ThatDamnedPanda
Posts: 6060
Joined: 1/26/2009
Status: offline
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In general, I think journal entries are a reflection of how we see ourselves, profiles represent the way people want others to see them, and forum posts (over a period of time) reflect the way they really are. Journal entries tend to be dialogues with ourselves, profiles tend to be carefully worded resumes and mission statements, and forum posts are the casual conversations where we let our guard down and show the real "us." If I'm trying to get the measure of someone, I look at all three as different pieces of the same puzzle, much like the three blind men cooperating to figure out how an elephant is put together - one of them describes the trunk, another describes the ear, and the third places his hand on the massive flank and deduces the size of the animal. Together, they get a pretty good picture of what an elephant looks like.
And it's the same with profiles/journals/posts. Put all three together, and you usually have a pretty good idea of who they are. As long as there aren't any glaring inconsistencies between them, which in and of itself tells you quite a bit as well.
quote:
Message board posts are the most fun, but they're also probably the least accurate representation of my personality in the sense that I tend to be on best behaviour. I generally try to play nicely with others, and to remember that there are real people attached to the screen names. There is a more tangible audience on the message boards--less a sense of just broadcasting a signal out into space and seeing if any intelligent life picks up on it. I tend to dial down the polemics, and I'm also far less likely to be particularly open about odd urges because I've always found it a bit gauche when people make the "I CAN HAZ BEATIGN NOW MISETRESS PLZ" posts. Part of me enjoys a nice train wreck, but I prefer to show up later and comment on the carnage rather than buying a ticket. I'm essentially far more tactful and toned down when posting on the boards than anywhere else.
See, now I would argue that that is a very accurate representation of who you are as a person. That tells me volumes about you. Much more than most profiles would.
Personally, I'm the other way around. I don't take anything I say on these forums very seriously. There are other message boards where I do put a lot of thought and feeling into what I say, because i really value the dialogue on those boards, but Collarme is not one of those forums. Here, I usually just dash off whatever happens to pop into my head, and move on. More often than not, I don't even remember what thread I posted in ten minutes later, and even if i do, I very rarely remember what I said. I make no effort at all to be deep, or meaningful, or show anything of my inner self here. In so doing, I probably show a great deal of who I really am, but I feel no investment at all in how i present myself on Collarme, and even less interest in who the audience is. It's just a time killer for me.
_____________________________
Panda, panda, burning bright
In the forest of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Made you all black and white and roly-poly like that?
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Who are you? - 
Profile
. I've been responding to things on occassion since, whether its a fast reply to something I didn't read fully, or maybe its as you said it so well, "Part of me enjoys a nice train wreck, but I prefer to show up later and comment on the carnage rather than buying a ticket." 
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