# Have you ever attempted to create multiple personalities online? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415 "2012-03-10T22:28:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SDMBKL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdmbkl/32/7297_2.png) [@SDMBKL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SDMBKL)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/1 "2012-03-10T22:28:01Z")
For example, on one website, you pretend to be a 10-year-old little girl who limited vocabulary and unsophisticated use of language. On another website, you pretend to be a 13-year-old male L33tspeaker who cannot write in proper English. On another website, you write with a British dialect, even though you know you are American. However, you try to hide your American thinking by studying a great deal about how British people speak and their manners and culture. That way, online people would think you are British, and you would be laughing behind your computer screen. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/2 "2012-03-10T22:40:22Z")
I wrote a blog as a fictional person, for about a year. I donā€™t think anyone ever read it so no harm no foul šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/3 "2012-03-10T22:48:43Z")
No. I did join a messageboard under a completely different nic from the one Iā€™d been using. I didnā€™t actually claim to be male, but I implied it. All my other attributes (age, marital status, kids, employment) stayed the same and I presented my views truthfully. Even so, I couldnā€™t be bothered and left after about a week. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/4 "2012-03-10T23:37:49Z")
In high school, I played on a few online games running MajorBBS software. A few friends of mine and I decided to form an evil gang. We kept our regular handles, but added new ones - this was totally allowed by the SysOps. I had two phone lines, two computers, and type pretty fast. It was fun for a while. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/5 "2012-03-10T23:42:19Z")
Pointless? ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/6 "2012-03-11T00:07:14Z")
> [@SDMBKL](#): > > For example, on one website, you pretend to be a 10-year-old little girl who limited vocabulary and unsophisticated use of language. On another website, you pretend to be a 13-year-old male L33tspeaker who cannot write in proper English. On another website, you write with a British dialect, even though you know you are American. However, you try to hide your American thinking by studying a great deal about how British people speak and their manners and culture. That way, online people would think you are British, and you would be laughing behind your computer screen. šŸ˜ƒ Are you trying to tell us something? ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/7 "2012-03-11T00:37:19Z")
I would do this but that would involve trying to control my various personalities and some of them get very angry if I try to control them. :eek: šŸ†’ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/8 "2012-03-11T01:23:52Z")
No; I find it hard enough attempting to create one personality. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/9 "2012-03-11T02:38:56Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/10 "2012-03-11T02:40:53Z")
I was just thinking about starting a rant about people with so little of a life that they use multiple identities to cheat on sites where people are rated. On the old Pointask a couple of us resorted to it mainly to counter one idiot that was a flagrant abuser. You only got one shot at a question. If he posted something totally stupid after you answered, you needed to a second identity to counter it. Eventually he died or something and about a half dozen identities disappeared. There is a lot of cheating on Yahoo Answers that way. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/11 "2012-03-11T02:50:09Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/12 "2012-03-11T02:54:31Z")
Not in an attempt to fool people. Iā€™ve had multiple characters that I acted out in real time in chats and email groups, but everyone knew that all three were me. ---
**Author:** ![LegsAkimbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@LegsAkimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegsAkimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/13 "2012-03-11T03:35:15Z")
I had a Facebook page in my name, with a few known friends. Then I decided in a moment of insanity to play Farmville. Well, I didnā€™t want those actual friends to be subjected to endless updates about how I made honey or harvested eggplants or whatever I was doing, so I created a fake person to play Farmville on Facebook; with help from a real friend I accumulated enough ā€œfriendsā€ (who I did not know outside the game in any way) to play the game. I shortly grew tired of the game. However, I have stayed logged in under the fake name. I ā€œlikeā€ things under that name and have just stuck with it in Facebook. But that might not count as creating an identity since I havenā€™t done much with it otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/14 "2012-03-11T03:44:57Z")
I am secretly at least two of the Mods on this Board. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/15 "2012-03-11T04:24:03Z")
It seems a waste of time, and a little schizoid. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/16 "2012-03-11T05:16:45Z")
No. My two dogs have Facebook pages, and once in a while I will post Arf to someone as a joke, but they all know itā€™s me and not the dog. Once the cat gets one though, maybe I will let them think itā€™s she. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/17 "2012-03-11T06:13:39Z")
I posted a few times on Usenet pretending to be a right-winger. It was less for fun, than a sincere attempt to help people see, via reductio ad absurdem, the foolishness of certain positions. In one post I proved, via Biblical scripture, that Christian martyrs get even more virgins in Paradise than Islamic martyrs. I started getting fan mail (ā€œBravo! I wish I were as articulate as you.ā€) which led me to abandon the endeavor. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/18 "2012-03-11T06:16:50Z")
Yes I did, mostly because I wanted to keep my identity completely secret. I enjoyed making up stories and it was a challenge to keep it all straight for so long. Everyone in the group knows now though. Nobody caught on in eight years; I decided to come clean on my own. My real life had become so complicated with a new baby I didnā€™t have it in me to keep going. I kind of miss the escape from reality sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/19 "2012-03-11T06:21:58Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415/20 "2012-03-11T06:48:58Z")
Been on boards and BBSes since about 1993. Never was anything but me. No way I could keep track of anything more than myself šŸ™‚ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attempted-to-create-multiple-personalities-online/615415.md?page=2)