# Spine chilling realization. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 11, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311 "2005-05-11T00:48:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/1 "2005-05-11T00:48:37Z")
:eek: What if someone from work or family member discoveres I post here and reads all my posts through history. I’m not worried about my friends. They know most of the stuff and what they don’t know won’t surprise them. But cow-orkers and/or close family. Shit. Perhaps Bush is onto something when he says he won’t put any of his communications in writing on email. Do you suppose the mods would expunge me from existance on here if I asked really nicely? You know, in case I get called in front of a congressional inquiry or decide to be a secret agent. Or something… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/2 "2005-05-11T01:00:09Z")
OMG I know exactly how you feel! And I even posted a thread today loosely related to this fear. Lucky for me the one cow-orker I’ve moaned about on the SDMB left the company. Unlucky for me my SDMB persona is a million miles from my work persona. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/3 "2005-05-11T01:07:41Z")
I can’t speak for anyone but me. But I stand behind every post I have made. I don’t have a real persona and an online persona… I just have me. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/4 "2005-05-11T01:14:42Z")
The internet makes it incredibly easy to be open where it is otherwise difficult to be so. Even if it makes me seem two-faced, I stand by my statement that my online persona is totally different from my in-person persona. Chat rooms demonstrate this phenomena. I’m willing to bet that most chat room users have admitted to things that they would never dream of telling their relatives. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/5 "2005-05-11T01:25:13Z")
To illustrate, I just pitted somebody from work. She had it coming and I stand by my accusation… in private. Publicly, I’d never attack her in this manner. It would be completely unprofessional and I’d probably be fired for addressing someone at work in that kind of mean and crude manner. But if she found and read it… I’d have some serious issues with my CIO and HR dept. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/6 "2005-05-11T01:55:14Z")
I stand by everything I’ve written here. I have no family to discover what I’ve written, and nobody where I work knows about this place or has time to read it, plus they don’t know my username. I don’t usually slag people close to me, IRL or on this board. I’ve mentioned things about my life and my job, but all of them happen to be true. If I’ve been critical of anyone, I would say the same thing in person to any of them if I thought they were interested in my opinion - but they aren’t. If I had anything confidential to talk about, I wouldn’t be doing it here. Besides which, I don’t have time to invent a separate persona and remember which version of intended reality I’m presenting whenever I sit at the keyboard. 'Cause you know, I’d have to make up a bunch of lies and remember them. Screw that. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/7 "2005-05-11T02:19:25Z")
Some of my coworkers and friends know my username. I don’t care. If I have a beef about someone I’ll tell them to their face. And I don’t feel comfortable sharing really personal information on the net anyway, so it’s not like they’ll find out any deep dark secrets from reading my posts. The only really bad thing about my posts are the number I’ve made from work during slow periods during the day. By the way, my penis is really, really long. I have pictures to prove it. [sub]Doesn’t hurt to start a few useful rumors at work.[/sub] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Feydeau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Feydeau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feydeau)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/8 "2005-05-11T02:39:39Z")
> [@slortar](#): > > By the way, my penis is really, really long. I have pictures to prove it. Cite? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/9 "2005-05-11T03:17:36Z")
I’ve been thinking lately what would happen if I ever decided to run for political office. I doubt I would be allowed to use MPSIMS for begging for votes, and campaigning from the post would most assuredly be out. My past posts? Well, my family doesn’t know I smoke (trying to quit!!). As for other things… hmm… I wasn’t here. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/10 "2005-05-11T03:23:07Z")
I’m more worried about my admitting to having a mental illness getting out. I can handle it though, but its really going to hurt me professionally and socially if/when people find out some of the stuff i’ve thought and had happen. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/11 "2005-05-11T03:23:14Z")
I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve written here. Yet. I just met someone and want to fill threads about how giddy I am, but then I’d feel a little silly if he ever found my posts. Which causes a dilemma because I think he’d love it here. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/12 "2005-05-11T03:37:40Z")
I suppose it’s possible that some of the stuff I’ve posted would get me in some sort of unspecified image trouble, but I’ve been under that sentence ever since I started keeping a sketchbook. And the one time something potentially embarassing\* happened, there were no consequences. [sub]_The early nineties. I left a new sketchbook with only one drawing_ in it in a phone booth at the mall. Unknown to me, it also had my business card. Someone found it and returned it to the front desk at work. a coupe of days later I got a phone call to come and collect it, and nothing was said when I did collect it. \*\*The drawing? A diesel-powered vibrator, of course. I was in a _really_ weird mood that day…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/13 "2005-05-11T04:38:39Z")
Eh, I’m the same in person as I am here. Perhaps, a tad more reserved in person until I get to know people. I haven’t posted anything I’m ashamed of here. Most of the people I know have never heard of the Straight Dope and if I happen to bring it up, I get quite a few raised eyebrows. Then I have to explain what the SDMB is all about. I have not shared my user name with anybody IRL, however. I occassionally rant about co-worker issues, but nothing too terribly bad. In fact, my first ever post to the SDMB was in the Pit and was work related. I no longer work for the organization that generated that rant and a couple of others, so I pretty much don’t post there anymore, although I’ll lurk. I think the only thing that could possibly get me in trouble is that I occasionally post from work if things are a little slow. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/14 "2005-05-11T05:15:34Z")
Yeah, it just seems like common sense to me: if you have some information that could potentially get you in trouble, don’t post it on a message board where the entire internet can see. “Neither borrower nor lender be But this above all, to thine own self be true.” I don’t see any reason to invent a new persona or respond any differently to anything that I would in real life. It’s just that a lot of the things I read on here are things I wouldn’t encounter in real life. Which is why I’m here. soo … anyone got 5 bucks I could borrow? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Atheist\_Princess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@Atheist\_Princess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atheist_Princess)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/15 "2005-05-11T05:18:38Z")
> [@Spatial Rift 47](#): > > Yeah, it just seems like common sense to me: if you have some information that could potentially get you in trouble, don’t post it on a message board where the entire internet can see. > > “Neither borrower nor lender be > But this above all, to thine own self be true.” > > I don’t see any reason to invent a new persona or respond any differently to anything that I would in real life. It’s just that a lot of the things I read on here are things I wouldn’t encounter in real life. Which is why I’m here. > soo … anyone got 5 bucks I could borrow? 😉 Um…no. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/16 "2005-05-11T07:51:57Z")
At least one friend of mine knows my username; though she doesn’t post here, she reads an occasional funny or interesting thread. I’ve used this board as an example of “The Wonderful World of the Internet” to the co-worker whom I’ve been helping with her lack of computer knowledge. There are so many different people and forums here that it makes a good example. Not much I post here would surprise people who know me IRL, except maybe some of the stuff about liking chicks and all. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/17 "2005-05-11T11:59:11Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I suppose it’s possible that some of the stuff I’ve posted would get me in some sort of unspecified image trouble, but I’ve been under that sentence ever since I started keeping a sketchbook. Oh, boy, do I understand _that_. I carry a sketchbook with me everywhere, and every page is a stream-of-consciousness peek into my cranium. Some of it can be quite embarrassing. But as for here? I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve posted on the Dope, and I don’t care if anyone in my MeatWorld reads it. Like most of the rest of you in this thread, I don’t wear an online persona. That’s true no matter where on the net I post. > [@Spatial Rift 47](#): > > soo … anyone got 5 bucks I could borrow? Sorry, all my money is tied up in cash right now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/18 "2005-05-11T12:07:48Z")
What exactly is an online persona? I keep hearing people mention it but I don’t know if it means what I think it means. Like a fictional character? Alter ego? Secret identity? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/19 "2005-05-11T13:56:00Z")
If I was running for public office, what I write here would be the least of my worries. I’d be more concerned with the records at the local video store! (No, I don’t know what happened to that copy of _Busty Latino Lesbians In Bondage, Volume 17_! Leave me alone!) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311/20 "2005-05-11T14:06:24Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > What exactly is an online persona? I keep hearing people mention it but I don’t know if it means what I think it means. Like a fictional character? Alter ego? Secret identity? :dubious: alter ego. The difference between you and me, however is that when you wake up in the morning, you are you. You must log on open a website to become **QuickSilver**. I, on the other hand, am **CynicalGabe** when I wake up. I must put on a costume to become **Gabe**. I totally butchered that movie line. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spine-chilling-realization/303311.md?page=2)