You’d certainly be found out if you followed Kaitlin’s route and simply changed your handle on adopting a new identity. But if you were a new poster? If you were reasonably careful and consistent I don’t think you’d have a hard task keeping up the dissimulation. You place too much faith in the perception of SDMB members.
I was a bit sad and upset on seeing this news this morning. I had lurked here for a year or two, since before paid subscriptions came about. It was the thread titled Miss Kaitlyn’s first day in the classroom (or somesuch) that moved me to get off the fence and plunk my money down. I too was happy to see a success story like Kaitlyn’s, and to hear of a truly compassionate and strong human being like her principal. To now learn that it was all lies has been a downer.
BUT.
Then I remembered why I really signed up. It wasn’t because of Kaitlyn, or her principal. That thread was the catalyst, sure, but what really convinced me to become a SDMB member was the demonstration of a community. People were supportive, people were caring, people were good. I realize that those few posts were mere slivers of the posters’ actual lives and personalities, but the overall sense of acceptance and rightness (forgive my slide into hokeyness) made me want very much to be a part of that.
That part hasn’t changed.
To Kaitlyn, who I bet is still reading this: I have at times played at being someone or something I’m not. The internet facilitates this to a very high degree. My hope is that you someday find happiness with who and what you are. Peace.
Speak for yourself, dahling.
“Nobody can be exactly like me… some days I even have trouble doing it.” - Tallulah Bankhead
Wow. I… geez. I never expected this.
is in a little shock
Yes.
I made a point a long time ago never to lie about myself. I know this seems really goody 2 shoes, but it’s true. You see, I have a nack for lying. I can fool almost anyone into believing anything, as long as it’sremotley possible, i.e. obviously not saying that I’ve walked on the moon or some such.
The problem with lies is that you have to consciously remember them or they’ll trip you up. There’s no effort in remembering the truth. So even though I can lie in a very convincing way, the effort of keeping track of the lies is just too much.
I’ve also made a point never to try to be something I’m not on the Net, because there’s no gain in it for me. I never expect to meet another doper, so I really don’t care what others here think about me, except my on line persona. And here, as in real life, keeping track of the lies would be too much work.
OTOH, if I were writing on a board where there is a chance that I might meet someone in the flesh, and possibly feel that flesh, painting myself as something I’m not, will only expose me as a fake and ruin whetever kind of relationship I could have with that person.
The same goes for dating, I never try to put myself in a position where I can’t back up what I’ve implied. I’ve been hurt from my own stupidity and made a financial mess out of my life a long time ago, and I’m still paying off those debts. I make a point of saying that very early, when I meet a girl, since nothing can ruin a relationship as bad finances.
Presenting a fake persona on a message board for four years, four, just seems tragic.
I’ll say. The schoolteacher outing thread was incredibly detailed. How disturbed must Kaitlyn have been to have lived in such a dream world? And why lie? What’s the point?
Seems to me to be a variant on the ‘Munchausen by Internet’ condition which is becoming all to prevalent on boards like these. If that’s the case, Kaitlyn should probably seek professional help.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s* Canturbury Tales*: The Priest’s Tale, I believe it was, raises the question of whether or not a priest has to actually be moral and Godly in his private life, so long as his flock believes he is and his words are the words of God.
It’s been about 20 years since I read it, so I can’t really remember what GC thought of the whole issue. My point is, all of us are in drag to some extent. In real life or on the internet we project what we want seen (I’m not really a Spaniard, for instance). If Kaitlyn gave courage to those who may have needed it, how can the reality lessen or nullify that effect? The Bible is a source of strength for a lot of people, and I consider it one of the oldest History Novels in existence. The reality you experience is relative, no?
Sounds like Fight Club to me. Makes me wonder if Kaitlyn was just Number Six’s Tyler.
Are you really a fat, bald guy? :dubious:
When a sock puppet like Can of Pineapples is banned, is that person’s primary identity banned, too? Do we find out who Can of Pineapples was a sock puppet for?
I don’t get why everyone keeps asking this. It’s not our business who it was.
Why not? It has been standard policy to ban all identities of a sock puppet. I would expect us to be told that that has happened.
Exactly. What matters is that he or she exposed an elaborate hoax. Whever they were, good on them!
Or even whoever.
I think the reason people keep asking it is because in light of recent events, some people might think ‘sock’ was shorthand for ‘we needed a reason to ban him’
:eek: , just :eek: .
…how could Kaitlyn/Number Six do that?!
The hell it isn’t. Someone who is that obsessive about collecting information, who hides behind a sock, and who does so in order to air dirty laundry instead of reporting it to the mods as is the accepted procedure, is someone I want to keep an eye on.
It’s still not entirely clear to me whether the Number Six persona or the Kaitlyn persona is the fake, or both. If the former, and she really was someone confused about her gender, then I can undertand why someone in that situation would fear the reactions of those who learn the truth. If, as seems more likely, Kaitlyn really was a middle-aged straight white guy who sought attention, well, that’s lame. Either way, I’ve become a lot more understanding about the issues facing the transgendered than I was three or four months ago. Whether my empathy was deserved or not, well, it’s true, there are other Bambis out there.
–Cliffy