Following on from yesterday's blog, the whole topic of people being less accountable for the things that they do online due to hiding behind an online personality, an anonymous one, that means they feel that the way they interact with the rest of the internet does not matter.
Firstly, this little old blog has almost reached 800 page views! This makes me excited, and a number I never thought it would reach. I wondered when I started this if anyone would read it, what would I write (something I still struggle with!), and what would be the point of it all.
It has only been a month, but regardless of how many people may or may not read my ramblings, it is nice to actually share them!
Which brings me back to my original point - my online persona. However, I'm going to flip the topic slightly - in my case, my online persona and personality, while it is a direct representation of who I am, it is also who I wish I could be in real life, with the people who actually know me and see me day to day.
In game I'm this fearless warrior (or hunter, or druid, or mage - you get the drift). The possibilities are endless, I regularly interact with people I enjoy spending time with, I can be open and not worry about things as life is peachy.
In real life, the picture is not so rosy. I have friends and family, but none of them know me to the extent my gaming friends know me. The community of people that I interact with online and the things I have learnt about myself as a person are irrelevant to them, its only a game and surely it doesn't matter if I have to stop the activity I am doing with 2/5/9/24 other people, it's just a game, a game that can't possibly teach me anything.
I am my online personality, and while I have now grown comfortable with my real identity being connected with my online activities and personality, I still need to learn how to allow the things I have learned online and the experiences I have gained from interacting with such a wide range of people from all backgrounds, countries and cultures to reflect within my non-game life.
Do I perhaps use the game as an escape from some of the real life issues I'm having, perhaps I do. But I would not be the person I am today without those experiences from in game being combined with the experiences I have had outside the game.
In May I attended the wedding of two of the best people you could want to meet, I have been friends with these two for many years, we have fought dragons together, we have consoled each other through failed relationships.
Without the creation of my online persona and this game that we all love, I would never have met these fantastic people, nor have been able to share the most special day in their life.
So a question for you people that do read - how much of your online personality is actually reflected within your everyday life?
