Secret E-dentity
You'll... Never... Get... My... Identity... Wait, Don't Stop Trying Though
In case you haven’t noticed, “Seattle Washington” isn’t my real name. And I hate to pull a Whitey Bulger, but “Sowhatiff Jenkins,” “Slim Jackson” and “RightCoastLexSteele” are monikers as well. Also there’s no tooth fairy, Santa Claus is just a fat overworked man that takes a side job at your local mall every winter and Jesus was Jewish. Not Black, not White, not Latino, but Jewish. I’m sorry. Now that we’ve established that, I can tell you that leading this double life is quite problematic at times. Your favorite blogger (shh, you don’t have to tell the others that it’s me) will tell you that leading an e-life can be disastrous to your personal life and career depending on what you say and who finds out. You think I want HR finding that post I wrote on strippers? I’m sure they’d laugh, but I don’t care to see what else they’d do. The more I think about it though, we all lead double lives. We all take chances on the web. Whether it’s through a nickname, pen name or real name, each person’s e-world is slightly, or even totally, different than their real world.
For the record “Seattle Washington” is just an extension of me, [insert government name here]. Like I said in my brief bio, this is just an outlet to discuss the topics rolling around in my mind in a public forum. I do my best to make sure nothing is a stretch for my actual personality. I’m not trying to be something I’m not. And I don’t think my cohorts on the blog or my friends (the ones I know outside of Facebook and Twitter) would let me do that anyway. And it’s the same for them (yes RCLS is as wild in real life as he is on here). I’m sure that’s not the same for everybody, but hey – not my blog, not my problem. But lately I’ve had to establish a separate e-life for the actual me. I’ve had to heighten the boundaries on my personal Facebook account to separate me and my pen name identity. And as I discovered, I’m not alone.
I know a couple other bloggers who’ve had to set up “personal” accounts on Twitter or have done their best to separate their “personal” accounts on various other social networking sites from their pen name. And this is where things get funny to me. What’s more personal, the account for your pen name or the one with your government name attached? The one where you can truly let your thoughts fly out without much restraint or the one that you use for business and semi-personal contacts? One may have your actual name attached to it, but the other has your actual personality and attitudes attached to it.
It’s not just for bloggers or e-personalities (I can’t believe I typed that). I’ve noticed that other folks will have different layers that will peel off for various counterparts or crowds. Do you have different lists with different privacy settings on Facebook? Well, there you go. You’re essentially allowing one side of you to be distributed to a certain amount of people while the rest of you is guarded. To one group of people you may appear like a focused individual and to others, a party fiend. Others may get the full view. Sure you’re not pulling a Black Bruce Wayne, but you’re definitely guarding a little of your identity. Or each facet of it. People do the same thing on Twitter as well. How may folks have their real name associated with their account? Would you be willing to tell your coworkers about your Twitter account? Or just folks you meet in passing? I’ve had to introduce people by their Twitter moniker and their real name. I.e., “Yo this is my boy ,’Don’ aka ‘Miami Vice’ on Twitter. I think you follow him…”
And that’s where things get interesting – the interaction between the online and offline. It’s happened to many folks I know, but one story that stick out is something that happened to my homegirl. She met someone she followed on Twitter and was interested in him. Her dilemma – whether to introduce herself as herself or what he knows online. And it’s happened to me plenty of times too. Having to live up to the “Seattle” name in an actual encounter. The reactions to “who I am” are priceless when it’s revealed. The funny thing now will be whether I give folks my pen name info or my personal info since that I have that “personal” account. And what about you? What would you do if your Facebook or Twitter card was pulled? Do you think that you separate your online world from your offline? Can you even do that anymore with companies, bosses and family members starting to sign on and sign up more frequently? And what will you do when they start to intersect?
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My twitter account is where people get the best insight to who I am. Nowhere else. Matter of fact my facebook page is solely for keeping contact w/family & former classmates. They still have a specified image of me, that I don’t feel the need to change or update. But I’m able to let loose on twitter w/out concern.
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I gave up w/ my twitter account. I tried to keep it not personal but I have too many followers/ppl who I follow who know me to do so.
As for facebook, I have 2 separate accounts and I monitor one of the much closer to make sure no one writes anything crazy or tags any pictures
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It seems too difficult to operate two or more social network accounts. I have different email accounts for family, friends and associates though.
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I started using my twitter account to put my uninhibited, out-of-pocket comments on after my mother added me as a friend on facebook, smh. But after a while I started to forget I even had the thing.
Even with my in inherent Gemini-duality I find it hard to maintain more than one “personality” online. I just do my best not to put anything out there that I couldn’t comfortably address were someone to ask me about it in person.
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I’m one and the same everywhere. I manage several twitter accounts, and fb pages among other sites and it’s too complex to try and keep track of it all. At most I try not to promote my personal ventures on the accounts that are affiliated with an entity were I’m only a partner or volunteer and I don’t cuss on those accounts… lol. I’m pretty much the same in person as on-line, but I’ve been at this merging of worlds for years now. It was definitely something that I contemplated before plunging in.
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Long-time reader, first time commenting.
Back when FB first came out, I was in my undergraduate and only friended people I knew in college as well. I really let loose back then. As it opened up, I found myself pulling back. Family friends that watched me grow up were now my friends on FB. I got on twitter and somewhat let loose again, but there are still some things that I just won’t post period. I don’t talk about what going on in my (romantic) relationship. Especially considering my SO is on both sites. I don’t post family drama, people know my family and I think some things need to stay sacred. Other than that, I’m pretty comfortable with who I am and my opinion on things. For everything else, there’s DMs, messages, and the good ol’ phone if I need to get something off my chest.
Thanks for letting me share.
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Seattle Washington Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:50 am
Glad I could coax you out of the darkness, you’re quite welcome. Hope you keep the comments coming.
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I usually have to take half of day to update my social networks…whether it be facebook/twitter/blogging.
I have my professional site where I have to be about my business. I have my personal blog on my professional site where I keep it related to my business and life, but I can’t be too blunt because it’ll scare people away and plus if you’re on my site for business, I don’t want you all in my personal life.
I created Confessions as a way to talk about things more personal so that way unless you just know me or I decide to link to who I am, it’s not tied to my professional life.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep up but as a former project manager, I’m good at scheduling. When I update one blog, I uipdate them all. Twitter and Facebook are for both personal and professional relationships so I keep my communication there in between. It satisfies my professional peeps because they feel like they know me and gives my personal associations a glimpse of what’s going on and if they really want details, they need to call me or email me.
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This was a great post. Unlike you all, my blogging idols, I made zero effort to separate my real life persona from my blogging persona. I’m all over my own blog and countless others talking about things that – while I’m comfortable sharing them – tend to give people the wrong idea about me. Back when my blog had like 2 readers a month it was okay but it has become a little problematic now that there’s an actual readership.
As a woman talking frankly and publicly about sex, I’m subjected to all manner of inappropriate comments from men I encounter who read it.
Although I think managing multiple personae sounds like waaaay too much work, if I had to do it over again I would probably do it different. Naming my blog after myself was not the smartest move. As it is I just do my best to hide my blog from my crazy Christian family…if they ever found out about it there would be a big pray-down to break Satan’s chains from me, and no one needs that!
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Seattle Washington Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:51 am
I respect that. I hopped in the game with this pen name and it stuck ever since. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Looking back, I’m happy I did, but there are some post that I would like to use as writing samples. Lol. It’s difficult because I don’t want to open everything.
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I have twitter, facebook, and a personal blog. Facebook is for friends, family, and associates. Twitter and my blog is for me, and the e-community. I try not to blend the 2. I think only 2 of my friends have ever read my blog(that I know of), and twitter is a mix of FB and the blog… a few friends, a few acquaintances, and my e-play cousins.
And I don’t have any unflattering pictures of myself on FB. Lucky for me, I have friends who understand everything shouldn’t be shared with the FB community.
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Reecie Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:40 am
yeah good point most of the people I know IRL are on Facebook versus folks I meet online via mb’s and blogs and my own blog on twitter. I do have a good number of real life friends following me on twitter too though. Most were like oh I didnt know you blogged! but now they follow too so its cool.
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My e-dentity mirrors most aspects of who I am offline, although my brain is much more vocal online that my mouth is offline. I have such a close circle of friends that if they were reading they could probably pick me out by seeing what I’ve written on various blogs because of the consistency and subject. I don’t have a personal blog, I think I would go crazy; I’m weirdly private about some things and totally open about others so a blog would have like 5 entries on it before I shut it down, lol.
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This topic is something I struggle with tremendously.
I have 2 facebook accounts and 2 twitter accounts. I write for 2 blogs and used to write for 3. I’ve tried to separate everything, but I find myself posting about this site on my personal FB account because it’ll reach a lot more people that way. In the process of that, I’ve had to sacrifice anonymity a bit. If somebody really wanted to find out who I am that just knows me in the e-world, they could figure it out with little effort. I actually have a pic posted somewhere publicly with my e-name attached. Good luck finding it.lol.
Writing has become a big part of who I am. Unfortunately, what I do to earn a pay check has nothing to do with writing and what I want to get into is an area where if I told them about my online persona, I most definitely wouldn’t get a job. If people at my gig now knew about my online postings, they’d know who I was by word choice but they would probably think I have a split personality. At work, I joke occasionally but I’m very professional about everything I do and don’t gab very much about my personal life the way some others might.
My e-identity isn’t anything I’d share with my church folk either. Wanted to tell them about the faith series, but opted against it because I didn’t wanna have to answer any questions since they see me as a pretty serious individual. Quite the crux it is to have an e-identity that expresses more of who I really am than I can display in either of the settings that I spend most of my time.
The most frustrating part of this all is that I know I’m good at what I do in terms of running this site and writing, but it’s nothing I could ever discuss in an interview or professional conversation. My e-identity has a little bit of weight nowadays and I can’t even use it for anything that matters. So I guess I’ll just go on leading 2 separate lives until I figure out how to integrate the 2 into a universal identity I can utilize everywhere.
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The Award Winning RightCoastLexSteele, Yo Tengo Superior Genetic Makeup Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:15 am
I brought up my post on “Swallowing” as writing experience during an interview last month. The lady spit out her coffee. (<—————See what I did there?)
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Cheekie Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:38 am
*Perished*
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CHeeKZ Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:01 pm
**Reuniting with Wifey in the After Life**
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Cheekie Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:31 pm
*Ressurrected*
*Dead Again After Booski’s Response”
Silly!
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ASmith Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:17 am
My e-identity isn’t anything I’d share with my church folk either. Wanted to tell them about the faith series, but opted against it because I didn’t wanna have to answer any questions since they see me as a pretty serious individual.
This is part of what prompted me to create another blog. I cross-post things I’d like my friends to read because I know they won’t just read one post on my blog, they’ll read them all and I can’t answer questions on “is that post about me?” Cause yes; yes it is…
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Hmmm.. I have ONE Twitter and ONE Facebook.
Recently I interviewed for a job which I start next Monday. I met the girl who hired me because we were at a dinner party both TWEETING! I follow her and she follows me. On the whole I guess I’m just not too worried about it. Hell, my face is on my blog and my family occasionally reads.
I’m me and I’m me all the time. Love it or hate it.
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hmm..this is a great post and good question. I have a hard time being something I am not. I have a very strong personality in person, online, twitter, facebook, blogger. THE WHOLE WORKS!! Each person that has met me offline can probably attest that I am equally if not more “crazy” in person and I LOVE IT!!!
I see that some of you are quieter than your blogs and tweets, some just the same, some of you more outgoing. And that’s all fine. gotta do whats at your comfort level.
As far as me being concerned with how my blogging and tweeting affects my professional and family environment, again, I’m pretty much the same everywhere I go. So no worries on this end. People in my life KNOW that I can be “wild”, super outgoing and unpredictable…:-)
However, I am “smart” enough not to mention certain aspects of my life, specifically my job, nor do I try and deface my aquaintences and friends and family on any public forum.
But yes, my personality and mouth and how I talk is exactly the same
. Feels good not to have a shield and be able to be me everywhere
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I dont have an e-personality. I’ve been on the net a long time–before blogs it was message boards, before that college club and blackplanet. I’m always myself. I’ve had different usernames but for now use my real first name and my real nickname (Reecie) I don’t share my last name but folks that know me IRL know it. I don’t befriend coworkers or twitter or facebook because they aren’t my friends–they’re my coworkers. keeping it separate allows me to be me, and I don’t have to compartmentalize my online life. if there’s something I don’t want people to know, I just don’t put it out there. I’ve done it for 10 some odd years now and it works.
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N.I.A. lovesthekids Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:41 am
I don’t befriend any of my co-workers either. I don’t talk to you about my personal life at work, I don’t want you knowing anything about me online. NO Facebook/Twitter for you!!!
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Reecie Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:46 am
all my coworkers are older than me and they are just getting into facebook thinking its cool. they are all friends with each other. I act as if I dont even have a page. I’m good on all that. LOL I have family on facebook too and I was reluctant to adding them. LOL. I’ll deny a friend request in a minute. luckily my mom can barely check her email. LOL
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ASmith Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:20 am
Isn’t it crazy how long these types of interactions have gone on?
Took me a while to decide I was cool with using my name instead of a screenname.
I often wonder if I’ve run across people I used to interact with on messageboards who now use different names…
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Cheekie Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:34 am
Wow, never thought about that. It IS strange!
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nyhoop Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:41 pm
That is an excellent point! I keep my work life and personal life VERY separate; internet or not. When coworkers are discussing their weekend plans, or relationships or whatever, I give vague answers, or sometimes I say outright “Oh, I keep my personal life private…” LOL
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I think this is easy for me becuase I don’t really have an online identity. I have a FB account and I just don’t add certain people. That is it. Luckily, my mom hasn’t tried to join fb yet but I am sure if she did I would add her becuse we are just so cool. I refuse to add work people and I try my best to limit my number of friends to people I have no problem sharing anything with. As for blogging, I like to go on blogs and comment here and there but I am not consistent enough to blog everyday or even every week. I refuse to join twitter because I just don’t get it. Why would strangers care about my every move and if they care that much isn’t something wrong with them? LOL Hell, the only reason I am on this blog is because I actually know one of you in real life….
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I made the mistake of befriending some co-workers on FB and now I feel self-conscious every time I post something. There are just some things you want to say without the potential judgment of those you work with.
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jdawn789 Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
You may be more memorable than I, but I’ve just deleted certain people on FB that I realized didn’t need to be all in my business. They had so many friends, I don’t think it was that big of a deal, and I got my peace of mind back. Just a thought.
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I began really thinking about this when friends of my mom began adding me on facebook. You can’t not add them, but they REALLY don’t need to see all of those
drunk and passed outphotos that may or may not be tagged of me.I was on FB early – spring ’05, and so with so few people, accepting friend requests from people I didn’t really know didn’t seem so bad, but these days… I’m reject happy. If we’ve never had a meal together, we can’t be friends on facebook.
A few people I know have created fb profiles specifically for co-workers/professional relationships and if I had to do it over again, I think I’d seriously consider it. Maintaining my lists of who can see what is exhausting sometimes and I’ve gotten to the point that I rarely update my profile just to keep it easy.
I’ve been purposeful in not letting my good friends know about the blog I update the most and that’s because 10 years ago when I started blogging (back when livejournal and xanga, AOL hometown and tripod were the ways we blogged) I learned quickly, it was no bueno to let people know what I really thought about what they were doing in a public forum. However, the blog I keep on non personal issues, some of them do know about.
I’m followed by/following personal friends on Twitter and I let loose there. I’m not worried about personal friends — but I have avoided allowing co-workers follow me on Twitter. That is no bueno across the board. There was a time where keeping your personal life personal was much easier. Social networking has been a GREAT thing but it’s blurring the lines in real life…
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My e-identity is a true e-identity because I got it from the internets. I used to chat on AOL as MissCheeks and then the regulars kept calling me Cheekie and it stuck. Plus a lot of silliness about which cheeks made me get my moniker.
The answer is both.“What’s more personal, the account for your pen name or the one with your government name attached? The one where you can truly let your thoughts fly out without much restraint or the one that you use for business and semi-personal contacts? One may have your actual name attached to it, but the other has your actual personality and attitudes attached to it.”
Great question. I think I’m only worried about my gubbment name because that is what is attached to my paycheck. It’s what I use for business. The e-moniker is more of a playtime thing. I only really hide it from work-related folks, but not my friends. My friends have known me by that name for a while from exchanges on the internet. So, I guess the e-Cheekie versus the real-Cheekie conundrum is in the same vein as Black folks in the corporate world versus Black folks in the hood. While both identities are separate, they’re both “you” in a way. One just happens to be a more fine-tuned you, while the other happens to be more laid-back.
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CHeeKZ Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:08 pm
“which cheeks made me get my moniker. The answer is both.”
Co-Sign
???
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My offline and online worlds rarely interact. There are a few close people to me that know about my blog & things, but that’s it. I do not promote my blog or Twitter on FB b/c the last thing I need is for them to intersect. It could possibly be detrimental to my 9 to 5.
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i’ve never tried to hide my identity on facebook, twitter or my blog. i use my real first name everywhere. my last name isn’t published on my blog or twitter though.
i believe i act the same in real life that i do on the internets. what you see/hear is what you get. most of my friends follow me on twitter, read my blogs and follow me on facebook. it does make it kind of difficult to blog about personal things that go on in my life. i know i have stories for days that would be entertaining and fun to write about but i don’t feel like dealing with the repercussions that would go with that. i’ve been thinking a long time about making a new blog and being 100% anonymous. we’ll see how that works out though.
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I wonder if my boss has a blog about the annoying negro in his office that always has his headphones on and is constantly rapping and chanting? I’ll have to ask him that…
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Melanie Richardson Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Lmao
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Whats good,
The Alias that I received once joining my org is the online alias that I use. People know who I am, I kind of associate my e-dentity with a Daredevil/Matt Murdock: Everyone knows _____ is Streetz but sometimes there’s speculation. lol. In fact, in Real Life sometimes people know Streetz but don’t know ______. My alias morphed into its own life, so it helps.
I also let SOME coworkers add me on fb but I have them in a special list where they cant see anything but basic info. Its better that way for separation of Streetz and State. Family is online too, and I rue the day that I will have to choke a lil nikka out for saying some crazy ish on my younger sisters wall… or shake her (c) Chris Rock for putting up bikini photos. Yeah, she 19… and?!! lol
I share my writing with my facebook community and online and people know what I blog about, and that’s cool. Some people in my day job know too, and keep my identity secret, which is great! My job wouldn’t be able to find me unless they did some HARDCORE data mining, lol and even then I’d be surprised.
Just make sure to protect yoursela nd have a doomsday plan in case your identity is ever compromised!
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Back when FB opened up, I thought nothing of it to write ridiculousness all over my profile. I remember when status messages first came out, I thought it was so absurd that I wrote something about having monkey sex in the hallway… but I digress…
When I graduated and as my professors, co-workers, familly, parents and grandparents started to add me, I stopped being myself of facebook and currently only use it to keep up with who got engaged or pregnant.
I have a twitter account, but I still just don’t get it…
I used to have fake identities online, but that got me in trouble, so I tend to reveal what I am really thinking on my gchat. The people on my approved contact list, are strictly close friends who I want to talk to everyday, so I don’t feel bad letting a rip on how I feel about work, how much I love the President, the bad date last night etc. etc.
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ASmith Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Ahh yes; the good ol’ gchat status.
I get it in on that.
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Also, today’s post pic and caption is some foolery. Thanks.
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Seattle Washington Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Yes! Very welcome. Hahaha.
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Online and offline are one and the same for me. What you see is what you get. I barely can keep up with my keys much less with this side of me and that side. I share a lot via Twitter, FB or blogging. If it’s extremely personal I write about it in a good ole fashion journal. Each social media site reflects who I am.
Also my company has this policy about our use of FB, Twitter and blogging. Our real names have to be dislayed somewhere, We can’t talk about work, lest someone steal our trade secrets (I’m still trying to figure just what). Our blogs and Twitter accounts have to be approved by the publisher. On FB we must remember we always represent the company, so no more drunk photos.
The man is trying to keep me down! But I live with it, mainly because I was doing all the same anyway. I don’t post anything I would be ashamed of my mama seeing.
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Reecie Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:16 pm
I dig all this, especially the part about the journal.
yeah I’m grown so you won’t see any drunk or nudey pics of me floating around ever. Its common knowledge employers and even schools will google you and peep your profile out. Its just not smart, for anybody of any age anymore. I haven’t posted fb albums in about 2 years, and I’m tagged in others pictures but its never anything I would be embarrassed for anyone to see.
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Slick..lol… don’t think I didn’t peeped that Starbucks…lol
There is no way I can like my offline world and my internet world collide. I mean my name kind of says it all. I’d like to say my internet moniker is somewhat in-line with the actual DC Comics character (minus the headcase issues).
I think it is crucial to separate both because in the last year or two there have been stories of people having their online lives clash with their “real” lives and it has cost them a first class flight to unemployment. Being half the geek that I am, I actually read my contract with my current company and companies I have worked for in the past and they all list ‘character’ as a topic. Character whether it be at work or not at work.
So, I’ll continue keep these two worlds as far from each other as possible.
Corporate Goon by day & Prince of Darkness by nite,
-BBW
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RightCoastLex Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:09 pm
His sig should have been “Seattle-”Mo’ name droppin’ than a Game track”-Washington
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BLaCk Bruce WaYnE Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:51 pm
RCLS…
Yea man….he was set trippin slightly…but he’s my homie and I respect his writing…lol
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I have linkedin, twitter and facebook accounts and a blog.
I think linked-in is great since it’s strictly used by people who want to have a professional profile. Also, they worked out a deal with Google so if your name is searched, it comes up in the first 5 results. With that said, one should take the time to control your information being indexed by google’s search algorithm. You can demote or promote certain results related to you. so when people search by your name/moniker, they’ll see what you want them to see. Also, make sure each site you manage is indexed the way you want. It’s easy since I have a very uncommon name spelling. You don’t know how many times people have said, “I googled you and ALL this stuff came up!”
I probably should fully use the facebook privacy settings at some point. I don’t have any lists or anything created. hmmm… I use my real name.
I initially intended to use my blog as a quasi-professional/artistic view of myself. With that said, I use my real name On my blog. However, over the past year, it’s just been a place to vent. I found myself at times, deleting certain posts due to the increase in readership. I’ve been thinking about maintaining a 2nd blog just to have a clean start. I’m still on the fence on how I should merge professional with artistic elements since I don’t sell my works for a living. I’m a computer programmer; however, I still like writing poetry. And at times, when I’m coding, I feel like I’m writing poetry and vice versa.
My twitter account is nothing more than what it is: a micro-blog. Sometimes, I want to virtually just say something aloud. I’ve also debated created a 2nd twitter account for professional reasons, connect to my (professional/artistic) blog.
One thing I have to consider is what I type on blogs. There is one blog that uses my real name since it’s connected to my Gmail account.
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Leading a secret life is so time consuming. I’m at work right now typing this response up in a incognito window (gotta love Google Chrome).
Ms. Cherry has her own blog, facebook page, AIM, twitter account and email addy. I can’t have msgs w/ questions about sex toys and lingerie popping up in my inbox at in opportune times so I even have a separate inbox on my phone.
My double life started with back in college with an IM account. There’s nothing worse than having an inappropriate late night chat and then a family member’s IM msg pops up and interrupts and upsets the mood…
Things have just grown from there. As social media forums expand and grow in popularity it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain you “e-nonymity “. To this day my sister is still pissy that I wouldn’t make her one of my “top friends” on MySpace. She actually called my dad (yes, she’s damn near 40 and tattled on me) and got all worked up and emotional about it. UGH!!!!
My favorite part of losing my last job was the liberation of my FB status. I could drop f bombs, n bombs, radical political statements, pure ignorance, whatever I wanted w/o the fear that someone at work is going start looking at me funny (cause I know those suckas wouldn’t dare say ish to my face). It’s nice to be able to be me again on my own damn personal profile.
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BLaCk Bruce WaYnE Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Man…who would have thought that social media sites would put us between a rock and a hard place when it comes to our brutally honest thoughts.
Amazing…
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Real name no gimmicks.
For the most part I’m really CHeeKZ. If anything, I’m more reserved on the internet. You should see the shit I say after I have a few drinks in me. I have no censor or respect for your feelings. Real life dirtbag.
I picked up the name in high school. Outside of work EVERYONE calls me CHeeKZ (sans a few neighborhood ninjas and family). I almost insist on it. Some call it childish; I call it my comfort zone. I’m not interested in living in a world, where I have to hold my tongue and be called by my first name and not look at a b!tches ass.
CHeeKZ doesn’t work well in Banking. No one wants to sign over their life savings to a man with a nickname. Around my group of co-workers I still manage to be myself, and I still make alot of my sly comments from my cube. But if I shared my religious views I think the bible hugger who sits in front of me will burn me at the stake (she is crazy I swear!).
I still carry CHeeKZ as a professional name with my second job. And whenever I get around into turning that into my full time gig (sometime this decade), I would hope that I can keep that name and be more of myself in the office.
Since everyone knows it’s me, I get into trouble FREQUENTLY. If I say something sexist, someone will tell my GF. If I say something about throaxing, a cousin will bring it up during dinner. I also get in trouble for the E-boo, E-side jawns, and E-trains. For the last time: Its not emotional cheating if it’s a joke!
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Seattle Washington Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:38 pm
I hoped someone would bring this up. This e-world will help to kill your relationship(s) quicker than the assassin from “No Country For Old Men.”
I would go into further detail, but… Nah.
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Cheekie Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:49 pm
“I also get in trouble for the E-boo”
Yeah, I am a lot of trouble, CHeeKZ.
So you had ‘CHeeKZ’ since high school, huh? Cute. Have you always spelled it that way with the lowercase e’s? And I’ve been meaning to ask, why are the e’s lowercase and the other letters uppercase? Is there a meaning behind it? Just
nosycurious.Reply
Reecie Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:53 pm
“If anything, I’m more reserved on the internet.”
LOL. I was just told last week I’m a lot nicer on the internet. LMAO. I think its because I have time to stop and ponder upon my words versus in person I can be a bit of a say just whatever out of my mouth type, but I’m a work in progress. Every day I gain a bit more restraint…
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#RIP open, honest, social networking (at least for me) Facebook was my little solace, back when you needed a .edu address. Because I had facebook since 2004, I have over 2,000 “friends” and I can’t keep track of who needs to know what info. Now that Facebook has become this huge phenomenon, I barely update my facebook page. I use it to keep up with events, since they sync with my Blackberry…
Twitter is my new addiction. I’m not fully anonymous; most people know who I am, but I only have about 120 followers. I’m a little more honest with my thoughts, but I don’t say anything too reckless that could get me fired…
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Honestly, who doesn’t have a dichotomous personality? All of us have “voice I use on the phone” and “voice I use with my friends” aspects that we apply to our lives regardless of Facebook, Twitter, etc. No one can know 100% (expect yourself) about you–not even mama! I think its ok to be serious with one group of people and a little more of yourself with others because its not like your lying about who you are. People just understand you and see you on different levels and that’s a good thing! Life would be pretty boring and suffocating if every person you knew every dirty little thing!
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I’ve noticed that the more, um, “worldly” (read accessible to hoodrats) a site gets, the more my privacy settings increase and my participation decreases. I pretty much have a main picture, birthday, and wall on fb, whereas I used to have 15 photo albums (they’re still there, just not accessible to anyone but me) and my profile was visible to everyone at my college(s). Yeah, notsomuch.
I guess the real me is probably in person. That sounds lame, but truly, the dual personalities (Bible hugger/troublemaker) is pretty much how I am every day. There’s very little I would say online that I won’t say anywhere else (except work maybe lol). I even have a dirty mind/potty mouth in church sometimes. I guess things like blogs, twitter, fb, etc just allow me to focus on one aspect of me at a time (which is why I get on gchat or twitter sometimes to talk to the very person I’m texting/talking to on the phone, just to be more ignorant, holy, or funny and have them understand where I’m coming from). But otherwise, I’m just a crazy person 24/7.
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Slim Jackson Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:32 pm
“I’ve noticed that the more, um, “worldly” (read accessible to hoodrats) a site gets, the more my privacy settings increase and my participation decreases.”
I read an article a while ago that kinda talked about how social media sites can be closed aligned with the real world when it comes to his. That’s why Myspace, Black Planet, Migente(sp?), and a couple of others went downhill and became known as the e-hood. Same is happening with Facebook. Damn, I’m starting to feel old.lol.
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N.I.A. lovesthekids Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:46 pm
I agree with you and Joey. The more my non.edu HS classmates join twitter, the more I pull away. Not that they’re bad people or anything, but some of those chicks(and the dudes) are the definition of hoodrattedness. I always feel bad after I look through one of their photo albums. I’m not a snob, but… damn!
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I struggled with this very issue when I blogged. At the time I was a legal assistant at a conservative law firm. A firm that searches for facebook, friendster, twitter profiles etc… I needed to keep my identity hidden. I told friends about my blog and they would comment but they would mention my name. I asked them not to but they would forget and I had to police my blog and constantly erase comments.
I’d like to start a blog again and i’m brainstorming a way to do so w/o having 2 facebooks etc.. too much work
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I’ve created an ePersonality using my real name … if that makes sense. I mean with a last name like Tramuel you might ask yourself is that real or store bought?
I use the Avatar but a real photo is posted somewhere on all of my social sites. It’s me … Mr.TramueL one huned percent of the time. Google me.
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You do know that Jewish isn’t a race, right?
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For the most part I use the internets to escape reality. I like the anonymity for the most part…dating back as far as yahoo chat rooms! 1997 stand up! LOL! There are many sides to me that I like to explore, and if I can’t do it in real life due to too many reasons to name, going online is the way for me to go….without friends, family and significant other weighing in with opinions (read judgment).
P.S. I love love love Black Bruce Wayne’s moniker…it’s the best thing ever. I just don’t know why I can’t come up with something so clever. Ugh…
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