Your Online Footprint

Samaris

It's a very new thing, really. Say, twenty years ago, life was life, you knew the people in your area, from your schools, work, travel abroad, etcetera. Kept in contact by writing or the phone. Landline, of course! You were known by the people who met you and saw your interests and what you got up to in your town or city, your hobbies, etcetera.

Now many of us have several personas and the juggling is preventing them from meeting! Obviously our footprints feel bigger than they are (just like in RL), since no matter how internet-mad we are, we only ever visit a tiny portion of the cloud and regularly contribute to an even smaller portion of it. But there then, how big does your online footprint feel? Is your personality much the same online as it is in RL? How about your modes of speech? Do you reckon you'd be identifiable across websites etcetera? I know that if I ever got banned from Boards there's not a chance I'd get away with reregging, my mode of typing is a tad obvious to anyone paying attention :P And it's pretty similar anywhere else I post too. What do you actually USE the internet for, beyond gossiping on here?

For me, I have friends online through gaming and I love using it for learning, mostly online courses. Also various (mostly) comedy sites such as Cracked and Scandinavia and the World. Overall, not too interested in social media. So really, I suppose I prefer the book-type solo reading, just on a screen, rather than the interactive aspects. Just I have a HUUUGE library accessible now! I'm also fascinated in how people interact, the differences between how they do it online, behind a computer screen, versus face to face. I'm more confrontational and sarky online than I am in person, for instance.

Note - be a bit cautious in identifying other areas you post in for the sake of your own privacy :P

Second note - okay, this does read a bit like project research, but it's not, I swear! Just it's 7AM and my thoughts go odd places before I've had coffee.

diomed

I am nitpicking, pedantic, remorseless. Don't start.

AnonoBoy

When you say your mode of typing OP - do you mean a keyboard? Because most people use one of those, it's not that uniquely identifiable.

The_Valeyard

So.....you dont mean incognito mode??

Samaris

AnonoBoy wrote: »

When you say your mode of typing OP - do you mean a keyboard? Because most people use one of those, it's not that uniquely identifiable.

hehe, no, I mean how you construct your sentences, keywords you tend to use, even how you punctuate. For instance, I use more commas than I should and it makes for quite an identifiable pattern if you know what you're looking for. I see other people that put their full stops like this .And others that Capitalize randomly or consistently use Americanised forms of some words and British in others. That sort of thing.

AnonoBoy

Samaris wrote: »

hehe, no, I mean how you construct your sentences, keywords you tend to use, even how you punctuate. For instance, I use more commas than I should and it makes for quite an identifiable pattern if you know what you're looking for. I see other people that put their full stops like this .And others that Capitalize randomly or consistently use Americanised forms of some words and British in others. That sort of thing.

Oh. I, understand . Perhaps .

Allinall

Mine's a size 9.