet is one of those things where anyone can be anything they want to be, and nobody has to know. It's why I love it so much.

That and the porn.

:)

Not just OS, but the internet at large. monkey fingered.

I certainly hope so. I am my true to myself (and others) in real life but my truest self here amongst you all on OS. Beautiful.

as i said on part one of this, you see very clearly indeed. what you describe here is exactly what people are allowed to do on OS, with the sad exception of the final sentence.

but, more to the point, i'm a pantless hack you say?

" i thought OS was a platform for writers, for human bloggers, not for asshole spammers to peddle their bullshit products dressed up in the guise of real writing."

it's on like donkey kong, you silhouette-avatarred dilettante.

hmmmmm, can i be you? i've always felt like a gay man trapped in a woman's body. even thought about a sex change. but then i'd be a small gay (5'2"). is there such a thing as a pocket gay? i don't read comemnts. you know why. pleaes PM me with any profound answers. still thinking about who else i'd want to be. someone who had a lot of sex and who loved his/her work. ohh, shit, tina fey!!!! i love comedy, man. don't knwo about the sex. she's married with baby and busy busy busy. shutting up now. love love love

my persona on here is, sadly, me.

I think I’m glad I waited (do people still say that about sex, or is it just in abstinence eduation?) – it is fascinating to see others’ answers, including yours, Tijo. One of the things I love about OS is the actual discussions that take place. I am fascinated with the directions they take – and this is no exception; it addresses a fundamental question of who we are vs. who we wish to be. Here’s what I mean about the different directions:

In one sense, we do (or at least may) live for eternity as our OS personas, in that having been read, recorded, or digitally (I don’t mean fingerlly) preserved, our OS personas may well out-live our physical bodies.

In another sense, we can be whomever we choose to be on OS. As long as we keep our individuals’ characters consistent, no one will suspect that there is a man (or woman) behind the curtain. Is it fiction, or is it real? Do our fictions not reveal as much, if not more, than our “facts?”

If our online persona is different than our real-life persona, why do we choose to make it different? Is it an “improvement,” or is it an aspect of ourselves that we cannot/dare not express outside of the internet? Is it a conscious decision, or one driven by an unconscious self-censorship due to the group, or due to this particular group?

These are questions that fascinate me, and that I ask myself often. As for the actual question: What if God said I could be my OS persona forever? It’s enough of an extension of my real personality, that I think I’d be ok with that, especially since on OS, I can take a break if I need total silence. Of course, the added benefit would be that I could fly silently at night – owls are cool like that!

Thanks, but I'll pass.

tijo, i'm hoping you realize my comment above was not me being a dick (at least not me being a dick intentionally) but was a rather weak attempt at humor on my part. the reason i'm writing THIS comment is cause a friend messaged me asking what was up, so i came back here, read the comment, and realized it could easily be taken as me being upset with you or something. the truth is, i'm definitely not upset with you, consider you a friend in fact. i guess maybe i should have added a smiley to the first comment, so i'll double it on this one so as to make up the difference:) see?:)

Just direct people to my comments in your post where I pretended your rant against spammers was directed at me and threatened to kick your ass in any walmart parking lot in the greater St Louis area.

I mean.. some peoples online personas are so aggressive If I come up missing you are all witnesses. Nanette Fabrey over there has threatened me!

This is an interesting concept. Internet users (bloggers, social networkers, twitterers, etc.) can portray themsleves as anything they'd like because it's so easy to hide and disassociate from viewers on the other end. Unlike high-touch relationships (marriage, business partners, softball teams, places of employment, school, family, etc.), internet friendships require very little investment. We can turn it on or off whenever we want. If I don't like you anymore, I can simply delete you from my favorites list and move on.

I can actually imagine an individual creating multiple untrackable internet personas with and post comments, along with others, back and forth to himself.

Wierd, huh?

Joe Orton the British playwrite used to write into the papers and protest his own plays. He was also beaten to death with a hammer by his lover Kenneth Halliwell so maybe it's best not to get too cute.

I would like to create an Antithesis personality, and then set them against one another...

dubious scoob -From the way things have been around here lately (snarky) I thought maybe you already had.

Oh great, now you've gone & made me think...

My OS persona is pretty much my real persona except slightly less neurotic with less visual crepe-iness in the neck area. Okay, maybe a few pounds thinner, too. Would I want to spend eternity as her? Not yet...I'm still hoping she'll evolve more. Also, that she'll learn to scan... (Incidentally, I like the cloud/bridge picture.)

I am the same online and off, although perhaps offline, I am softer and more restrained (only a little). Then again, my persona is Emma Peel and that gives me a lot of leeway.