I responded the way i did to this topic because i do wrestle with it a lot. In the past few years i've been searching for the balance between self expression and- for lack of a better way to put it- using self expression as an excuse to give into my baser self. i am very opinionated, and very emotional and tend to react ot things strongly- this is something i try to temper online. i am also very affectionate to the point of being flirtatious, and that too is something i have to temper in order to honor my husband. (i realize that a lot of these standards are related to my faith and therefore seem foreign and oppressive to those not sharing my worldview- but deal with it.) This brings up the other side of this topic for me. I do not struggle nearly as much to temper these thing in myself in person- in real life. the anonymity of the internet- even with people who know us gives us an open forum that we dont have in meatspace, and i think in many cases we are braver, more open, less censored online, which for me at least, can be dangerous. am i completely consistent across the board in how i present myself and who i really am- well i like to think i am about 99% consistent. i do fall down publically sometimes, but i kinda find that an opportunity to be humble, admit it, and dust myself off. i've considered an anonymous or pseudonym Twitter acct, but i think for me, it;d jsut be too much of a temptation to *become* that alter ego. my mom used to ask me when i watched TV- “would you watch that if the Pastor was sitting right there? No? Well Jesus sees you all the time.” for me, that concept rings true. i don't want to allow myself to be someone in one situation that i wouldnt be comfortable being around other people. There are activities that i take part in in certain situations, and not others, but that is more dependent on not being a stumbling block than personal authenticity. this has been quite stream of consciousness. i hope it makes sense…

I've never considered having an anonymous twitter account until I saw you post that earlier. It never crossed my mind. I try to be me on Twitter as much as I can. There are times I am more who I want to be (hopeful expectations) and many more times when I fall short of my desire to be more me than I am. I don't think all of my personal life needs to be presently for all to view, and I judge my tweets and other interactions based on what relationships I have built. Some people can be considered real life friends (I've met them either online or in person) and some are just friends more in the vein of being a face to face acquaintance. No matter how I turn up, it's me in some form or another.

Yeah I mean for the most part it doesn't occur to me either but every once in a while I want to just unleash a stream of … consciousness that isn't befitting something or other. I've got my share of real life friends on here and some acquaintances and a whole passel of strangers. All in all I guess I just don't want to disappoint anyone. That's likely a silly goal and completely impossible to keep, but that's me.

See, in a way I'm not any better in meatspace. I am who I am, but I also know enough about me to know that part of who I am is fluid and dependent on who I'm around. I let myself be led astray from time to time and when that happens it's 100% my fault. I'm capable of not being led by my baser instincts. Still there are times where I'm the “me” that I think people want me to be instead of the me that I am.

yeah, exactly. Sometimes i fall into the trap of competing for attention-particualrly with one “frenemy” and that is where i get in trouble- i go beyond what i know is best for me by trying to outdo her and win the attention getting war. its a vicious and dnagerous thing.

Well, this notion of an anonymous Twitter account, is an interesting one indeed. The question becomes one of why? Is your current one something of a brand that you'd like to protect and as such feel you're censoring yourself too often for fear of losing followers? That would be odd as it's your “voiced” opinions, observations, and interactions that have resulted in your current SoI (Sphere of Influence).

Are you trying to garner a whole new and unlike-minded set of followers and don't want the two to cross paths?

In my brief time as part of a Twitter community I've yet to see any individual or entity successfully pull off the multiple account scheme. It always ends up that that each account retweets what the other posted and I, the follower of both, ultimately unfollow the least prolific. I understand how at first re or cross tweeting helps build the follower base of the new account but there needs to point where the practice is phased out.

But if you want to be able to chime in on a conversation without anyone knowing it's you two things happen. First the expressed opinion carries little to no worth as it's source is unknown. Second, since you're assumed identity isn't following me nor I it, you've become my most feared user Twitter — a stalker. At which point I reconsider protecting my account.

I consider yours a valued voice. What you say matters more to me than whether or not we agree. So from my perspective, a second account should not be created.

FWIW,
Orion

I end up writing a rant on my blog. And then I save it as a draft. And then I go talk to brand and see if he can talk me out of it.

So many times there are things that come up that are just flat out lies. And the crowd, to keep the peace or to maintain status quo, acts as though nothing is wrong. More over, they cheer things on that by rights should be minimally ridiculed and at worse called out for the sham/shame they are.

But to say anything as a clear line or right and wrong in this crowd [yup, I said it.] usually gets the person who speaks out negated and/or blacklisted. I've lost a lot of friends this last year or two. Oh, they act sweet and nice when we are forced together at functions, but online they are just different people.

Meat life or here, people choose to be who they are. The rest is just a facade.

Those are good questions Orion. Mostly it would be a place (if I ever actually used the one I created) to blow off steam, to write things that I knew no one would see, to hit submit on something that I ordinarily wouldn't. Ideally it would be a place where no one of any import was looking and where I could shout into the black.

So it wouldn't be about getting new followers or RT'ing or keeping two crews or anything like that. I wouldn't be following anyone and I wouldn't want anyone to follow it.

As it is, I'm reasonably certain of two things. 1) I'm probably never going to use the one I linked to. 2) If I ever do use one it wouldn't be publicized.

The whole post is an exercise in “transparency” for me. It's an overused word in some circles and it means different things to different folks. For me it doesn't mean letting you all in to every aspect of my life. A man's got to hold a little something back. It does mean though, that what I do put out there needs to be me and not some manufactured version of me.

I'm not all golly gee whiz online or in real life. I drop the occasional F bomb, make the occasional off color joke, fart, burp, and act like a jackass from time to time. Part of me, a dumb part, doesn't want anyone to know some of those things for fear I'll lose their friendship or, if I were being a little more honest, their attention.

I thank you for considering that my voice beings value to the netspace and I take your words to heart.

Heh. I don't usually get all ranty. In general I'm not wound very tight and when I do “rant” the last thing I want to do is have someone rein me in.

I share your notion, to a degree, that their needs to be a lot more honesty in our community. That's why I liked “Grow Up Social Media” and why I'm striving (not always successfully) to gush less. It's hard for me not to be a cheerleader for people who have the guts to put their stuff out there even if it's not the best. Sometimes that translates into fluffing them up unjustifiably. And that's not helpful to them as a writer/podcaster.

Personally I've also fallen pray from time to time to “if I just kiss up to x a little bit I'll get their attention and then I'll get a chance at the spotlight”. That's juvenile and it doesn't help anyone. Still, I can't deny that that's in me. I can try and cut it off when it rears its head and only encourage folks that I think have honestly earned it.That's what we should all do.

I'll agree that people choose to be who they are. Doesn't mean that they never come to regret those choices later. I for one always hold out that hope.

Interesting topic, Uncle Scott. This may be off topic, but I would say that the best we can ever be is translucent rather than transparent. I tend to be more opaque. This comes from my basic personality which is exremely introverted (in a Myers-Briggs understanding of the term). I try to be honest with myself and others, try not to mislead or appear to be other than I am, but to be honest, I don't let much of who I am be known, even to my loving wife with whom I am most open and who gets really frustrated at times with feeling uncertain about who I am.

You mention that you are not all that tightly wound, and if that is true, then I must be almost completely unwound:D Actually, I guess I really don't get too upset by most things because of my understanding of the world. Because we can know nothing for certain, I do not get upset easily by others actions or statements. Even my understaning of someone else's position is colored by my own filters so that while I try to understand as completely as possible what is being communicated to me, I accept that differences of opinion may be as much my problem, with my interpretaions, as it may actually be a difference of opinion. Am I troubled by things that happen in my world? You bet, but most often I am saddened rather than angered and part of this is due to the fact that I believe that “most” people are like me and just trying to do the best they can. That means trying to be as honest in our self presentation to the world as possible, knowing that even if we ARE transparent, we probably won't appear that way to others.

Spiritualtramp, I love you, so I must call you on several things. For one, God will still see whatever you write – he knows your thoughts, silly. You need to work on the part of you that wants to write those things. Secondly, you are one of the tightest wound people I know. Problem is you just don't want anyone to know it. I know you want to be unflappable – you've made it a life goal not to be bothered by what other people think about you. That is certainly okay, except it seems you have to try mighty hard to be unwound. Maybe you shouldn't try so hard. If you are a little tight – then be that way. Have opinions – step on toes – be ridiculed – be wrong – be right – be humble – be hurt – be unfollowed – BE YOURSELF!

Of course I can say that – I don't tweet (vanity disguised as relationships that are full of personal or impersonal blatherings that if need to be said probably need to be said to people who can have meaningful face to face communications) , I care what people think way too much, and am wound way too tight for any healthy person.

All that said, If you were so unflappable, then you probably wouldn't be lost at sea so much. Admit that you are a jackass (often), that you are wrong (from time to time), that you suffer from deep hurts that have made you hard and bitter (much of the time), that you like it when others like you and are hurt when others don't like you, that you can love deeply but have a hard time showing it, that the self in you is offended in the submission you must show to the authority of others (including God), that you are a human with questions for which there are not answers (this side of heaven), and that you are desperate for those answers and frustrated and angry that you don't have them.

Anyway, most of this has more to do with you and your inner struggles than the tweetosphere, I just felt I needed to chime in.

Much Love.

Hey babe! Glad you took some time to comment. As always you're me best critic.

I will say that while I disagree with you about Twitter, you're right on many other things.

I want to be a lot of things. Unflappable is one of them. I don't want to be tightly wound (but I'll agree that I am). I don't want to be at sea. I do want to be a jackass. I'm wrong an awful lot and I have experienced things that have made me bitter and hard.

Everything you said is true. As I said in the original post though, “I should probably just be who I am and do as good a job with that as I can.” And so I'm striving to be honest about my feelings, my strengths and weaknesses. We'll see how that goes.